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Nora Lustig

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Nora Lustig
NameNora Lustig
Birth date1954
Birth placeBuenos Aires, Argentina
NationalityArgentine-American
FieldsDevelopment economics, Poverty, Inequality, Latin American studies
InstitutionsTulane University, Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Harvard University, Yale University
Alma materUniversidad Nacional de La Plata, University of Chicago
Doctoral advisorHernando de Soto Polar

Nora Lustig is an Argentine-born economist known for her empirical and policy-oriented work on poverty, inequality, and social policy in Latin America and developing countries. She has held academic positions at leading institutions and served as an adviser to multilateral organizations, national governments, and international commissions. Lustig's scholarship integrates household survey analysis, tax-benefit incidence studies, and distributive impact evaluation to inform social policy and fiscal policy debates across the Americas.

Early life and education

Born in Buenos Aires, Lustig completed undergraduate studies at Universidad Nacional de La Plata before pursuing graduate education at the University of Chicago, where she earned a Ph.D. in economics. During her formative years she engaged with scholars and institutions linked to developmental research such as Centro de Estudios Macroeconómicos de Argentina, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, and contacts with economists from Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. Her doctoral training connected her to networks including Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office, and researchers associated with Harvard Kennedy School and Yale University.

Academic career

Lustig has held faculty appointments and visiting positions at Tulane University, Yale University, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She served as director of the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Institute based at Tulane University and collaborated with research centers such as Institute for Fiscal Studies, Brookings Institution, Center for Global Development, Pew Research Center, and the Inter-American Dialogue. Her teaching and mentoring connected graduate programs at London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and Stanford University. She participated in editorial roles for journals including Journal of Development Economics, World Development, Latin American Research Review, Economía Journal, and Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.

Research and contributions

Lustig's research focuses on income distribution, poverty measurement, tax-benefit incidence, and social spending, with seminal analyses of Latin America's inequality trends, fiscal policy, and redistributive effects. She developed methodologies for microsimulation and incidence analysis used by the OECD, United Nations Development Programme, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank. Her book-length research and edited volumes have engaged with scholarship from Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Esther Duflo, Angus Deaton, Jeffrey Sachs, Dani Rodrik, and Martin Ravallion. Empirical papers compared country cases including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, linking household surveys from institutions like national statistical offices and multinational datasets produced by LAC-SES, World Bank PovcalNet, and Luxembourg Income Study.

Her work on cash transfer programs, conditional cash transfers such as Programa Bolsa Família, Oportunidades, and Chile Solidario, informed debates at agencies including UNICEF, USAID, DFID, GIZ, and the Inter-American Development Bank. She pioneered analyses of fiscal incidence in contexts involving value-added tax reforms, progressive taxation debates, and subsidies, collaborating with scholars from Center for Economic and Policy Research, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and National Bureau of Economic Research networks.

Policy roles and advisory work

Lustig served as an adviser and consultant to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and national ministries of finance and social development in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. She participated in technical working groups for regional initiatives led by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Organization of American States, and the Andean Community. Lustig contributed to policy dialogues involving leaders and officials connected to Presidency of Argentina, Presidency of Mexico, Ministry of Finance of Brazil, and parliamentary commissions. She testified before legislative bodies and appeared in panels with representatives from World Economic Forum, International Labour Organization, Pan American Health Organization, and Global Partnership for Education.

Awards and honors

Her scholarship has been recognized by awards and fellowships from institutions such as Guggenheim Foundation, Andrew Carnegie Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and national academies including Argentine National Academy of Economics and affiliations with American Academy of Arts and Sciences-linked programs. She received research grants and honorary distinctions from Inter-American Development Bank initiatives, the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, and invitations to deliver named lectures at Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, London School of Economics, and Stanford University.

Personal life and affiliations

Lustig is affiliated with research networks and policy forums such as the Commitment to Equity Institute, Center for Global Development, Inter-American Dialogue, Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association, and editorial boards of multiple academic journals. She has collaborated with scholars including Ricardo Hausmann, Nancy Birdsall, Miguel Székely, Francisco Ferreira, Raquel Fernandez, and Stephan Klasen. Her public engagement includes contributions to major media outlets and policy platforms like The Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, El País, BBC, and Al Jazeera. Category:Argentine economists