Partners

Paula Salinas

PhD in Economics from Universitat de Barcelona and a MSc in Economics from Univeristy College of London. She worked as a researcher at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and BGSE, at Institut d’Economia de Barcelona, at Generalitat de Catalunya and at Diputació de Barcelona. Her main areas of research are public sector economics, education economics, and environmental economics. More than 18 years of experience in consultancy related to public policies and their evaluation, especially in public finance and fiscal federalism, education and inequality.

María Sánchez

PhD in Economics from the University of Barcelona. She worked as a researcher at the Centre for Economic Performance of the London School of Economics and as a lecturer at the University of Konstanz (Germany). She also collaborated with the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth in London. She is a specialist in public policy evaluation and has led projects for public, private and third sector institutions, especially in the fields of labour economics, social protection and the fight against poverty and urban economics.

Team members

Romén Adán González

Graduate in Political Science from Pompeu Fabra University, Master in Big Data & Data Science from Complutense University and Master in Political and Electoral Analysis from Carlos III University, where he was awarded the prize for the best academic record of his promotion. He is researcher in economics at KSNET since 2022 and his areas of interest include data analysis, visualisation and modelling, and public policy evaluation in general.

Alejandra Almagro

Graduate in Economics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She also holds a Master’s Degree in Economics, Regulation and Competition of Public Services from the University of Barcelona (UB), specialising in Territorial Services: Water and Transport. Her areas of interest include Competition and Economics, as well as Infrastructure and Transport Regulation. She is currently working at KSNET as an Assistant Researcher in economic policy analysis.

Mireia Álvarez

Graduate in Economics from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) where she obtained an Honours Degree in Public Management. She is currently pursuing a Master in Public and Social Policy at the Pompeu Fabra University – Barcelona School of Management in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University. Her areas of interest are health and public health policies, poverty and inequality, gender economics and public policies for children and youth.

Paula Casás

Graduate in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from UPF where she obtained Honours Degrees in Public Management and Ethics and Political Philosophy. She also has two postgraduate degrees, one in Data Analysis for Political Analysis and Public Management at the UB, and another in Social and Solidarity Economy – Cooperative Studies from UPF. Her areas of interest go from public policy evaluation and data management to social and solidarity economy and community management.

María Coroleu

Graduate in Business Administration and Management. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Management Development, Emotional Intelligence and Coaching. During her more than 10 years of professional experience, she has worked as Director of the Operations Department in a stock brokerage firm, in the Marketing and Administration Department of a non-profit organisation and as a manager in management control and KPIS in a leading company in Mexico. She is currently the Managing Director of KSNET.

Llorenç Femenias

Researcher at KSNET and associate professor  at the UIB. Master in Tourism Economics, specialising in Economic Evaluation Techniques, from the UIB, graduated in Economics from the UPF, and is currently studying for a PhD in Applied Economics at the UIB. He has previously worked as a consultant in urban sustainability projects, as well as an economic analyst in projects related to regional competitiveness, circular economy and education.

María Laffaire

MSc in Public Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and MSc in Econometrics from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina. She specializes in public policy analysis and public polcy evaluation. She previously worked as Coordinator of Monitoring and Evaluation at CIPPEC in Argentina and as an evaluation consultant there and in the US. At present, she works as a researcher at KSNET. Her fields of interest are social policy, education and experimental evaluation.

Belén Llorente

A graduate in Political Science from the University of Glasgow, she also holds a Master’s degree in Political and Electoral Analysis from the Carlos III University. She has worked as a data analyst at the Presidency of the Government and at 40db, and as a research technician at IESA-CSIC. She currently works as a researcher in economics at KSNET. Her areas of interest are equality and social policies, as well as experimental methodology.

Laura Muñoz

Graduate in Economics and Master’s Degree in Applied Economic Analysis from the University of Alcalá, (where she obtained the extraordinary prize for the best record of her promotion and national recognition for her Final Degree Project and Master’s Degree Project) and Master’s Degree in Teacher Training specialising in the field of economics. She has previous experience as a research assistant at the University of Alcalá and at the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

Jana Raga

Graduate in Sociology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Master in Social Policy and Community Action from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGOP). She has worked mainly in the third social sector, especially in the field of the elderly and volunteering, and in the Public Administration. Her areas of interest are community projects, social policies and gender.

