Fostering Fiscal Sustainability Conference

Aart Kraay is the Chief Economist of the Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions Practice Group at the World Bank. His research focuses on macroeconomics in developing countries, international capital movements, growth, poverty, inequality, institutions, governance, and applied econometrics. He has published extensively in scholarly journals and has had editorial roles in prominent publications including the World Bank Economic Review, the World Bank Research Observer, and the Journal of Development Economics.

Andrew Aitken has been an Economist in the Ageing and Employment team in the Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS) at the OECD since early 2022. At the OECD, his work addresses critical issues such as the impact of ageing populations on labour markets and the effectiveness of policies aimed at improving career mobility, the retention of older workers, and the promotion of age-inclusive workplaces. Prior to joining the OECD, he worked at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) in London.

Armon Rezai is full professor at WU Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and senior researcher at IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis). He has published widely in top field and general interest journals at the intersection of macroeconomics (e.g. economic growth, distribution of income and wealth, or unemployment) and its environmental problems, most importantly climate change. He is a senior visiting fellow at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and a research fellow at CEPR’s Climate Change and the Environment program.

Ayhan Kose is the Deputy Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Director of the Prospects Group. He is a member of the Chief Economist’s leadership team overseeing the Bank’s analytical work, and policy and operational advice. He also leads the Bank’s work on the global macroeconomic outlook, financial flows, and commodity markets. Under his management, the Prospects Group produces the Bank’s flagship reports Global Economic Prospects and Commodity Markets Outlook, in addition to other policy and analytical publications.

Charles has over 30 years of operational and strategic management experience in public, private and health insurance settings.  He has market knowledge from 50+ countries through IFC investments in the private health sector. Since joining the International Finance Corporation in 2013, Charles is responsible for providing global health industry and best practice advice to inform and shape the IFC health investment strategy and program.  He works globally with IFC offices and clients in the initial screening of potential investment opportunities and thereafter completes comprehensive due diligence evaluation of health sector investments.

Dario Caldara is an assistant director in the Division of the International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he oversees the work of the Global Modeling and the Trade and Financial Studies section. His research interests are in macroeconomics, international finance, and geopolitics. His work has been published in general interests and field journals, including the American Economic Review, the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Monetary Economics, and the AEJ Macro. He holds a PhD from the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm University, Sweden.

Francesca Caselli is an economist currently working in the IMF European Department. Previously, she worked in the Fiscal Affairs Department in the Fiscal Monitor team and in the Research Department in the World Economic Outlook and Systemic Issues divisions contributing to several WEO analytical chapters and working on fiscal rules effectiveness. She also worked on Niger, Senegal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Her research interests include applied econometrics, international economics, the credibility of monetary policy, and fiscal rules.

Hag Soo Kim is a senior fellow in the Department of Public Finance and Social Policy at the Korea Development Institute. Since completing his Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University in 2000, he has been conducting research on the evaluation of tax and fiscal policies, as well as fiscal projections. His recent research mainly focuses on long-term fiscal projections and their sustainability, fundamental reforms in the primary and secondary education funding system in Korea, corporate taxation, and tax expenditure performance evaluation. He has also served as a member of various government committees, including the Presidential Commission on Policy Planning, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the National Tax Service, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Heinz is a Senior Evaluation Officer at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank Group (WBG). He has been with IEG since 2022. Between 2005 and 2022, he worked as a financial sector economist at the Finance and Markets Practice of the WBG. His main work and policy research areas include long-term finance, funded pension systems, and development bank institutions. He has advised more than 25 countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia. Previously, he worked as a Director of Financial Policy at the Ministry of Finance of Chile.

Hermann González is an economist and holds a master’s degree in economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. With two decades of experience gained in the public, private and academic sectors, he served two terms with the Chilean Ministry of Finance in the roles of Chief Economic Advisor to the Minister of Finance and Macroeconomic Research Coordinator of the Budget Office. He is currently the Alternate Deputy Director at the Latin American Center for Economic and Social Policies (Clapes UC), Vice president of the Autonomous Fiscal Council of Chile, partner at Valtin Consulting and professor of economics at the University of Chile.

