Norman Loayza is Director of the Global Indicators Group at the World Bank. Previously, he was a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group and managed the Asia hub of the Research Group, based in Malaysia. He was director of the World Development Report 2014, Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development. His research has dealt with various areas of economic and social development, including macroeconomic management, economic growth, microeconomic flexibility, private and public saving, financial depth and stability, natural disasters, and crime and violence. His advisory experience at the World Bank has also ranged across different topics in various regions and countries. A few examples include business environment and economic performance in Latin America; informal and formal labor markets in the Middle East and Northern Africa; public infrastructure gaps in Pakistan and Egypt; savings for macroeconomic stability and growth in Sri Lanka, Georgia, and Egypt; and pro-poor growth in Indonesia and Peru. On external service from the World Bank, he was a Senior Economist at the Central Bank of Chile (1999-2000), where he advised on financial and monetary policy. Norman has edited 10 books and published dozens of papers in professional journals and edited volumes. A Peruvian national, he holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University (1994).

Jorge Rodríguez Meza has been the Program Manager of the Enterprise Analysis Unit at the World Bank since 2012. He has been with the Unit since 2005 when he joined the organization. Over these years, he has worked on projects measuring the business environment and its impact on development in all regions of the world. Most of this data collection work has translated into an extensive list of research published in journals, reports, and policy notes on issues as varied as access to finance, corruption, job creation, productivity, firm dynamics and experimental data collection. Prior to joining the World Bank, and after completing his doctorate degree, Jorge worked for five years as a Senior Researcher of the Rural Finance Program of The Ohio State University. During his tenure he combined his experience on data collection with research on poverty measurement, microfinance, and financial access by marginal sectors of society. Jorge holds a PhD and an MA in Economics from The Ohio State University and a Master of Science in Economics from Queen Mary and Westfield College of the University of London. His areas of expertise are applied research on financial and private sector development, industrial organization, data collection, and survey implementation.

Gemechu joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2013 and works on survey implementation and analytical research. Prior to that, he worked in the Research and in the Development Prospects Divisions of the World Bank's Development Economics Vice Presidency. Before joining the Bank, Gemechu was a Researcher at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI). He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sussex. His research interests include access to finance, financial sector development, entrepreneurship, and development economics.

Mohammad Amin is a Senior Economist 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.

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.

Arvind Jain is a Senior Economist/Statistician in the Enterprise Analysis Unit and works on firm-level survey implementation projects. He has managed Enterprise Surveys data collection projects in a variety of settings, including fragile and conflict affected states including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Myanmar as well as several South Asian and East Asia Pacific countries. In addition to survey management projects, he has prepared analytical reports using the data and has also designed and implemented reimbursable advisory services projects in Malaysia. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2008, 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. Arvind holds a Master's degree in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan.

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.

Nesma Joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as an Economist in October 2023. Prior to joining the unit, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE, Heinrich-Heine-Universität). She also worked as a consultant for the World Bank East-Asia and Pacific Chief Economist’s Office where she conducted research on firms’ resilience to the Covid pandemic. Before that, she led extensive field work in Africa through her work as a consultant for Davis University of California. Nesma holds a Ph. D in Economics from Paris-Est University and master’s degree in development economics from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Her research interests primarily lie between the fields of empirical industrial organization and development economics, focusing on several topics including foreign direct investment incentives on market power, the impact of M&A, and the impact of informality and cronyism on firm performance.

