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Three economists strengthen ties with BSE and Barcelona
Bruno Conte and Lídia Farré have officially joined the BSE research community as Affiliated Professors, and Albert Bravo-Biosca has joined as a BSE Research Fellow.
This winter, the Barcelona School of Economics formally welcomed BSE Affiliated Professors Bruno Conte (UPF and BSE) and Lídia Farré (IAE-CSIC and BSE), as well as BSE Research Fellow Albert Bravo-Biosca (IGL-Nesta and BSE). All three of these economists have been active throughout the years in the Barcelona economics community as well as BSE's academic programs and research initiatives.
The world is a policy laboratory
Albert Bravo-Biosca's connection to Economics in Barcelona goes all the way back to his undergraduate degree, which he obtained at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in 2000. His graduate studies took him abroad, first to the London School of Economics for his Master's and then to Harvard University for his PhD.
His professional career has been primarily based in the UK, where he is Director of the Innovation Growth Lab (IGL-Nesta), a research laboratory that conducts experiments and Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) all over the world in order to inform innovation and growth policy.
Since 2012, Bravo-Biosca has traveled to Barcelona to share his expertise on innovation policy as a guest professor in the BSE Master's programs. In 2020, BSE agreed to host IGL's Barcelona office, whose current team includes five researchers and analysts.
Albert Bravo-Biosca (right) at the signing of the agreement between IGL, BSE, and the City of Barcelona in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic put many plans on hold.
Barcelona by way of São Paulo, Bologna, and the World Bank
After beginning his Economics training in his native São Paulo and then in Bologna, Bruno Conte arrived in Barcelona in 2013 to pursue his Master's at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and his PhD in the IDEA Program (UAB and BSE). In his spare time, he became fluent in Spanish and Catalan!
While working for the World Bank and the University of Bologna, Conte visited Barcelona to teach BSE Master's, Summer School, and Executive Education courses on topics related to his research on Environmental and Development Economics using tools from Spatial Economics and International Trade.
Now back full-time in Barcelona as an assistant professor at UPF and a BSE Affiliated Professor, Conte is continuing his teaching activities and producing new research with colleagues in the BSE research community.
Bruno Conte participating in BSE Summer Forum 2018 as an IDEA PhD student. He also returned for other editions of the Summer Forum between IDEA and returning to BSE as an Affiliated Professor.
There's no place like home
The city of Barcelona and its Economics community are woven throughout Lídia Farré's education and career. She got her undergraduate degree in Economics at UPF (in fact, she and Albert Bravo-Biosca graduated with the same cohort!). She also earned a postgraduate degree in Economic Analysis from UAB before heading to Florence for her PhD at the European University Institute.
Farré was a BSE Affiliated Professor from 2009-2013, when she worked as a researcher at the Institute for Economics Analysis (IAE-CSIC). Though she left the Institute to join the Economics faculty at Universitat de Barcelona, she continued collaborating with her BSE colleagues as a co-author and teaching as a guest professor in BSE's education programs.
After 10 years at UB, Farré has returned to IAE-CSIC as a tenured scientist specializing in Labor Economics, Public Economics, and Gender Economics. Her second stint as a BSE Affiliated Professor begins with a new role as Director of the BSE Master's Program in Economics of Public Policy.
We hope all three of these talented economists will be part of the Barcelona School of Economics community for years to come!
Lídia Farré (left), Joan Llull, and Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell at a welcome event for BSE Master's students in September 2023. The three have all been involved in directing the Economics of Public Policy Program this year.