Dr. Jaehyoung Park is a Director in the Fiscal Policy Division of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Korea (MOEF) with a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He holds an MSc (with a Richard Titmuss Prize) in Social Policy from the LSE and an MSc and a BA in Economics from Seoul National University (SNU). His PhD thesis investigates the effectiveness and determinants of social investment policies such as active labour market policies (ALMPs) and work-family policies (WFPs) across the OECD countries by employing qualitative as well as quantitative methods. It has been published in the Journal of Contemporary Asia, the European Social Policy (upcoming) and book chapters.

Jason Furman is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics at Harvard University. He is also nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Furman engages in public policy through research, writing and teaching in a wide range of areas including U.S. and international macroeconomics, fiscal policy, labor markets and competition policy.

Dr. Jinsol Park is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration at Inha University in South Korea. She holds a Ph.D. from the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky, an M.P.A. from Syracuse University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Yonsei University in South Korea. Her current research areas include future government, governance, local government administration, and public budgeting and finance.

Kevin Carey is Climate Economics Program Manager in the World Bank’s Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions Practice Group. Prior to this role, he was an adviser on global and regional macroeconomic issues, covering debt sustainability globally and macroeconomic challenges of various countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Previously, he was a Practice Manager for Macroeconomics in the MENA region. In these roles, he has managed strategic financing operations (e.g. Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Palestinian territories); diagnostic studies and reports across the region, technical assistance to GCC countries; monitoring of macroeconomics conditions, and coordination with WB Regional management and IMF. 

Joana Silva is a Senior Research Economist at the World Bank and an Associate Professor at Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics. Joana Silva is Research Fellow in CEPR. She has expertise in applied economics, with particular focus on human development, labor markets, international trade, firm dynamics, and policy evaluation. Joana has over fifteen years of experience in empirical work on policy-relevant questions. Her research agenda focuses on (i) the impact of economic policies on employment fluctuations, welfare, and long-term growth; (ii) international trade and firm performance; and (iii) adjustment to economic slowdowns and crises.

Lazar Milivojevic is an economist at the Growth Team of the World Bank’s Global Macro and Debt Unit (MTI Global Practice). He received his Ph.D. in economics from Goethe University Frankfurt and previously worked at the World Bank’s Chief Economist Office for South Asia. Lazar’s research interests are in the area of macroeconometrics and DSGE modeling applications on international macroeconomics, fiscal policy, and economic growth.

Lucia Piana serves as deputy head of the “fiscal policy and surveillance” unit in the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission. The unit contributes to the policy decision-making process at the EU level with a view to achieving and maintaining sound and sustainable public finances in the euro area and the EU. Formerly, Lucia was deputy head of the “national budgetary framework” unit, aiming to improve fiscal policy conduct in the EU Member States through robust national fiscal frameworks and institutions.

Manuela Francisco is the Global Director for the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment (MTI) Global Practice in the Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions Practice Group (GGEVP), a position she started on 1 January 2023. Ms. Francisco, a Portuguese national, joined the World Bank in 2005 as Country Economist in the Africa Department. She has since held various positions of responsibility in the Bank. Prior to her current position, she was the Director of Credit Risk, in the Chief Risk Officer Vice Presidency, and before that, she was the Practice Manager for MTI in the South Asia Region.

Martín Ardanaz is Senior Fiscal Specialist at the Fiscal Management Division of the Inter-American Development Bank. At the IDB he currently leads the design and execution of fiscal strengthening reform projects in Central America. His research interests are in public economics and political economy with a focus on the working of fiscal policy in developing countries. His research has been published in journals such as World Development, Journal of International Money and Finance, and Journal of Comparative Economics.

Dr. Nick Simpson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Climate and Sustainability programme at ODI. His research focuses on how we can best respond to climate change with special interest in climate-resilient development pathways for Africa. His work on complex climate change risk revised the new the IPCC risk framework and has advanced our understanding of compound and cascading climate risk, including adaptation, maladaptation, and mitigation response risk.

