Meet the Team
The Enterprise Analysis Unit of the World Bank is a team of economists and firm-level survey experts drawing on this wealth of firm-level data from developing countries to produce research on the micro-economic foundations of growth. Their findings and recommendations are helping policy makers identify, prioritize and implement reforms of policies and institutions that support efficient private economic activity. Key research topics of the unit include firm performance and heterogeneity, access to finance and financial market imperfections, informality, and export performance.
Contact: Enterprise Surveys
International Finance Corporation2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC, 20433 USA
Tel. (202) 473-3800
Fax (202) 974-4384
Email: rru@worldbank.org
Mohammad Amin
Mohammad Amin is a private sector development specialist with the Enterprise Analysis Unit. He joined the team in October 2006. Prior to joining the Enterprise Analysis Unit he served as a consultant with the Development Economics Research Group of The World Bank. His research areas include international trade, international migration, institutional economics and regulation. His most research work focuses on the impact of regulation and competition on the performance of retail stores in India. Mohammad holds a PhD in Economics from Columbia University. Click here for a listing of Mohammad's latest research.Penelope J. Brook
Penelope Brook took on the role of Director of the Indicators Analysis Department, responsible inter alia for Enterprise Surveys, in April 2008. Throughout her time at the World Bank Group, Penelope has focused on private sector development and infrastructure sector reform, with a particular emphasis on the pro-poor aspects of reform processes and sector policies. Earlier in her career, Penelope was engaged in the reform process in New Zealand, working in both the public and the private sectors on issues ranging from utility and labor market reform to the settlement of indigenous land and resource claims. She holds a DPhil in economics from Oxford University.David C. Francis
David Francis joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in April 2010. Prior to joining EA, he served as a researcher at Princeton University, where his work focused on patterns of preferential trade agreements, foreign direct investment, and the governance of the global economic system. He holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs, International Economic Policy from Columbia University and has completed consultancies for the Inter-American Development Bank and the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. Rose Gachina
Rose joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a Program Assistant in September, 2009. Her prior experience in the Bank includes working as a Program Assistant in the Kenya Country office for 12 years and the Independent Evaluation Group for 7 years. Prior to joining the Bank, Rose worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, an audit and management consultancy firm. Rose is currently studying towards a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. She holds a higher Diploma in Business Administration and Management from the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM). Sarah Iqbal
Sarah Iqbal joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2009 after working with the World Bank's Doing Business team. She is working on the Gender Law Library. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law, and a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). Prior to joining the World Bank, she practiced law in California and is a member of the California Bar.Asif Islam
Asif Islam joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2009. His prior experience includes working for the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (IEG). Asif is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland - College Park. His research interests includes Government fiscal policy, regulation, environment, education, and growth. He holds a masters degree in Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland - College Park.Arvind Jain
Arvind Jain joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2008. Prior to joining the Bank/IFC, Arvind worked as a Statistician at the RAND Corporation working on domestic health policy and civil justice research. At RAND he focused on project evaluation and conducting statistical analyses. He currently works on Enterprise Survey implementation and monitoring the data collection process and also specializes in statistical issues regarding survey sampling and end-user analysis. Arvind holds a Master’s degree in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan.Veselin Kuntchev
Veselin Kuntchev joined the Enterprise Analysis team in 2006, after three years working for the World Bank. He is working on the design, implementation and monitoring of the enterprise surveys. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked in the European Central Bank. Veselin holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from Thames Valley University in London and postgraduate degrees in economics from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia and in public and international management from the University of Lecce in Italy.Khrystyna Kushnir
Khrystyna Kushnir joined the Enterprise Analysis Team in April 2010. She is working on micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSME) in all of the world’s economies, as well as on creation of a universal definition of MSME. Previously, Khrystyna worked as a Research Assistant for Central and Eastern Europe at the Heritage Foundation, where she updated the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom. Khrystyna also worked, as a Research Analyst, for the Japanese consultancy Washington CORE on Russian and Asian markets. Earlier, she worked for the European Union on technical assistance and communications in Ukraine and Belarus. Khrystyna holds MA in International Economic Relations from the American University and is a Fulbright scholar. Jorge Rodríguez Meza
Jorge Rodríguez Meza joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2005. Prior to joining the unit, Jorge worked in the areas of access to finance and poverty as Senior Researcher of the Rural Finance Program of the Ohio State University and as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank. He is a survey specialist in the unit who currently works in survey implementation and his research interests are access to finance and financial development. He holds a PhD in Economic Development from Ohio State University and a Master’s Degree from Queen Mary and Westfield College of the University of London.Minh Nguyen
Minh Nguyen joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2008 and has been consulting for the World Bank since 2007. He currently works with Enterprise Surveys’ implementation and management, and supports researchers on the team. In addition to his research interests in economics development and micro-econometrics, his current research areas include private sector development, firms’ productivity, and gender topics in firm analysis. He holds a PhD in Economics from American University.Rita Ramalho
Rita Ramalho recently joined the Enterprise Analysis team. Previously she worked with the Doing Business team since 2003. Ms. Ramalho has worked on the Dealing with Construction Permits, Paying Taxes, and Closing a Business indicators. She co-authored the joint publication World Bank Group/PricewaterhouseCoopers – Paying Taxes-the Global Picture both first and second editions. She has done research on business regulations in several developing countries, including Angola, Mozambique and Timor-Leste. Ms. Ramalho holds a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her previous research focuses on the impact of regulation on economic variables such as growth, where she finds that better business regulations can lead to more growth. Currently she is researching tax policy around the world and entrepreneurship (The effect of corporate taxes on investment and entrepreneurship); labor regulations (Employment laws in developing countries) and size of informal sector. She speaks Portuguese and is conversant in Spanish.Federica Saliola
Federica Saliola joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2007, after working for the World Bank for two years. Her prior experience at the World Bank includes being a consultant for the Development Economics Research group and for the Middle East and North Africa region. She currently works on Enterprise Surveys implementation, development and management, and her research interests are private sector development and firms’ productivity. Federica holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Rome III.Murat Seker
Murat Seker joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2008. His main fields of interest are industrial organization, international trade and growth and development. To this day, his research has focused on exploring firm and industry dynamics and understanding the aggregate consequences of their evolution. He has worked on explaining the micro foundations of economic growth in Chile in the late 1980s and early 90s. He is currently interested in the effects of trade orientation of firms on their evolution. He holds a PhD in Economics from University of Minnesota.Joshua Wimpey
Joshua Wimpey joined the Enterprise Analysis team in 2007 after working as a consultant for the World Bank for two years. His prior experience includes working as a consultant for the World Bank Institute Evaluations Group as well as consulting to USAID contractor DevTech Systems’ data management team. He currently works with Enterprise Surveys implementation and management and supports researchers on the team. Josh holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.Judy Yang
Judy Yang joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2009. Judy provides support for the data management and research team. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked for the U.S. Department of Labor in the Division of International Labor Comparisons. Judy is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Georgetown University. Her research interest includes migration, microeconometrics, and trade. Ms. Yang speaks Mandarin.