Alessandra Faggian (Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila)
Alessandra Faggian is professor of Applied Economics, Director of Social Sciences and Vice Provost for Research at the Gran Sasso Science Institute in L’Aquila, Italy. She is also President of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) and co-editor of the journal Papers in Regional Science.
Dr Faggian’s research interests lie in the fields of regional and urban economics, demography, labour economics and economics of education. Her publications cover a wide range of topics including migration, human capital, labour markets, creativity and local innovation and growth.
Péter Benczúr (Joint Research Centre, Ispra)
Péter Benczúr is a scientific officer at the European Commission’s Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy, where he coordinates the transversal project “Building a scientific narrative towards a more resilient EU society”. Previously he was the head of research at MNB, the central bank of Hungary, and an adjunct faculty at Central European University, Budapest.
His research covers both macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects of public policy and academic issues. The macro projects concentrate on the nominal, financial and real convergence of small open economies, sovereign borrowing, international business cycles, and resilience. Micro topics include banking, the impact of taxation and finances on household behavior, and income inequality.