David McLennan | Chair
Primary research interests include the measurement and analysis of poverty and deprivation at small area level; spatial inequalities; and tax-benefit microsimulation. Extensive experience of working with large scale government administrative data.
Contributor to the SOUTHMOD and SA-TIED programmes, working with countries across sub-Saharan Africa and Viet Nam.
Binh Minh Tran | Presenter
Ms. Tran Binh Minh is now the Deputy Director of Department for Sectoral and Industrial Policy Studies, Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), Ministry of Planning and Investment. She has been working at CIEM for 18 years and was previously principal researcher of Department for General Economic Issues and Integration Studies, CIEM. She holds the Master in Development Economics of Vietnam - Netherlands Master Programs, National Economics University and Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies, Institute of Developing Economies Advanced School, Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO, Japan. She has been involved in a lot of studies related to macroeconomic policies, sectoral and industries policy, integration and development.
Ms. Minh has been involved in the SOUTHMOD Project (Viet Nam team) since the start of VNMOD (2016). She has also been a key member in the team for providing training and handling-over of VNMOD to other interested partners.
Vincent Leyaro | Presenter
Dr Vincent Leyaro is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics of the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. He was previously an Associate Economics Affairs Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. Dr Leyaro is also an External Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Economic Development and International Trade (CREDIT) at the University of Nottingham, UK. He completed a PhD in Economics from the University of Nottingham in UK in 2010.
Dr Leyaro maintains primary research interests in the areas of trade, trade policy reforms and regional integration; labour markets analysis; household survey analysis with focus on poverty and inequality; political economy with focus on state effectiveness and social protection.
Miselo Bwalya | Presenter
Miselo Bwalya is a Research Fellow at Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR). He is trained economist and possesses over 9 years conducting economic and public policy analysis. He holds a Master’s of Arts Degree in Economic and Policy Management and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics from the University of Zambia. Miselo’s primary research interests are on Poverty and Human Development. Miselo is a core team member Zambia team that leads work using the MicroZAMOD. Miselo also serves on various national technical committees tasked with the development and review of key policies in Zambia. These include technical committee to review the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), Eighth National Development Plan and Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Prince Baah | Presenter
Prince Baah is an economist-in-training, and a research enthusiast who is passionate about contributing to development through impactful research.
His research interests include taxation and public welfare, enterprise welfare and development, social networks and trade preference utilization, and SME advocacy. Prince is Ghanaian who resides in Accra, Ghana with his wife and two kids.
Finório Castigo | Presenter
Finório de Laurina Castigo is an expert at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Mozambique, Master in Statistical Modelling and Data Analysis from the University of Évora in Portugal. With extensive experience in the production of Poverty Assessment in Mozambique, using the Household Budget Survey (IOF). Member of the national team of MOZMOD, since its implementation in Mozambique, where he also conducted several studies on tax-benefit microsimulation model for Mozambique.
Jesse Lastunen | Discussant
Jesse Lastunen is a research associate at UNU-WIDER, where his work focuses on tax-benefit microsimulation models. He has previously worked for organizations such as OECD, RAND Corporation, Internet Association, and the Technopolis Group, conducting policy-oriented research on labour markets and emerging technologies.
Jesse received his PhD in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, with analytical concentrations in economics and quantitative methods. He has master’s degrees in international economics and technology policy.
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