Esther Rubio

She has a degree in Audiovisual Communication from  Carlos III University  and postgraduate training in Cultural Management, Digital Marketing and Publishing. With more than 10 years of experience, she has worked in the field of communication of cultural companies and companies linked to the university environment, as well as in project management and digital companies. She currently works at KSNET as a research project manager and tendering technician.

Pere Antoni Taberner

Master in Economics from the University of Barcelona and currently PhD student at the Barcelona School of Economics of UB and in the Public Policy programme of the IEB. Researcher in economics at KSNET since 2018, with experience in database construction, data analysis and econometric modelling for policy evaluation in labour market, education and poverty. His areas of interest include economics of education, gender, labour market and data science.

Pablo Tucat

Researcher in Economics at KSNET and Associate Professor at the Pompeu Fabra University. He holds a Master in Public and Social Policy from Pompeu Fabra University and a Master in Applied Economics from Torcuato Di Tella University in Argentina. Previously, he has worked as a consultant in social housing programmes, and as an economic advisor for the Argentinean government and other public agencies in Argentina on infrastructure and economic development programmes.

Regular collaborators

Ariane Aumaitre

Public policy consultant specialising in the areas of child poverty, social inclusion, gender equality and social policies. Throughout her career, she has worked as an analyst in the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs department of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and holds a Master’s degree in European Public Policy Analysis from the College of Europe in Bruges. She is also a PhD researcher at the European University Institute in Florence.

Marga Cañadas

PhD in Health Sciences from the Catholic University of Valencia. Occupational Therapist, Anthropologist and Master in Research. Director of the International Observatory of Early Intervention of the UCV. Director of the L’Alqueria Early Childhood Education and Care Centre in Valencia. Member of the Board of Directors of the European Early Childhood Association (Eurlyaid) and of the committee of recommended practices of the American Division for Early Childhood.

Malaika Comet

Diploma in Social Educator by the UAB with Honours in the final project, Postgraduate in Gender and Communication by the UAB, Training in Creative Therapy by the Higher Institute of Psychological Studies. With a career of more than twenty years working in social, cultural and cooperation projects with different groups, many at risk of social exclusion. Her main interests are social research, the application and teaching of the gender perspective and Art as a tool for social transformation.

Laura Costas

With a degree in Political Science and Administration from Pompeu Fabra University, she also holds a Master’s degree in Graphic Design and Digital Art from Seeway. She has worked at the Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation, as a graphic designer at The Bond VFX and collaborating with the production company GlobalCAD. She has experience in communication, blog management, content writing and documentary editing. At KSNET, she coordinates the areas of infographics, editing and graphic design.

Jorge Díaz Lanchas

Professor of Economics at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas-ICADE. He holds a PhD and a Master’s degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He has been an economist at the European Commission (Joint Research Centre) and a postdoc researcher at the CID of Harvard University, as well as a visiting professor at several universities. His research areas focus on international economics, regional and urban economics, impact evaluation and European public opinion.

Jordi García

Jordi holds a degree in Business Sciences but started computer programming at the age of 10. Some years ago, he developed a popular data compression tool for macOS and iOS and he currently works maintaining and improving it. Previously, he worked as an Industrial Engineer at Tectrol S.A., for clients such as Logista S.A. and P.G.. He has long-standing experience in management and technological advice for companies and individuals.

Lucas Gortázar

PhD in Economics from the University of the Basque Country. Master in Economics from the Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI) and Master in Mathematical Modelling from UCL. He has worked for the Education Global Practice of the World Bank. He is currently coordinator of the Education Cycle of the Politikon blog, member of the Atlantida Project and part of the Core Team of the ‘Basic Education Global Solutions’ Group at the World Bank.

Manuel Hidalgo

He holds a degree in Economics and Business Studies from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, a Master’s degree in Economics and a PhD in Economics from the same university. He is currently Professor of Applied Economics at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville since 1998, a job he combines with his work as Economics Editor of Agenda Pública. He has also been Secretary General of Economy of the Andalusian Government (2019-2020).

Miriam Hortas-Rico

Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Public Finance at the UAM. Degree in Economics from the UB, PhD in Economics from the UCM and MA in Economics from University College London. Member of the research team of RIFDE (Red de Investigadores en Financiación Autonómica y Descentralización Financiera en España) and GEN (Governance and Economics research Network), she is a member of the Board of Directors of DERNET and collaborates with FEDEA.

