On December 14, 2023, the public defence of the dissertation titled "Measuring Shadow Economy in Georgia Using Household Microdata" by Davit Utiashvili, a student in the English-language doctoral program at the School of Economics, took place at Caucasus University.

The defense of the dissertation was held before the dissertation board, with the following composition:

• Sophiko Skhirtladze, Guest Lecturer, International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET);
• Mariam Kharaishvili, Assistant Professor, School of Economics, Caucasus University;
• Vano Benidze, Professor, School of Economics, Caucasus University;
• Erekle Pirveli, Professor, School of Business, Caucasus University;
• Tengiz Taktakishvili, Professor, School of Business, Caucasus University;

During the defense, the doctoral candidate presented the dissertation and addressed questions. Afterwards, the chairman of the commission, Sophiko Skhirtladze, presented the evaluations of the reviewer, Professor Vano Benidze.

According to the assessment of the dissertation board, Davit Utiashvili successfully defended his dissertation and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Economics.