Keynote Speakers and Researchers Name Bio

Keynote Speakers and Researchers

Name

Bio

PIERRE GUISLAIN

Senior Director, Transport & ICT Global Practice, World

Bank Group

Pierre Guislain, a Belgian national, is the Senior Director for the Transport and Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Global Practice at the World Bank Group, providing support to developing countries in improving their connectivity and competitiveness by linking people to markets, services and employment opportunities. Mr. Guislain was previously the Director of the joint Bank-IFC-MIGA Investment Climate Department (CIC), a role he held since 2006. In this position, he also served as co-director at IFC for Fragile and Conflict Affected countries. From 2001-2006, Mr. Guislain was the Manager of the Bank’s Global Telecommunications and ICT Sector division. Mr. Guislain joined the Bank in 1983 and has served the World Bank Group in a range of capacities in the legal department, private sector development, Africa, Asia, and Middle East and North Africa regions. During that time, he spearheaded the creation of the private participation in infrastructure division, and established and managed a joint program with the European Commission on Private Infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa. He holds an MPA in Economics and Public Policy from Princeton University, as well as a graduate degree in Belgian and International Law and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Université Catholique de Louvain.

NANCY VANDYCKE

Lead Economist – Office of Senior Director,

Transport and ICT, World Bank Group

ARINNA LEGOVINI Manager, DIME

World Bank Group

Dr. Nancy Vandycke is the Lead Economist of the Transport and Information and Communications Technology Global Practice of the World Bank, Washington DC, USA. She is the lead author of several World Bank Group strategies—including the infrastructure and water strategies, and of policy papers presented at the G20 Summit and at international fora on behalf of the Bank. She currently leads the strategic and analytical engagement with external stakeholders. In the course of her previous assignments at the Bank, Dr. Vandycke has led the policy dialogue on policy and regulatory reforms within the framework of—among others—infrastructure provision and private sector development. She has also overseen and managed the operational implementation of several investment projects, in Russia, Poland, Romania, and Central Asian countries. She has published and written extensively on urban transport, infrastructure and health, and private sector development, but also on a range of developmental issues, including natural resources, investment climate, and growth. Prior to joining the World Bank in 1999 as an Economist, Dr. Vandycke was a Lecturer at the University of London, UK, and at Georgetown University, USA. She spent several years as a Research Associate at the Russian-European Center for Economic Policy in Russia, and at the Centre for Economic Performance in the United Kingdom. She was also an Advisor to the Belgian Chair at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. She holds a Doctorate in Economics from the London School of Economics. Arianna Legovini is the Manager of the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) unit in the research department of the World Bank Group. Arianna has dedicated the last decade to developing a new institutional approach to closing the gap between operations and research, building knowledge on mechanisms that explain policy success and using experiments to improve the effectiveness of government policies. In this role Arianna leads the development and implementation of a large research agenda across critical development areas, stimulating strong demand from clients and leveraging significant support from donor countries. Several multi-country programs of impact evaluation with global outreach are currently active in thematic areas ranging from productive sectors, to human development and gender, governance, fragility and conflict and to sectors relevant to the climate agenda. These programs account for several hundred distinct analytical products. Previously, Arianna established the Africa Impact Evaluation Initiative for the Africa region of the World Bank. She also developed the Africa Results Monitoring System, the first World Bank system to monitor Bank results. Before joining the World Bank, Arianna was acting chief of the Poverty Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank, and coordinator of the Network of Inequality and Poverty of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA). She conducted her PhD studies in economics at the University of Maryland and has several academic publications including journal articles and chapters in edited volumes.

ESTEBAN DIEZ ROUX

Principal Transport Specialist – Transport Division IDB

STEVAN LEE Senior Economist and Team Leader of Growth Research in

DFID

KATY LEE Analyst -‐ Growth Research

Team, DFID

ARTURO ARDILA-‐GOMEZ Lead Transport Economist, Transport and ICT GP, World

Bank Group

Esteban Diez Roux is Principal Transport Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, with more than 20 years of experience in the transport sector. Esteban leads multidisciplinary project teams in the promotion, development and implementation of transport projects in Latin America. He has specialized in the areas of ports and freight logistics, air transport, road safety, and transport economics. At the present, Esteban coordinates all knowledge and research activities of the Transport Division. He is originally from Argentina and has worked in the public and private sectors in Argentina and United States (US). Before joining the IDB, Esteban worked as an international consultant for the transport of a large US consulting firm and as a trader of commodities for an international trade company. He is a civil engineer, with graduate studies in port engineering from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds a Masters and a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Stevan Lee is Senior Economist and Team Leader of Growth Research in DFID Research Division (RED). He has over twenty years of experience as an economist in development largely with DFID and World Bank. He has a PhD in economics. He has covered highly varied macro- and micro-economic analysis and advice and also extensive project and people management tasks. He has worked in developing countries and lived in East Africa for about ten years. Katy Lee is an Analyst in the Growth Research Team at the Department for International Development (DFID). She holds an MA in Humanitarianism and Conflict response from the University of Manchester and a BA in International Relations from the University of St Andrews. Prior to DFID she worked in Rwanda supporting the ongoing peace building process through conflict mediation, restorative justice and economic empowerment projects for Prison Fellowship Rwanda. She also runs the UK registered charity Born to Thrive which works in East Africa to provide vulnerable children with access to primary and secondary education. Arturo Ardila-Gomez has been team leader for an extensive array of projects most notably the Quito Metro Line One Project, the Mexico Urban Transport Transformation Project, the Upgrading and Greening the Rio de Janeiro Urban Rail System, and the Lima Transport Project. Prior to joining the Bank he was director of the Transportation Studies Group at Los Andes University in Bogota. A former Fulbright scholar, Ardila-Gomez holds a doctorate degree in urban transportation planning and a master's degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also a civil engineer and holds a master's degree in economics, both from Los Andes University in Bogota. He is the author of several peer-reviewed articles and a book.

