William F. Maloney
William F. Maloney is Chief Economist for the Latin America and Caribbean region in the World Bank Group. Previously he was Chief Economist for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, and Trade and Competitiveness; he was also Global Lead on Innovation and Productivity. Prior to the Bank, he was a Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1990-1997) and after not receiving tenure there he joined, working as Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America until 2009. From 2009 to 2014, he was Lead Economist in the Development  Economics Research Group. From 2011 to 2014 he was Visiting Professor at the University of the Andes and worked closely with the Colombian government on innovation and firm upgrading issues. Mr. Maloney received his PhD in economics from the University of California Berkeley (1990), his BA from Harvard University (1981), and he studied at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Colombia (1982–83). He has published in academic journals on issues related to international trade and finance, developing country labor markets, and innovation and growth as well as several flagship publications of the Latin American division of the Bank, including  Informality: Exit and Exclusion;  "Natural Resources: Neither Curse nor Destiny" and "Lessons from NAFTA", "Does What you Export Matter:" "In Search of Empirical Guidance for Industrial Policy". Most recently, he published "The innovation paradox: Developing Country Capabilities the Unrealized Potential of Technological Catch-Up" and "Harvesting Prosperity: Technology and Productivity Growth in Agriculture" as part of "the World Bank Productivity Project". Recent work on how individuals react to COVID-19 appeared in VOX-EU His work has been referenced in the New York Times, the Financial Times, The Economist as well as in press throughout Latin America and Asia. He has  appeared on CNN en Español, National Public Radio, Vietnamese National Television among other venues. According to Research Papers in Economics (RePec), Maloney is ranked among the top 10% of economists worldwide, based on publications and scholarly citations.