Simeon Dyankov
Simeon Dyankov (, also Djankov; born July 13, 1970) is a Bulgarian economist. From 2009 to 2013, he was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria in the government of Boyko Borisov. Prior to his cabinet appointment, Dyankov was a chief economist of the finance and private sector vice-presidency of the World Bank. He was an associate editor of the "Journal of Comparative Economics" from 2004 to 2009. Dyankov was a chairman of the board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. From 2013 to 2015, he was appointed rector of the New Economic  School in Moscow. Since November 2015, Dyankov was a research fellow of the Financial Markets Group at the London School of Economics. At the World Bank, Dyankov was director of development economics. He was involved in the publication of World Development Reports and Doing Business reports. The Doing Business reports were discontinued by the World Bank in 2021 after an independent inquiry documented how Dyankov, along with then World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, pressured staff to manipulate the results of Doing Business Reports, in particular making data for China and Saudi Arabia look better. The Board of the IMF, after  a separate review, found no evidence for these claims. Since April 2020, Dyankov has been policy director at the Financial Markets Group at the London School of Economics. He has also been a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Early life. Dyankov was born in Lovech, Bulgaria on July 13, 1970, Dyankov attended high school "Ekzarh Yosif I" in Lovech (1984–1989). In 1989, he passed the entrance exam to the Karl Marx Institute of Economics (now University of National and World Economy). He holds a 1997 doctorate from the University of Michigan, on the topic "Three Essays  on the Economics of Transition". His main thesis advisor was Alan Deardorff. Academia. Dyankov has published in journals such as American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Finance, and the Journal of Financial Economics. He co-edited the book "The Resolution of Financial Distress" with Stijn Claessens and Ashoka Mody. Dr. Dyankov was one of the creators of the Human Capital Index, first published in the World Development Report 2019, which he co-directed. The academic study describing the index construction was published in the leading science journal "Nature". Harvard Kennedy  School. After leaving the government of Boyko Borisov, Dyankov joined the Harvard Kennedy School as visiting faculty. His teaching is focused on the politics of development. During his time at Harvard, Dyankov edited a special issue of the "Journal of Comparative Economics" on the 25th anniversary from the start of transition in Eastern Europe. Jointly with Anders Aslund at the Atlantic Council, he co-authored a book on the transformation from communism. The book contains chapters by Leszek Balcerowicz on Poland, Vaclav Klaus on the Czech Republic, Lajos Bokros on Hungary, Ivan Miklos on Slovakia, and Mart Laar on Estonia . New Economic School. In October 2013, it was announced that the board of directors of private Moscow-based university New Economic School (NES) also known as the Russian Economic School had approved Dyankov as its rector. During the tenure of Dyankov as Rector, the New Economic School relocated to a new campus in the Skolkovo Innovation Center. Think tanks. In 2008, Dyankov established the think-tank Ideas42, jointly with Antoinette Schoar (MIT Sloan), Eldar Shafir (Princeton) and Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard). Dyankov joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in 2013 and re-joined it in 2020. World Bank. Dyankov has  worked for the World Bank since 1995. In 1997, he participated in a World Bank enterprise restructuring project in Georgia. For his work in the transformation of the Georgian economy, Dr Dyankov was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Tbilisi in June 2021. Doing Business scandal. Dyankov is the creator of the annual Doing Business report, the top-selling publication of the World Bank Group. The report came out of joint research work with Professor Andrei Shleifer at Harvard University, and was inspired by Dyankov's experience in overly-regulated socialist economies. In a 2016 article for  the "Journal of Economic Perspectives" Dyankov explains how Doing Business started. The reports were discontinued by the World Bank in September 2021, following the release of an independent audit of the data irregularities. The audit documented how Dyankov, along with World Bank head Kristalina Georgieva, pressured staff to manipulate the results of Doing Business Reports, in particular making data for China and Saudi Arabia look better. The Board of the IMF, after a separate review, found no evidence for these claims. Political career. Dyankov has been both Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria. Minister of Finance of  Bulgaria. On July 27, 2009, Dyankov became Minister of Finance of Bulgaria. He reduced budget spending and managed to cut the budget deficit for 2009 to 4.4%. In 2010 it met the Maastricht criteria – 3%, falling to 2% in 2011 and 0.45% in 2012. On December 1, 2009, Standard&Poors upgraded Bulgaria's investment outlook from "negative" to "stable," the only country in the European Union to receive an upgrade that year. On numerous occasions, Minister Dyankov stated that two successive terms are needed to complete the reforms that would lead Bulgaria from poorest to middle-income country by Central European  standards. Soon after, Parliament adopted the so-called Golden Rules in the organic budget law: the government cannot surpass a deficit of 2% of GDP and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 40% in any given year. Dyankov was a member of the GERB cabinet, but not a party member. At the second GERB party congress Dyankov urged delegates to lead such policies that the party wins a second term with full majority in parliament. This is needed, he said, to complete the reforms that would lead Bulgaria from poorest to middle-income country by Central European standards. Soon  after, Parliament adopted the so-called Golden Rules in the organic budget law: the government cannot surpass a deficit of 2% of GDP and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 40% in any given year. Dyankov believes in his role as an expert rather than a politician and even though he is a member of the GERB cabinet, he is not a member of the GERB party. In February 2013, Dyankov resigned in protest of the decision by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to advance subsidies to farmers. On February 20, 2013, PM Borisov announced the resignation of the government  due to increasing levels of violence in the protests due to high electricity prices. Dyankov continued to serve as finance minister until a caretaker government was formed a month later. Personal life. Dyankov is married to the Columbia University economist Caroline Freund, and has two children.