GEORGES DARIDO

Lead Urban Transport Specialist, World Bank Group

SEBASTIAN MARTINEZ

Lead Economist, IDB

Georges Darido, a Brazilian and US national, is the Lead Urban Transport Specialist working with the Latin America and the Caribbean Region in Washington, DC. Since joining the World Bank as a Young Professional in 2007, he has worked on urban and mass transport projects in Brazil, China and Mexico and regional programs in Latin America and East Asia. He has a strong interest in sustainable transport issues, particularly energy efficiency, travel demand management, and integrated transport-land use planning. Before joining the Bank, he worked for several years in the United States as a transport technology and strategy consultant, traffic engineer, and researcher. Darido holds a M.S. in transport systems, Master in environmental economics, and B.S. in civil engineering. Georges is a daily user of public transport and really enjoys taking his daughter out for trips on buses, trains, and boats whenever he can. Sebastian Martinez is the Lead Economist in the Office of Strategic Planning and Development Effectiveness of the Inter-American Development Bank. Before joining the IDB, Martinez spent six years at the World Bank working on evaluations of social programs in Latin America and Africa. Sebastian holds a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and he is specialized in development and applied microeconomics. His research focuses on the impacts of programs and innovative social policies and has published several books and academic articles on this subject.

VINCENZO DI MARO

Senior Economist, DIME World Bank Group

Vincenzo Di Maro is a Senior Economist with the Development Impact Evaluation team (DIME/DECIE) of the Development Economics Research Group. His research focuses on tests of (behavioral) economics mechanisms in a variety of interventions and how to frame them as policy relevant parameters. He is currently leading the IE program in Public Sector Governance and Justice (ieGovern) in collaboration with PREM and LEGJR. Vincenzo joined the Bank after completing his Ph.D. in Economics from University College London. His previous work has focused on the impact of Early Childhood and Conditional Cash Transfer programs and, in particular, on their effect on consumption and nutrition. In the past, he was at the IADB as a Research Fellow and at Universita' Parthenopea of Napoli as an Assistant Professor. His research work has been published in journal such as the Journal of Development Economics and the Economic Journal, among others.

FLORENCE KONDYLIS Senior Economist, DIME

World Bank Group

JEROME BEZZINA

Senior Regulatory Economist, Transport and ICT GP, World

Bank Group

KAVITA SETHI Senior Transport Economist,

World Bank Group

Florence Kondylis is a Senior Economist within DIME. She joined the World Bank as a Young Professional and received a MA in econometrics from the Sorbonne in Paris, a PhD in economics from the University of London, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Her main interests are in development, labor, conflict and agricultural economics. Florence developed and now coordinates a program of impact evaluations in Agricultural Adaptations (AADAPT) in close collaboration with DECRG, PREM gender, the Africa Gender Team and a number of academic institutions. Jerome Bezzina is Senior Regulatory Economist at the ICT Department of the World Bank (GTIDR) and is leading the Central African backbone Program (CAB Program) in Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. Jérôme is also involved in the design preparation and supervision of telecom sector reform Projects in a number of West African, MENA and ECA countries. Before joining the Bank, Jerome worked as head of the Bitstream and Broadcasting Division at ARCEP (the French regulator of electronic communications and postal services) in Paris. Prior joining ARCEP Jérôme worked as director of studies and head of the Regulatory and Policy Division at the Institut de l’Audiovisuel et des Télécommunications en Europe (IDATE). Bezzina has an experience in network economics, regulation and competition issues in the telecommunications sector in industrialized and developing countries. Before joining IDATE, he worked as a modeling manager at the regulatory department of French telecommunications operator Cegetel SFR and as a professor and researcher at ENST, the French telecom high school. Jérôme Bezzina holds a Ph.D in Economics. Kavita Sethi is a Senior Transport Economist working with the Africa region, in the World Bank’s Transport and ICT practice based in Washington DC. She has been a team leader for an extensive array of projects with a focus on urban mobility, private sector participation in transport infrastructure and service provision, and institutional and governance issues. She is the author/ co-author of several peer-reviewed papers and was a core member of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic team; she is currently leading a regional study of port concessions in West Africa. Kavita is an Indian national, and holds a doctorate degree in Economics from Clark University in Massachusetts. Outside of work, she enjoys biking and backpacking trips with her family.

