ECA Talk: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation

Leonardo Iacovone, Lead Economist in the Europe and Central Asia region, works on productivity, firm dynamics, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He studied at Bocconi University, Torcuato Di Tella University, and the University of Sussex. Leonardo is Adjunct Professor at the Hertie School and is affiliated with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and the Small and Medium Enterprise Initiative of Innovations for Poverty Action. He has published in American Economic Review: Insights; Economic Journal; Journal of Development Economics; Journal of International Economics; PNAS; Review of Economic Studies; Science; World Bank Economic Review; and World Development. In 2009, he received the Paul Geroski Prize, awarded by the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics for the most significant policy contribution by young economists.

William F. Maloney is Chief Economist for the Latin America and the Caribbean region at the World Bank. Previously he was Chief Economist for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, and Trade and Competitiveness; he was also Global Lead on Innovation and Productivity. Prior to the Bank, he was an assistant professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1990-1997) and then Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America until 2009. From 2009 to 2014, he was Lead Economist in the Development Economics Research Group. From 2011 to 2014 he was visiting professor at the University of the Andes and worked closely with the Colombian government on innovation and firm upgrading issues.

Ivailo V. Izvorski is the Chief Economist in the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank. Over the past 25 years, he has worked in technical and management positions covering the countries of Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank, the Institute of International Finance, and the International Monetary Fund. Before his current position, Ivailo was the Manager of the World Bank Global Debt, Macro, and Growth Unit and, before that, a manager of macroeconomists for Europe and Central Asia. He holds MA and PhD degrees in economics from Yale University. Ivailo is a coauthor of Diversified Development: Making the Most of Natural Resources in Eurasia and of Reinvigorating Growth in Resource-Rich Sub-Saharan Africa.