Miguel Angel Santos
Former Research Director, Growth Lab
Miguel Angel Santos joined the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2021 as Visiting Professor in Practice and Director of the Growth Co-Lab, a joint LSE-Harvard venture aimed at bringing together the capacities, expertise, and reach of two top academic institutions to expand the activities of the Harvard Growth Lab globally.
Miguel was previously Director of Applied Research at the Harvard Growth Lab, where he led teams in policy engagements aimed at developing top notch research to help governments rethink their growth and development strategies. In his eight years at the Harvard Growth Lab, Miguel was directly involved in projects at the national level in Mexico, Peru, Panama, Venezuela, Jordan, Albania, and Namibia; at the state level in Loreto (Peru) and Chiapas (Mexico); and at the city level in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Hermosillo (Mexico). He also performed as Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and as a Visiting Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, teaching courses in Empirical Methods, Development Economics, Economic Growth and Development, and Policy Development Strategy to graduate students in public policy and public administration over the same period.
Before joining the field of development economics, Miguel held executive roles in corporate finance and business development in Latin America for a decade, performing as Director of Finance for the Cisneros Group of Companies (1997-2003), Head of Corporate Finance for Mercantil Servicios Financieros (2005-2007), and Business Vice-President for Sony Pictures and Entertainment Latin America (2008-2009).
He holds two Master of Science degrees in International Finance and Trade (2011) and Economics (2012) from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University (2014), and a Ph.D. in Economics at Universidad de Barcelona (2016).
Current Research/Projects | Areas of Expertise |
Promoting Sustainable/Inclusive Prosperity in Namibia | Development Economics |
Economic Growth/Structural Transformation in Loreto, Peru | Development Policies |
Macroeconomic Stability & Long-Term Growth in Jordan | Structural Transformation |
Featured Publications
- Kasoolu, S., Hausmann, R., O'Brien, T. & Santos, M.A, 2019. Female Labor in Jordan: A Systematic Approach to the Exclusion Puzzle. Center for International Development Faculty Working Paper No. 365, Harvard University.
- Hausmann, R., O'Brien, T., Santos, M.A., Grisanti, A., Kasoolu, S., Taniparti, N., Tapia, J., & Villasmil, R., 2019. Jordan: The Elements of a Growth Strategy. Center for International Development Faculty Working Paper No. 346.
- Barrios, D. & Santos, M.A., 2019. "Is There Life After Ford?" In City Design, Planning, & Poicy Innovations: The Case of Hermosillo. Inter-American Development Bank, pp. 131-53.
- Bahar, D., Molina, C., & Santos, M.A. Fool's Gold: On the Impact of Venezuelan Devaluations in Multinational Stock Prices. Economica LACEA, vol. 19 no. 1 (Fall 2018), pp. 93-128.
- Bahar, D. & Santos, M.A. One More Resource Curse: Dutch Disease and Export Concentration. Journal of Development Economics, vol. 132 (Feb. 2018), pp. 102-114.
Op-eds
- Impact of the 2017 Sactions on Venezuela: Revisiting the Evidence, Brookings Institution, May 2019
- How did Venezuela's Exchange Control Wound Global Companies?, Vox LACEA, July 2018
- El Paquete de Marudo no logrará ni estabilizar la miseria, The New York Times, September 2018
- ¿Llevará la hiperinflación a la transición democrática en Venezuela? The New York Times, January 2018
Contact Information
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138