SIV TOKLE

Senior Operations Officer, World Bank Group

PATRICIA YANEZ-‐PAGANS Economist – Office of Strategic Planning and Development

Effectiveness IDB

ALEKSANDRA LIAPLINA

Economist, Transport and ICT GP, World Bank Group

Siv Tokle, a Norwegian national, currently leads the evaluation and results pillar of the World Bank Group Cross-cutting Solutions Area on Jobs. She is engaged in improving the evidence base on jobs; impact evaluations that address specific knowledge gaps; and developing Monitoring and Evaluation systems that support jobs-focused lending operations to create more, better, and/or inclusive jobs. She has held a variety of positions within evaluation and results-based management in a number of organizations. She recently worked in the World Bank’s climate change department and the Global Environment Facility, where her work included methodologies to assess climate effects, including from transport. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2003, Siv worked in the private sector in Norway and India, and was stationed for UNDP and UNIDO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Austria, covering private sector development, gender, rural development and agriculture. She holds a Masters in Economics and Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (Bergen, Norway). Patricia Yanez-Pagans works as an Economist for the Office of Strategic Planning and Development Effectiveness (SPD) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). She holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a M.Sc. in Applied Economics from Pompeu Fabra University, and a M.Sc. in Social Policy and Development from The London School of Economics. For more than 10 years, Patricia has been doing policy-oriented research focused on Latin America. Her research lies in the fields of development, environmental, and applied microeconomics. She received the 2015 Honorable Mention for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and some of her work has been published at the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Prior to joining the IDB, Patricia worked as an Adjunct Professor in Economics for the Bolivian Catholic University. She also worked as a research consultant for multiple government and international organizations. She is currently leading the collaboration between SPD and the Transport Division at the IDB in the design and implementation of impact evaluations in this sector. Aleksandra Liaplina is an Economist at the Transport and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Global Practice of the World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Aleksandra is currently focusing on impact evaluation, infrastructure development and finance, and the connectivity agenda across regions. In particular, on the new impact evaluation program for Transport and ICT “IE – Connect for Impact”; partnership with the European Commission aimed at facilitating the efficient flow of private and public investments into connectivity projects in Europe and beyond, and a number or standalone operational and analytical projects and initiatives. Aleksandra also leads the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Regional Flagship Report on Internet and Development to be published in 2016 in alignment with the World Development Report 2016. Before joining the Bank, Aleksandra was working at Intel Corporation where she contributed to the establishment of Intel Labs Europe, a new department to coordinate and leverage research projects and partnerships across Europe. She worked with the government and ecosystem partners to improve the regulatory environment, investment climate and institutional conditions. Prior to Intel, Aleksandra worked in the public sector and other international organizations. She is a Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s Degree in International Development Policy from the Georgetown University, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from St. Petersburg State University.

M ABUL AZAD

Implementation Coordinator, DIME, World Bank Group

M Abul Azad is an Impact Evaluation Implementation Coordinator with DIME/DEC-IE. He works on the design and coordinates the implementation of impact evaluations in the health and education sector of Nigeria. In addition, he coordinates ongoing activities of Nigeria IE Community of Practice and serves as a liaison between Nigeria Country Office and DIME. Previously, Azad has served as a DIME Field Coordinator in Nigeria for two years. Prior to DIME he served as the Program Director of the A. Scott Foundation in Michigan, Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan, Country Director of Michigan International Development in Bangladesh, and researcher at the Human Development Research Center in Bangladesh. Azad holds a Master Degree in International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a second Master Degree in Development Studies from North South University, Bangladesh, and a third Master Degree in English Literature from Aligarh Muslim University, India.

FELIPE ALEXANDER DUNSCH DIME, World Bank Group

Felipe Alexander Dunsch is a political scientist in DIME. Before joining DIME, he was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, worked with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) in Ghana, and for Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy. Dunsch authored the book "Conflicting Strategies to Enhance Foreign Aid Efficacy in Africa" (2012) and holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Hamburg, Germany.

MARIA RUTH JONES Research Analyst,

Development Research Group, DIME

World Bank Group

Maria Ruth Jones works on the design and implementation of a global portfolio of agriculture and food security impact evaluations for the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) team at the World Bank. Her main interests are in agricultural economics, survey design, and data collection. Jones has an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA in Economics from Amherst College.

