Parallel session
Firms, Markets, Sectors

Michael Danquah | Chair 

Michael Danquah, a development economist, is a Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER currently serving as co-focal point for the project Transforming informal work and livelihoods within UNU-WIDER's 2019–23 work programme. Michael is a visiting Research Fellow at the Transfer Project and a Researcher for the International Growth Centre (IGC), Ghana. His research interest is in economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily focussing on issues such as informality, inequality and poverty reduction, and productivity growth among others.

​Beatriz Calzada Olvera | Presenter

Beatriz Calzada Olvera is an economic researcher at the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is also a PhD fellow at United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology. Her research explores topics related to innovation, global value chains, trade, and structural transformation. Her academic interests include complexity, economic geography, and economic resilience.

Fiona Tregenna | Presenter

Fiona Tregenna is a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg. Her primary research focus is on issues of structural change, deindustrialisation and industrial development. She has presented keynote addresses at a number of conferences, and has received various awards and major grants for her research. Fiona is involved in economic policy issues in South Africa and internationally, and sits on a number of boards, advisory panels and councils. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed her to his Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

Kenneth Harttgen | Presenter

Kenneth Harttgen is a senior scientist at the Development Economics Group at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on empirical microeconomics. His research interests include the analysis of child health in low- and middle-income countries, the measurement of poverty and inequality, and the analysis of population dynamics with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. He has worked as a consultant for various international organizations, including the FAO, the UN and the World Bank.

Kalle Hirvonen | Presenter

Kalle Hirvonen is a development economist and a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Kalle’s current research seeks to understand how to sustainably improve nutrition and food security outcomes in low-income countries. His recent research has focused on social protection, early childhood development, food systems, value chains, and food markets. Kalle has extensive field work experience from Ethiopia and Tanzania where he has been involved in implementing a number of large longitudinal household surveys.