Norma Gomez joined the Enterprise Analysis team in 2023. She holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics from The Ohio State University, an M.Sc. in Economics from the same university, and an M.P.A. from Columbia University in New York. She is an Economist from Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Prior to joining the unit, Norma was the Director of Housing and Executive Director of the National Housing Fund - FONVIVIENDA in the Ministry of Housing of Colombia, where she was responsible for the design and implementation of the country's housing policy, as well as the allocation of housing subsidies for the most vulnerable families. Previously, she served as advisor for the Private Sector Development Unit of the National Planning Department (DNP) working on topics of Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Financial Inclusion. Before, Norma led all public policy evaluations of the National Government as Evaluation Coordinator at DNP. She has been a consultant for the Ohio Education Research Center, the World Bank Group, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Filip Jolevski joined the Enterprise Analysis team in 2016. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at George Mason University. Prior to joining the Enterprise Analysis Unit, Filip was Special Projects Manager and Research Fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership where he worked on modeling trade dynamics and spread of infectious diseases. Before that, he was a Research Assistant at the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation. His research interests include industry dynamics, financial and private sector development, the informal sector of the economy, and applied microeconomics.

Nona Karalashvili joined the Enterprise Analysis team as a consultant in July 2014. Prior to joining the Enterprise Analysis Unit, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Maryland, College Park, and in the Development Research Group at the World Bank. Her experience includes work in various key advising positions in the government of Georgia. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Master's degree in Economics from the Central European University. Her research interests span the fields of economics, psychology, and anthropology, with a focus on institutional economics.

Hibret joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as an Economist in November 2018. He currently works on implementation and analysis of Enterprise Surveys (ES). Prior to joining the unit, he worked at the World Bank’s Development Research Group. He received his PhD in Economics from Maastricht University. His broad research interests include enterprise development, productivity measurement and international trade.

Davide joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as an Economist in September 2022. Previously, he worked in different units with the World Bank carrying out different roles, including data manager for the World Development Report 2022 and co-author of the report The Innovation Imperative for Developing East Asia. He also holds an Honorary Lecturer position with the University of Edinburgh Business School. His most recent research focuses broadly on the role of the financial sector for firm performance, covering topics such as the design of prudential regulation for the stability of the banking sector, financing the recovery after natural disasters, and the role of a firm financial structure for innovation and productivity. Before joining the World Bank, Davide was an Assistant Professor in Business Economics at the University of Edinburgh Business School and a financial consultant for large European banks. His work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals and reports, such as the British Journal of Management, the European Journal of Operational Research, the Journal of Financial Stability, the Global Financial Development Report 2019-2020, and the World Development Report 2022.

Caroline Nogueira joined the Enterprise Analysis team as an Economist in August 2023. Prior to joining the unit, she worked in different Global Practices within the World Bank focusing on analytical and operational work related to private sector development, firm dynamics, technology adoption, and trade. Her expertise includes designing, implementing, and analyzing complex firm-level surveys and impact evaluations, with extensive field experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Prior to joining the Bank, Caroline worked at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC). She holds an MPhil in Development Economics and is a PhD Candidate in Economics at University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne.

William Soh joined the Enterprise Analysis team as a consultant in September 2018. He currently works on implementation and analysis of Enterprise Surveys. Prior to joining the unit, William was a research and teaching associate in Monash University for four years. William holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Monash University, specializing in development economics. His research interest include human capital formation, identity economics, education policies, and affirmative action policies.

M Nazım Tamkoç joined the Enterprise Analysis team as an Economist in 2020 Summer. He obtained his PhD in Economics at Arizona State University and his Master's degree in Economics at Boğaziçi University. He is a quantitative macroeconomist and his current research interests are economic development, misallocation, corruption and inequality.

Domenico joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit in 2019. His interests span the field of social sciences, with a special focus on applied economics, psychology, and methodology. His prior experience includes working both as a researcher – Bocconi University, Stockholm School of Economics, and George Mason University – and as a consultant in the private sector. Before joining the World Bank, in a series of multi-disciplinary projects he studied how tools like prediction markets and crowdsourcing can be used to enhance the credibility of social science research. Domenico holds a Master’s Degree from Bocconi University in Economics and Social Sciences and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Eugenia Rodríguez joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2023. She holds a Master of Public Policy with a concentration in International Development from the Sanford School of Public Policy of Duke University. She also graduated from an advanced education program in Quantitative Methods and holds a BSc in Economics from Universidad ORT Uruguay. Prior to joining the unit, she worked in economics research, policy, and diplomacy. Her interests are at the intersection of international development, trade, public policy, and economics.