ERIC MVUKIYEHE Economist, DIME World Bank Group

Eric Mvukiyehe (Ph.D., Political Science - Columbia University) works for the World Bank's Development Economics Impact Evaluations (DIME) unit, where he coordinates the imitative of impact evaluations for Fragile and Conflict-affected situations (FCS). Previously, he worked in the Word Bank's Gender Innovation Lab (GIL), where he provided support and technical assistance in the design and implementation of gender programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eric was also a Democracy Fellow with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he worked in the Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) sector. Mvukiyehe has led local population surveys in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia, as part of United Nations evaluations of peacekeeping operations in both countries. His research interests focus on the role of outside actors in social and political processes in FCs, particularly in the areas of peacekeeping and peace building; democratization at the grassroots level; engagement with non-state actors and women empowerment, among others. His research has been published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution and Comparative Political Studies.

CAIO PIZA

Economist, DIME World Bank Group

ARNDT REICHERT Economist, DIME World Bank Group

Caio Piza is an Economist in the Development Impact Evaluation unit in the Development Research Group at the World Bank where he coordinates DIME’s Private Sector Development program. As an applied microeconometrician his interests range from topics such as financial inclusion and business development to education and labor economics. Before joining the Bank, he spent two years at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC, and about five years as an assistant professor at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Piza holds a master degree in applied economics from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil, and a master degree in Development Economics from the University of Sussex in United Kingdom where he is currently pursuing his PhD in Economics. Arndt Reichert joined the Development Impact Evaluation team of the Development Economics Research Group of the World Bank to work on impact evaluations of energy & environment projects. He is an applied microeconometrician with interests in a relatively broad range of topics such as energy, environment, health, and labor economics. Before joining DIME, he worked at the Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI) and as a lecturer at the Ruhr University of Bochum (RUB). Reichert holds a PhD in economics from RUB and has several academic publications including journal articles and chapters in edited volumes.

MICHAEL ROSCITT Impact Evaluation

Coordinator, Governance Global Practice/DIME, World

Bank Group

Michael Roscitt is an Impact Evaluation Coordinator and a member of the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) team and Governance Global Practice (GGP). He oversees the ieGovern Initiative, a portfolio of impact evaluations exploring what works and why in public sector reform. His primary research portfolio is centered on procurement and tax administration projects in the GGP. Prior to joining the World Bank, Michael managed a number of Impact Evaluations in Malawi focused on access to savings and worked in Investment Banking division of Deutsche Bank. Roscitt holds an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

BILAL SIDDIQI

Economist, DIME World Bank Group

Bilal Siddiqi is an Economist at the World Bank’s Development Research Group. His research focuses on micro-institutions, formal and informal legal systems, peace building and state accountability in post-conflict settings. He is currently involved in several field experiments in Sierra Leone and Liberia, including a randomized controlled trial of two non-financial incentive mechanisms in Sierra Leone’s public health sector; experimental evaluations of community-based paralegal programs in Liberia and Sierra Leone; and a randomized controlled trial of a community reconciliation program in Sierra Leone. Bilal received his Ph.D. and M.Phil. in economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Prior to Stanford, he was based at the Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES) at Stockholm as a Marie Curie / AMID Scholar; and has also spent time at the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC, where he worked on aid effectiveness in global health. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) from the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan.

ASTRID ZWAGER

DIME World Bank Group

Astrid Zwager joined DIME in 2011. She currently works on the design and implementation of impact evaluations within DIME's extensive agriculture portfolio, focusing on in-country capacity building, management of the field coordinators, data collection and coordination across stakeholders. Countries she works with include Brazil and Mozambique. Previously Astrid worked for 3 years as a field coordinator in São Paulo, Brazil, coordinating the implementation on the ground of the adapt-Brazil portfolio across the country. The portfolio she works on includes research on topics like rural matching grants, payment for environmental services, management training for rural organizations and maintenance and operations issues related to irrigation. She is also involved in urban development and education evaluations. Before joining DIME, Zwager worked at the Amsterdam Institute for International development as a research assistant. Astrid holds a master degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam.

MARCUS HOLMLUND Economist, DIME World Bank Group

SUSUMU YOSHIDA Economist, DIME World Bank Group

THOMAS BRAND Consultant, DIME, World Bank Group

Marcus Holmlund is a Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) Economist and Impact Evaluation coordinator. He oversees and participates in a range of impact evaluations in diverse areas including health, local development, governance, and fragile states. His work centers on the structures and mechanisms needed to increase access and use of services by end-users, and to improve accountability for service delivery. Prior to joining DIME, Marcus worked with NGOs in Ecuador, Colombia, and Paraguay. Holmlund holds an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a BA from Oxford University, and is a licensed snowboard instructor. Susumu Yoshida is an Economist in DIME. He works on maintaining the database of Impact Evaluations as well as coordinating the portfolio of IDA financed projects. Before joining DIME, he has been conducting research on Child Labor and Conditional Cash Transfer programs (Programa de Erradicação do Trabalho Infantil: PETI and Bolsa Escola) in Bahia, Brazil. Yoshida holds a Diploma de Estudios Avanzados from Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, and is currently working on his PhD in Economics. Thomas Brand is a Consultant at DIME, where he is working with the Impact Evaluation Program for Transport and ICT. He is also a M.Sc. candidate in Finance and Management at the University of Mannheim, Germany. Previously, he worked for the evaluation department of KfW on public-private partnerships as well as in management consulting and the transport and logistics industry. Before starting his undergraduate study, he worked as a civil service volunteer for CEN-CINAI in Costa Rica

