In January 2018 Daniel Lederman became Lead Economist and Deputy Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank Group.

Previously he served as Deputy Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lead Trade Economist in the World Bank's International Trade Department (PRMTR), Senior Economist in the Development Research Group (DECRG), and Senior Economist and Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Before joining the World Bank in 1995, he worked for the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.  
An economist and political scientist by training, Mr. Lederman has published numerous books and articles on a broad set of issues related to economic development, including financial crises, crime, political economy of economic reforms, economic growth, innovation, international trade and labor markets. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Economics and Politics, Journal of International Business Studies, among many other refereed journals.

Books authored, coauthored or edited by Daniel Lederman include The Political Economy of Protection: Theory and the Chilean Experience (Stanford University Press, Social Science History Series, 2005); Lessons from NAFTA for Latin America and the Caribbean (also published in Spanish as Lecciones del TLCAN); From Natural Resources to the Knowledge Economy (also published in Spanish as De los recursos naturales a la economía del conocimiento); Natural Resources: Neither Curse nor Destiny; and Does What You Export Matter?: In Search of Empirical Guidance for Industrial Policies. 

As Deputy Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, Daniel Lederman managed the Regional Research Program. He coauthored several Flagship Reports that are part of this program. Better Neighbors: Toward a Renewal of Economic Integration in Latin America (with Chad P. Bown, Samuel Pienknagura, and Raymond Robertson) was published in the Spring of 2017, with the Spanish title Mejores vecinos: Hacia una renovación de la integración económica en América Latina. Latin American Entrepreneurs: Many Firms but Little Innovation (with J. Messina, S. Pienknagura, and J. Rigolini) was published by the World Bank in the Fall of 2013. The Spanish version, El emprendimiento en América Latina: Muchas empresas y poca innovación, was published in the Spring of 2014. Latin America and the Rising South: Changing World, Changing Priorities was published in the Spring of 2015.

The Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank also publishes two semiannual reports per year that assess the short and long term economic prospects of the region. Daniel Lederman coauthored Jobs, Wages and the Latin American Slowdown (October 2015); The Big Switch in Latin America: Restoring Growth through Trade (October 2016); and Leaning against the Wind: Fiscal Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean in a Historical Perspective.

Daniel Lederman received a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University and M.A. and PhD degrees from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).