Senior Economist
| Job #: | req24791 |
| Organization: | World Bank |
| Sector: | Economics |
| Grade: | GG |
| Term Duration: | 4 years 0 months |
| Recruitment Type: | International Recruitment |
| Location: | Washington, DC,United States |
| Required Language(s): | English |
| Preferred Language(s): | |
| Closing Date: | 11/14/2023 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC |
Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information,visit www.worldbank.org
The South Asia Region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) is at a crucial stage of development. Rapid economic growth, driven by urbanization and demographic dividend, has brought down poverty rates, but severe forms of exclusion and disparities based on ethnicity, caste, and gender remain. The recent polycrisis has reduced growth rates and increased vulnerabilities. South Asia is also among the most closed regions in the world in terms of trade and investment, with underperforming in exports, leading on slow productivity growth. It also has large informal sectors and low female labor force participation rates. Moreover, past growth has also come with congestion and pollution in cities. South Asia is more than other regions affected by changes in temperature and extreme weather event. All these challenges must be addressed to secure rapid growth in coming decades.
Each of EFIs core topic areas is increasingly affected by climate change, requiring new strategies for maximizing economic development in a climate-smart manner. The novelty of this challenge means that there is a great need for capacity building among economic policymakers in client countries as well as in EFI units advising them. This is both an operations challenge, rolling out best-practice solutions, and an analytical challenge, finding new approaches to combine progress on macroeconomic and climate objectives. The Practice Group is addressing this challenge by hiring a small group of experienced specialists who are at the global frontier in combining expertise in conventional macroeconomics and climate change. These specialists will be the central focal point for integrated climate-macro solutions in their Region, embedded in a regional EFI unit, but also collaborate globally to ensure ideas spread across Regions, by frequently participating in exchanges facilitated by the EFI Chief Economist Office.
The World Banks Vice Presidency for Economics, Finance and Institutions (EFI) is seeking to recruit a highly qualified candidate for the position of Economist to advise ministries of finance and economy, central banks and financial regulatory authorities in IBRD/IDA countries of South Asia (SAR) on the macroeconomics of climate impacts, climate mitigation and adaptation. The position will be based in Washington DC, report to Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Practice Manager of the SAR and will provide technical leadership for the integration of climate mitigation and adaptation considerations into World Bank advisory and lending programs.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The ideal candidate is expected to provide technical leadership in the following areas:
Technical guidance on combining climate and macroeconomic progress: While the low-carbon transition can be a major macroeconomic burden for the SAR region, it is equally possible to design climate policy such that it enhances conventional macroeconomic policy objectives. Achieving this integration is, however, technically challenging for country teams. The Economist will guide country teams at achieving this integration, providing detailed technical advice on fiscal policy designs for combining climate and macroeconomic progress.
Integration of climate considerations into core macroeconomic assessments: The Economist will provide key technical advice and hands-on specialist support to teams for Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs), climate-smart Public Expenditure Reviews, Country Economic Updates, Growth Diagnostics Reports, and Systematic Country Diagnostics.
Integration of macroeconomic considerations into central, economy-wide climate strategies: All SAR countries have made binding international commitments to regularly update and submit national climate action plans (NDCs) and most SAR countries are preparing long-term strategies (LTS). These plans guide unprecedented macrostructural change, but the perspectives of finance ministries in the region are often poorly included. The Economist will lead technical work for SAR on supporting finance ministries in the substantial fiscal and macroeconomic implications of NDC and LTS, including the balance of revenue-raising and expenditure interventions, General Equilibrium effects, macrostructural change, and the alignment with broader national development and growth strategies.
Pioneering the roll-out of new country-level technical analyses in key climate-fiscal priority areas: The Economist will create best-practice technical examples for colleagues on approaches that reduce conflicts between climate priorities and deteriorating fiscal space, such as revenue-raising approaches like environmental taxation and fuel-subsidy reforms, revenue-neutral systems like Feebates, and measures to quantify and manage climate-related fiscal risks.
Integration of climate measures into operations, including policy lending and PforRs: The World Bank seeks to increase the proportion of climate reforms supported through its policy lending (Development Policy Financing). The Economist will support efforts to not only raise the quantity of these measures in SAR but also to better integrate climate measures into the core macrostructural, growth and institutional objectives of these loans. The Economist will identify and pioneer approaches for SAR countries how growth-oriented fiscal climate measures can become a more natural component of macroeconomic DPFs.
Connecting fiscal and financial stability programs on climate macroeconomics: Already 3 central banks from South Asia are collaborating on climate risks to financial stability. The ideal candidate would be able to integrate dialogue with central banks, especially on issues that are cross-cutting, such as the effect of climate-induced financial instability for fiscal risks and debt.
To ensure that ideas spread across Regions, the Economist will regularly engage with climate macroeconomists from other Regions. This regular collaboration will be facilitated through the EFI Chief Economist Office. This collaboration entails:
Development of analytical tools: To make it easier for MTI Country Economists to integrate climate considerations into their work programs, to raise technical quality and consistency across projects, the Economist will be collaborating with peers from across Regions to develop and improve analytical tools, diagnostics, and models.
Trainings: The Economist will be in charge of developing and rolling out trainings on climate-macro issues for Country Economists and country clients. While everyone is responsible to their Region, Economists from different Regions are expected to frequently collaborate on these trainings, to use each others core areas of expertise globally.
Global knowledge products: As time allows, the Economist will engage in global knowledge products to ensure that lessons learned from SAR spread across the Region and vice-versa, and to jointly push the global frontier on the core unsolved analytical climate-macro issues constraining EFI.
A strong Economist combines a global expertise in a subset of climate economics issues with a generalist understanding of the wide topic area overall. This facility enables and motivates the Climate Economist to make very specific contributions which move the global frontier in their area of expertise while equally making broad contributions to a whole spectrum of climate economics issues affecting their Region. The ideal candidate is recognized as both a global thought leader and as a team player collaborating closely with thought leaders on other climate and development issues. S/he integrates lessons from global research into regional operations, and makes use of lessons from regional operations to steer policy-relevant advances of the global frontier.
Selection Criteria
Minimum Education/Experience
A Ph.D. in economics or a closely related discipline, with considerable experience on climate and development is preferred. The minimum requirement to apply is a master's degree with 8 years of relevant experience.
Required Core Competencies
Substantial publication record in climate economics is required; additional publications in general development economics are a big plus.
Expertise in climate economics and climate policy an advanced understanding of both the theoretical literature on climate economics and its policy applications is required, with understanding of at least one theme (see above) at the global frontier, and a wide knowledge of most themes at least on a generalist level.
Quantitative policy diagnostics experience in building and using analytical tools/diagnostics for policy analysis is required.
Econometrics knowledge of graduate-level micro- and macro-econometrics is required. Knowledge of econometric approaches to evaluating climate policies and climate impacts is a big plus.
Special focus area demonstrated expertise in at least one of the above-listed themes is required; fungible candidates that can cover more than one theme are preferred.
Other Selection Criteria
Willingness to relocate to Washington DC is required, but global remote work is currently allowed under exceptional circumstances for a limited time.
Willingness to regular travel to developing countries globally is required.
Experience working in developing countries and with ministries of finance/economy is a strong plus.
Strong communications skills, including the ability to present complex climate analyses to generalist economic audiences;
Ability to work flexibly on a range of assignments and adjust to a variety of complex evolving tasks to meet tight deadlines;
Integrative capacity including the ability to situate sectoral issues within a broader development framework;
Strong interpersonal skills and the capacity to work in teams across organizational boundaries within a multi-cultural environment
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
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