MICHELL DONG

Research Assistant, DIME World Bank Group

ISABELA FURTADO

Field Coordinator, DIME World Bank Group

GASTON GERTNER Consultant, IDB

Michell Dong is currently a Research Assistant with DIME. Especially, she is involved in the evaluation of agriculture and food security projects and health and nutrition projects. Michell holds a MA in Development Policy from KDI School of Public Policy, Seoul, Korea, and a BA in International Relations/ Economics from Wellesley College, Massachusetts. Isabela Furtado is currently working as Field Coordinator for DIME in Sao Paulo coordinating impact evaluations in several areas including agriculture, financial literacy and education. Previously, she worked at an NGO being responsible for producing reports about educational scenario in Brazil and data dissemination. Isabela holds a BA in Economics from Federal University of Minas Gerais and a master degree also in Economics from the Sao Paulo School of Economics at Fundação Getulio Vargas. Gastón Gertner is a consultant at the Office of Strategic Planning and Development at the Inter-American Development Bank. During his career at IDB, Gastón has supported the design and implementation of impact evaluations and household surveys for different sectors, including social protection, human development and water and sanitation. He is currently working on impact evaluations of community-based nutrition and early childhood development programs and water and sanitation development projects in Latin America. Gastón obtained his Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University where he specialized in Development Studies.

PAULA GONZALEZ


GIULIA PARZANI Consultant, DIME World Bank Group

MICHELLE PEREZ Consultant, IDB

ELKE ROSEMARIE SCHAFFLAND

Field Coordinator, DIME World Bank Group

Paula Gonzalez is a research assistant at DIME. She currently works supporting GAFSP Land Water and Husbandry project in Rwanda and is contributing to a chapter in a book on forced displacement through data analysis. Prior to joining DIME, Paula was working simultaneously at the Center of Economic Development Studies (CEDE) at Los Andes University and at the consulting firm QUANTIL S.A.S Applied Mathematics. Furthermore, she has volunteered in a few projects for the United Nations including the “Sponsorship Child Program” for the NGO “Goodness and Mercy Missions". She holds a MA in Economics and a BA in Economics from Los Andes University. Giulia Parzani is currently a consultant with the DIME unit, at the World Bank. Giulia holds a Masters in International Relations from the University of Bologna and a second Masters in International Affairs and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Michelle Pérez is a consultant at the Office of Strategic Planning and Development at the Inter-American Development Bank. She supports the design and implementation of impact evaluations, particularly from social sector interventions. Her areas of interest and research include topics related to health, nutrition, early childhood development, gender and elder population. Michelle holds a Master Degree in Development Economics from American University. Elke Rosemarie Schaffland is a Field Coordinator at the Agricultural Adaptation project (AADAPT) in Fortaleza, Brazil. Previously, she worked on Impact Evaluation of the Bolsa Família Cash Transfer and research related to Behavior Economics during her PhD. She has been involved in similar agricultural IE projects in Brazil, and most recently participating on the design of cell surveys regarding governance on health and education. She possesses a MA degree in Development Economics and a PhD in Behavior Development Economics at University of Göttingen, Germany.

CYNTHIA SOBIESKI


Cynthia Sobieski is currently a Research Assistant with DIME. Previously, she worked as a Field Coordinator for DIME for three years in the field, first in Bangladesh and then in Rwanda, coordinating impact evaluations on various topics within agriculture. Her main interests are in electronic data collection, data quality control, and questionnaire design. Cynthia holds a BA in Biology from Cornell University and a MA in Development Economics from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

GABRIEL AHLFELDT

Associate Professor, London School of Economics

Gabriel Ahlfeldt is Associate Professor of Urban Economics and Land Development, having joined the Department of Geography and Environment in October 2009 as a Lecturer. Dr. Ahlfeldt is an Affiliate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC), CESIfo, and an associate of the Centre for Metropolitan Studies, Berlin. His research concentrates on the effect of large transport projects, broadband, and architectural developments on various economic outcomes. He is also interested in how various agglomeration forces shape the spatial concentration of economic activity. Prior to joining the Department, he earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Hamburg and worked as a research assistant for the Free University of Berlin. Areas of Interest: Broadband Internet Real estate Rail impact

SIMON ALDER

Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

JULIA BIRD

Research Fellow in Economics University of Oxford

Simon Alder is currently Assistant Professor of Economics and Kaufman Family Global Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His fields of interest are Economic Growth and Development, Macroeconomics, Trade, Regional Economics, Political Economy, and Applied Econometrics. He has recently been working on projects that focus on the effect of transport infrastructure on economic development in India, the effect of special economic zones in China, and on structural change in the United States. Simon received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014. Areas of Interest: GIS Data Trade and Macroeconomics (Economic Growth) Julia Bird is postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, where she is working on a joint LSE/Oxford research project on urbanization in developing countries. Her research focuses on the role of infrastructure on urban areas, the political economy of investment and the spatial patterns of economic development. Julia has a Master’s Degree from Toulouse School of Economics, France and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Pembroke College, Cambridge University, United Kingdom. Julia is currently finishing her PhD at Toulouse School of Economics, France. Areas of Interest: Rural Roads SMEs Innovative data (GIS and a bit of remote sensing)

