Daniel Kaufmann, Leading Expert on Governance and Development, Joins Brookings

Daniel Kaufmann, a leading expert, researcher and adviser on governance and development, has joined Brookings as a senior fellow, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced today.

Kaufmann is a world renowned writer on governance, corruption and development, who has pioneered new approaches to diagnose and analyze country governance. Most recently he served as director at the World Bank Institute, where he and colleagues developed worldwide indicators on governance and techniques to assist countries prepare action programs. At the World Bank, Kaufmann also held senior positions focused on finance, regulation and anti-corruption, as well as on capacity building for Latin America. Kaufmann also served as lead economist both in the post-socialist transition economies as well as in the World Bank’s research department, and earlier in his career was a senior economist in Africa.

As a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings, Kaufmann will continue to focus on innovative areas of governance, development and anti-corruption.

“We are delighted to welcome Daniel to Brookings. His research has made a definitive contribution to the world’s understanding of the critical role of governance in development and we welcome his leadership on these issues at Brookings,” said Lael Brainard, vice president and director, Global Economy and Development, and the holder of the Bernard L. Schwartz Chair in International Economics.

In the early nineties, Kaufmann was the first Chief of Mission of the World Bank to Ukraine, and then he held a visiting position at Harvard University, prior to resuming his career at the World Bank. His research on economic development, governance, the unofficial economy, macro-economics, investment, corruption, privatization, and urban and labor economics has been published in leading journals.

Kaufmann is a Chilean national who received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics at Harvard, and a B.A. in Economics and Statistics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.