Kohei Ueda joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2019. Prior to joining the team, he worked as a part-time economist at Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and briefly as a consultant for a different project at the World Bank on the effects of Syrian conflicts on poverty and living conditions. He holds an M.S. degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from University of Maryland, College Park. 

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).

Andrea Blake-Fough joined the Enterprise Analysis team as a consultant in January 2016. Prior to joining the unit, Andrea worked as a research assistant for the Center for Urban Progress where her work focused on access to affordable housing, asset building strategies and community development programs. Andrea holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of the West Indies and an MBA from Howard University.

Yaya joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2021. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has worked for 2 years as a research assistant at ISID (Institute for the Study of International Development), helping to establish a link between policy analysts from developing countries and professors from McGill University to build research and analytical capacity. He holds an MA in Economics from the Université Laval, Canada, and a master’s degree in applied Statistics from ENSAE (National School of Statistics) of Dakar, Senegal. His research focuses on the fields of labour economics and applied micro-econometrics in both developed and developing countries.

Aayushi Gupta joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant. Simultaneously, she is also working as a research assistant at the University of Maryland. She has completed her MS in applied economics from the Department of Economics, University of Maryland. Prior to that she completed her MA in economics from Panjab University, and her BCom. with Hons in accountancy and business statistics from University of Rajasthan. She takes great pleasure in studying political and industrial economics. Her diverse internship experiences encompass finance, economics, research, policymaking, and data analysis, showcasing her versatility and adaptability. Her enthusiasm for exploring new areas of knowledge serves as a solid foundation for her ultimate ambition of pursuing a PhD. Notably, she nurtures a profound interest in econometrics, which continues to inspire her to delve deeper into this field of study.

Siyun He joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2022. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She received her MSc in Risk Management and Financial Engineering from Imperial College Business School and a BSc in Mathematics from Durham University in the UK. Siyun’s research interests primarily lie within the fields of econometrics and finance with a focus on causal inference, time series analysis, and machine learning.

Seongyoon Kim joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2023. He is a Ph.D. student of Economics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He received his BA in Economics and Mathematics from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) in the United Arab Emirates. Seongyoon's research interests primarily lie between the fields of development economics, international economics, and environmental economics. He is also interested in economic applications of optimal transport theory. 

Ziqiao joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2023. She is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Maryland. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Economics from Wake Forest University. Her research interests include public finance, industrial organization, digital platforms, and child care.

Danny Turkson joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2023. He is a PhD Economics student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Prior to this, he earned his MA in Applied Economics from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. In addition, he holds a BA in Economics and Statistics, as well as an MPhil in Economics from the University of Ghana. Danny’s primary research interests lie in applied micro-econometrics, with a specific focus on labor economics, health economics, and industrial organization. 

Maria Xafa-Argenton joined the Enterprise Analysis team as a consultant in 2022. Before joining the unit, Maria worked as a research analyst in the Economics and Private Sector Development Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. At the IFC, she provided economic research and data analytical work for market impact assessments. She previously held consulting positions in the private sector.  Maria received a Master of Science in Finance and Investment Management from the University of London. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her broad interests include empirical analyses grounded in macroeconomics and microeconomics, trade and private sector development, and economic applications of game theory.

Altug Yildiz joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2022. He is a PhD student at the Department of Economics at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. He received his MA in Quantitative Methods in Economics from Columbia University, and BSc in Business Management from King’s College London. Altug’s research interests include public finance and policy evaluation.

Mengyi Zhong joined the Enterprise Analysis Unit as a consultant in 2023. She is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Maryland. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics and Economics from the University of Maryland. Her areas of research interest consist of industry organization, behavioral economics, digital economics, and information economics.