DAVID BONILLA

Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford

David Bonilla is a Senior Research Fellow at the Transport Studies Unit in the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford. He did his first degree in economics at London Guildhall University, London, UK; his MSc in Economics at Queen Mary College, University of London, supervised by Prof. V. Bulmer-Thomas; and his PhD on 'Japan's energy policy' at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Prior to his doctorate he was an energy economist, focusing on the transport sector, at the Japanese Institute of Energy Economics located in Tokyo. He has held research fellowships at the Venture Business Laboratory at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology; the Faculty of Economics, Cambridge University; and the Department of Land Economy at the Climate Change Mitigation Research Center (4CMR). David is interested in the interaction of several disciplines: economics, engineering and political issues affecting energy and environment. He is particularly interested in econometric applications, forecasting and scenario analysis of energy technologies in vehicle and freight markets, as well as on energy policy assessment and design. David is also a reviewer of several well-known energy related journals and has been a contributor for the UN's World Energy Assessment. Bonilla is editing a handbook on transport and development with Edward Elgar, and he recently published a paper on green logistics. He is an executive member of the UK University’s transport studies group.

GHARAD BRYAN

Assistant Professor, London School of Economics

Areas of interest: Climate Change and Environment Green freight transport Air quality Transport and economic growth Energy efficiency Urban transport policy Behavioral change and transport Gharad Bryan is Assistant Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and co-director of the IGC’s cities program. His main research interests relate to migration and urbanization in developing countries, and behavioral economics and poverty. Bryan received his PhD from Yale University. Areas of interest: Movement cost Allocation of labor

FRANCISCO COSTA

Assistant Professor, Getulio Vargas Foundatio

Francisco Costa is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Getulio Vargas Foundation, Graduate School of Economics (FGV/EPGE). Prior to joining FGV/EPGE, he received his PhD degree in Economics from the London School of Economics, where he was a member of STICERD. His primary research interests are Environmental/Energy Economics, Development Economics, and Applied Microeconomics. Areas of interest: Energy Efficiency Climate Change/Environment Labor Crime/Violence Migration

A. NILESH FERNANDO

Post-‐doctoral Scholar, Harvard University

A. Nilesh Fernando is Post-doctoral Scholar at the Department of Economics, Harvard University. He has a Ph.D. Degree in Public Policy jointly from Harvard University and Harvard Kennedy School. He is interested in development economics, labor economics, applied microeconomics and agricultural economics. His prior research has focused on understanding factors that influence the allocative efficiency of labor markets in rural India, and how ICT's can be used to improve agricultural productivity. He is particularly interested in how ICT's can be used to address frictions in labor markets in the developing world. Areas of Interest: Innovative Data collection (Mobile, Remote Sensing, GIS, etc.) Labor Mobile/Telecommunications Migration

TEEVRAT GARG

Research Officer at London School of Economics/ Assistant

Professor, UCSD

Teevrat Garg is a Research Officer at the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. In 2016, he will be commencing his appointment as Assistant Professor of Economics in the School of International Relations & Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego. His research interests are at the intersection of environmental and development economics with a particular emphasis in understanding the health implications of ecosystem and environmental degradation as well as management of common pool resources. Areas of Interest: Climate Change/Environment Innovative Data Collection

LAURENT GILLE

Professor of Economics at Télécom ParisTech, Paris

Laurent Gille is Professor of Economics at Télécom ParisTech since 2002, after serving for more than 25 years of strategic consulting functions in the area of transport and telecommunications. His research and teaching focus on the digital economy and its regulation. Laurent is a Statistician Economist, graduated from the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (ENSAE ParisTech). He has a PhD in Management Science. Areas of Interest: Broadband Internet Mobile/Telecommunications

JONATHAN HALL

Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

JACOB HOCHARD

Assistant Professor and Assistant Scientist, East Carolina University

Jonathan Hall is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and School of Public Policy and Governance. His areas of interest include urban economics, environmental economics, and industrial organization. His recent work is focuses on improving transportation policy with the goal of reducing traffic congestion, both because of its large direct costs, but also because of its large interactions with the environment and urban form. His dissertation was honored with the Best Dissertation Award by the Transportation and Public Utilities Group. Professor Hall received his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Areas of interest: Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) Road Safety Road Pricing/Funding Jacob Hochard is an applied natural resource and development economist at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. His work, highly interdisciplinary in nature, combines geospatial analysis, mathematical modeling and empirical analysis to examine feedback between natural and human systems. His recent research areas include: poverty persistence and public infrastructural investment; poverty persistence and household presence on marginal land; issues of equality in public good provision; linking pollution to health outcomes; using ecology and economics for management of ecosystem services; natural capital accounting and valuation. Hochard earned undergraduate degrees with honors in both economics and environmental studies from Gettysburg College in 2011 and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wyoming in 2015. Areas of Interest: Climate Change/Environment Remote Sensing and GIS Rural Roads

