He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and has specialized in macroeconomics with a focus on the political economy of fiscal policy and economic growth. His research has been published in academic journals in Europe and the United States, including the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Public Economics, and the European Economic Review and also appeared in edited volumes of Harvard University Press, MIT Press, and Cambridge University Press. He has undertaken research projects for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Harvard Institute for International Development, and the Banco de Portugal. His work has received comments in the general press in the United States (New York Times) and in Portugal.