Arti Grover

Arti Grover is a Principal Economist and Regional Program Leader heading the economic research and strategy for the Middle East, Central Asia, Türkiye, Pakistan & Afghanistan (MCT) region of the IFC. Prior to this position, Arti was the Global Lead on Firm Dynamics at the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice. In this role, she managed a team of highly talented micro-economists; shaped the group’s agenda on firm dynamics and productivity; conceptualized the Investment Climate Assessments (ICA) 2.0 as well as the World Bank’s engagement on climate change from the perspective of the private sector.

During the pandemic she spearheaded a major analytic program on Business Pulse Surveys and used the evidence from this work to design COVID-19 emergency operations. She has extensive experience in working on complex analytical and lending projects, deploying novel approaches to support firms. Her research covers a wide range of topics including firm dynamics, trade, productivity, entrepreneurship and spatial development.

She co-authored two of the World Bank’s Productivity Project flagship reports – High-growth firms and Place, Productivity and Prosperity and three books on trade in services. In addition, she has published over thirty articles in top peer-reviewed journals, as chapters in books, and as World Bank policy research papers. Ms. Grover has been affiliated, in a research capacity, with the Harvard Business School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining the Bank in 2009, she was a Doctoral Fulbright fellow at Princeton University and an Assistant Professor at Delhi School of Economics, India.