MAULIK JAGNANI

PhD Candidate, Cornell University

Maulik Jagnani is a PhD candidate in Applied Economics at Cornell University. His research interests include development economics, behavioral economics and applied econometrics. Before coming to Cornell, he worked as a Senior Research Associate at IFMR Centre for Micro Finance/ MIT Poverty Action Lab on the ‘Index-based Weather Insurance’ project in Gujarat, India. Maulik holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Tufts University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from University of Mumbai. Areas of Interest: Education Labor Gender

BENJAMIN LEARD

Fellow at Resources for the Future

FRANCISCO LIMA FILHO

Graduate Researcher at Getulio Vargas Foundation

Benjamin Leard is currently a Fellow researcher at Resources for the Future. Leard's research covers several areas of environmental and energy economics, with a particular focus on distributional issues in climate change policy and regulation in the transportation sector. His work on climate change has evaluated the tradeoffs between efficiency and distributional outcomes of several mechanisms for promoting emissions reductions from carbon offsets in cap-and-trade programs. In his work on transportation, Leard explores how fuel economy standards may impact consumers differently depending on the variation in consumer preferences for vehicle attributes. Leard received his PhD in Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, 2014. Previously he pursued his B.S. at James Madison University in Mathematics and Economics. Areas of interest: Energy Efficiency Road Safety Francisco Lima Filho is a graduate researcher at Getulio Vargas Foundation, Graduate School of Economics (FGV/EPGE). Lima Filho holds a Master in Economics at Getulio Vargas Foundation, Graduate School of Economics (FGV/EPGE), and BA in Economics at Federal University of Bahia. His primary research interests are Environmental/Resources Economics, and Development Economics. Areas of Interest: Climate Change/Environment Innovative Data collection

MELANIE MORTEN

Assistant Professor, Stanford University

ISABEL MUSSE

PhD Student, University of Illinois

Melanie Morten is Assistant Professor at Stanford University, Department of Economics. Her more recent working papers include “Economic Development and the Spatial Allocation of Labor: Evidence from Indonesia”; “Migration, Roads and Labor Market Integration: Evidence from a Planned Capital City”; “Temporary Migration and Endogenous Risk Sharing in Village India” and “A Personal Touch: Text Messaging for Loan Repayment.” Morten received her Ph.D. in Economics (with distinction) at Yale University in 2013. She received her B.Com at the University of Auckland in 2005. Area of interest: Migration Isabel Musse is a PhD a Student in Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focusing on topics related to Development Economics and Industrial Organization. Previously, she worked as a Field Coordinator in DIME, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, working with impact evaluations on post-conflict urban areas, and also as a Research Analyst in Itaú-Unibanco. Isabel holds a Master's Degree in Economics from Fundação Getulio Vargas. Areas of interest: Gender Crime-Violence

KARAN NAGPAL

DPhil, Department of Economics, University of Oxford

Karan Nagpal is a PhD candidate working on urbanization and the political economy of urban areas in developing countries. His MPhil thesis was about the relationship between formal property rights and housing investment in "resettlement localities" in Delhi. His current work includes a joint-project with Sam Asher (Oxford) and Paul Novosad (Dartmouth) on urbanization, industry agglomeration and local multipliers over the last 25 years in India, as well as a project on public service delivery in slums in southern India. Prior to starting the PhD, Karan worked as an economist with the Ministry of Commerce in Vanuatu, where he was involved in designing and securing donor assistance for infrastructure projects for tourism and productive sector development. Areas of Interest: Innovative Data Collection Urbanization and Agglomeration Urban Poverty Property Rights Tourism Projects

PAUL NOVOSAD

Assistant Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College

Paul Novosad is Assistant Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. He works on economic development, political economy and economic geography, mainly in India. His research explores how political and bureaucratic factors affect regional patterns of development. He also works on understanding patterns of rapid urbanization. Paul received his PhD and MPA in International Development at Harvard University. Areas of interests: Innovative data collection Labor Rural roads SMEs

DAVID PHILLIPS

Assistant Professor of Economics, Hope College

David Phillips is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hope College, Holland, Michigan. Prior to coming to Hope, he completed a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His research interests include the relationship between urban geography and poverty, public transit, crime, health systems in developing countries, and migration. He studies these topics using field experiments and quasi-experimental methods. His work has been published in top field journals including Journal of Development Economics, Labor Economics, and Regional Science and Urban Economics. Phillips consulted with the World Bank, Michigan Department of Corrections, and non-profit organizations (Jubilee Jobs in DC; Good Samaritan Ministries in Holland, MI). Areas of interests: Labor Crime Migration Health