Roy Bahl is Regents Professor Emeritus and Founding Dean of the Andrew Young school at Georgia State University. Previously he held positions at the IMF and the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.  He has published widely in the field of public finance and has served as an advisor to international agencies and countries all over the world.  His publications include Property taxes in Asia (with Riel Franzsen and William McCluskey) and Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries (with Richard Bird).

Dr. Seohyun Lee is an Assistant Professor at KDI School of Public Policy and Management with a Ph.D. in Economics from University College London (UCL). She holds a master’s degree from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a BA in Economics from Seoul National University with summa cum laude. Her research interests include the application of various time series and panel data as well as unstructured non-traditional data to econometrics and machine learning models to understand a broad range of macroeconomic and financial issues. 

Sherzod Shadikhodjaev is a professor and the program chair for the Master of Public Policy (MPP) program at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. He earned his LLB (with honors) from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (Uzbekistan) and subsequently an LLM and PhD in Law from Korea University. His research and teaching areas include legal and policy issues in the fields of international law, trade (WTO and regional trade agreements), investment, energy, and the environment. He is the author of several books, including ‘Energy and the Environment: Exploring the Nexus under International Economic Law’ (Cambridge University Press, 2024), ‘Industrial Policy and the World Trade Organization: Between Legal Constraints and Flexibilities’ (Cambridge University Press, 2018), and ‘Retaliation in the WTO Dispute Settlement System’ (Kluwer Law International, 2009).

Teresa Ter-Minassian holds degrees in Law from the University of Rome (Italy) and in Economics from Harvard University. She joined the IMF in 1972, working in the European (EUR), Western Hemisphere (WHD) and Fiscal Affairs (FAD) Departments, where she led missions to, among others, Italy, Spain and Greece, and program negotiations with Argentina, Brazil and Portugal. She was the director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department from 2001 to 2008. Following her retirement from the Fund, she is currently an international economic consultant, working in particular on fiscal issues.

Dang Thi Kim Dung is a PhD student at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. With nearly a decade of experience as a lecturer at the Academy of Policy and Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment in Vietnam, Dang Thi Kim Dung has developed a strong foundation in economic theory and practice. Her research interests focus on International Economics, Firm Dynamics, and Economic Development, reflecting her commitment to understanding and improving economic policies and practices on a global scale.

Thomas Drechsel is a macroeconomist, Assistant Professor at the Economics Department of the University of Maryland and Faculty Research Fellow at the NBER. His research focuses on various aspects of monetary policy, credit frictions in business cycles, the role of commodities for emerging market economies, as well as real-time monitoring of macroeconomic activity. His work has been published in leading journals, such as the Review of Economic Studies, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, Journal of Monetary Economics and the Journal of Finance. 

Wendy Edelberg is the director of The Hamilton Project and a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. Edelberg joined Brookings in 2020, after more than fifteen years in the public sector. She is also a Principal at WestExec Advisors. Most recently, she was Chief Economist at the Congressional Budget Office. Prior to working at CBO, Edelberg was the executive director of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which released its report on the causes of the financial crisis in January 2011. Previously, she worked on issues related to macroeconomics, housing, and consumer spending at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during two administrations.

Yonghee Chang is currently a Director of the Fiscal Policy Cooperation Division of Ministry of Economy and Finance in Korea. He coordinates with multiple government departments in preparing the agenda for the budget allocation and the mid-term framework. As a liaison for fiscal policy communication with various actors, he conducts field inspections with Vice minister on a regular basis to check the efficacy of financial inputs into main projects. He also operates a citizen participatory budget scheme in order to reflect citizen’s voice in budget decision-making process. He has over fifteen years of experience in budget management and economic policy, and holds MSc in Economics from Cass Business School of London, MBA from KAIST College of Business of Korea, and MSc in Public Administration from Graduate School of Public Policy of Seoul National University.