VERA SAGALOV

Doctoral candidate, University of Göttingen

Vera Sagalov is a research assistant and doctoral candidate at the University of Göttingen, Germany. She works in the fields of health and development economics; in particular her work is focused on social determinants of health, evaluation of health interventions, and antimicrobial resistance. Areas of interest: Health Gender Behavioral Economics

STEPHANE STRAUB

Professor of Economics Toulouse School of Economics,

ARQADE

Stéphane Straub is a professor at the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) and head of the development lab there (ARQADE). He is specialized in issues of infrastructure, procurement, and more generally institutional development in the context of developing countries, on which he has published extensively. He has held academic positions in the US, the UK and France and is also a consultant for international institutions such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Previously, he spent 10 years in Latin America (Paraguay), where he worked among others as an entrepreneur, a private consultant, and a university professor. He also was an advisor to the planning minister of Paraguay from 1996 to 1998. Straub received his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Toulouse I, France. Before his current position, he has worked as Visiting Assistant Professor at the Michigan State University, USA and as Lecturer at the School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Areas of interests: Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) Procurement Institutional Quality (corruption, political connections, political institutions, etc.) Infrastructure (electricity, roads) Firms in general

EMILIA TJERNSTROM

PhD Candidate, UC Davis

LAURA VILLEGAS

Graduate Research Assistant, North Carolina State University

Emilia Tjernström is completing her PhD in the department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis. She will join the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the fall of 2015 as Assistant Professor of Public Affairs. Her main research interests include Development economics; Behavioral economics; Political economy; Environmental and resource economics. She is currently running a randomized control trial on the impact of a pro-poor maize hybrid in Western and Central Kenya, and working on a model to assess economic vulnerability using cellular data. Previous impact evaluations include that of a MCC-funded rural business development program in Nicaragua. Areas of interests: Climate Change/Environment Innovative Data collection (Mobile, Remote Sensing, GIS, etc.) Mobile/Telecommunications SMEs Poverty Agriculture Laura Villegas is a graduate research assistant of Agricultural and Resources Economics at North Carolina State University in the United States. Laura’s top personal and academic interests are rural development and the sustainable administration of natural resources. In particular, she would like to focus her study on topics that explore the synergy between agriculture and the environment in the context of developing countries and in the face of climate change. Although these areas may seem rather divorced from the focus of this conference, Laura is open minded and ultimately wants to work in an area that will improve social welfare of the more vulnerable agents in our communities (the poor and the environment, for example). A holistic approach to development is in her mind the only approach to culturally, socially and economically harmonious growth. The interconnection between rural and urban areas is not trivial, and the transition from one to the other may be especially difficult for marginal social groups. This transition may signify poverty for many migrants, thus, she believes the work being discussed in this conference is highly relevant for her larger worldview and career goals. Areas of interest: Climate Change/Environment Energy Efficiency

SEBASTIAN VOLLMER

Assistant Professor, University of Göttingen

KATE VYBORNY

Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University

RUI WANG

Assistant Professor, Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA

Sebastian Vollmer is Assistant Professor of Development Economics at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Göttingen. In Göttingen he teaches courses on global health and development economics in the Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research foci are in the fields of equity and growth as well as public health. After graduating with a degree in Mathematics and Economics at the University of Göttingen, Sebastian Vollmer received his doctoral degree in Development Economics also in Göttingen and afterwards conducted postdoctoral studies at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. Areas of interest: Gender Health Kate Vyborny is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Economics at Duke University. She is also a visiting faculty member at the Lahore School of Economics and at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan. Vyborny is currently working on two projects on public transportation in urban Pakistan: a Randomized Controlled Trial testing the impact of public transport, and a quasi-experimental project estimate the labor market impacts of a Bus Rapid Transit line in Lahore, Pakistan, joint with Hadia Majid and Ammar Malik. Vyborny completed her D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford. She obtained her B.A. in Economics and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. Areas of interest: Labor Gender Professor Rui Wang specializes in the policy analysis and behavior foundation of urban transportation and how it relates to community livability and local and regional development. He teaches in the Departments of Urban Planning and Public Policy, directs the UCLA Chinese Planning Professional Training Program, and serves on the Editorial Board of U.S. DOT’s Journal of Transportation and Statistics. Professor Rui Wang has consulted with the Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the World Bank. Wang received his Ph.D. in Public Policy at Harvard University in 2008. Previously he received his M.S. in Geography (2002) and bachelors in Economics and in Natural Resources and Environmental Ecology (2000) at Peking University. Areas of Interest: Climate Change/Environment Energy Efficiency

JAMILAH WELCH

PhD student at The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Jamilah Welch is a PhD student at Tufts University, and the Associate Director of the Institute for Business in the Global Context. Her areas of concentration are Development Economics & International Finance. Welch obtained her BS in Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Studies and her BA in International Relations at the University of Southern California. Areas of interest: Mobile/Telecommunications PPP

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