Rosa Jiménez Pereda

Service designer and social entrepreneur, she has spent years developing projects for the construction of more sustainable lifestyles, both from a social and environmental point of view. She has worked with public institutions, private companies and social organisations, applying design to facilitate innovation and value creation from an integral perspective. She is currently a consultant specialising in strategic service design, facilitation of co-design processes and user experience research.

Victor Lapuente

Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg and Professor at ESADE Law School.. He holds a PhD from Oxford University and a Master’s degree in Public Management from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Columnist for the newspaper El País, he is also a contributor to Onda Cero, as well as a member of the Piedras de Papel collective. His areas of research include public management, quality of government and corruption.

Patricio Lecca

Professor of Economics at ICADE-Universidad Pontificia Comillas. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) and the Strathclyde Business School (Glasgow, UK). He has previously worked at the University of Strathclyde, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the Netherlands Environment Agency and Wageningen University & Research. He has published his work in economics and energy-environmental journals.

David Márquez

He holds a Master in cultural management from University Paris VIII and a BA in Political Science and Public Administration Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He worked as cultural manager and consultant. He has also acted as president of the Associació de Companyies Professionals de Dansa de Catalunya, founder and vicepresident of the Federación Estatal de Compañías y Empresas de Danza and member of the Board of IETM.

Ramon Marrades

BA in Economics from the University of Valencia and Master’s in Economics and Geography from Utrecht University. He is the manager of the Placemaking Europe Foundation and a strategic advisor of the Creative Bureaucracy Festival. He worked as a researcher and led a series of projects in different South American countries and in Australia. His areas of expertise are Urban Economics and Strategy. He also co-edited several books and contributes regularly to the newspaper valenciaplaza.com.

Eva Matos

Master in Social Policy and International Development at the London School of Economics, she has also studied psychology and political science at George Washington University. Vice President at ideas42, where she leads projects to combat poverty, expand financial inclusion, and improve education. She worked too as a global programme coordinator at Oxfam to influence government and multilateral institutions on different dimensions of inequality.

Stephan Maurer

Stephan is an assistant professor at Konstanz University (Germany). He holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and a master in Economics from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (BGSE). He is also an affiliate at the Centre for Economic Performance (LSE). His areas of expertise are labour economics,  economic history and economic geography.

Octavio Medina

Master in Public Administration from the London School of Economics (LSE) and economic consultant at the Education Global Practice at the World Bank. Previously, he worked as consultant in labour markets and social security at the Inter-American Development Bank. He also co-coordinates the Education Cycle in the blog Politikon, where he also co-authored two books.

María Pomés

Master in Public Policy from Georgetown University and BA in Communication from  Universidad de Navarra. Independent consultant in analysis and evaluation of social policies and human capital for multilaterals, strategic consultancies and NGOs. She has more than a decade of experience in working in teams and projects for the World Bank, European and UN institutions and agencies and international political organisms. Her interests lie in welfare and family policies.

Pedro Rey

Associate professor of behavioural economics at ESADE. He holds a PhD in Economics from University College London and a Master in Economics and Finance from Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI). He worked as the director of Behavioral Science Research at “All of US” at Scripps Research Institute at San Diego. His areas of interest are experimental and behavioural economics. He is also one of the editors of the blog “Nada es Gratis”.

Ariadna Romans

Consultant and researcher. Graduate in Political Science and Administration (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Philosophy (Universitat de Barcelona). Master’s degree in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Current coordinator of the Feminisms Section of the Ateneu Barcelonès. Her areas of interest are climate change, water conflicts and feminist political ecology. She writes weekly for VIA Empresa and Ethic Magazine.

Lorena Ruiz

PhD in Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). She researches on the social dimension of health and the development of methodologies for public-social cooperation, community participation and public innovation. She has worked in these areas as a consultant for various public and private entities and as coordinator of the Citizen Innovation Lab at Medialab Prado, part of Madrid City Council. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Applied Sociology at the UCM.

Vanessa Sarkis

She holds a Degree in Sociology from the University of Barcelona and Master’s in Social Policies and Community Action from the Institute of Government and Social Policies (IGOP). She has more than 15 years of experience in developing coexistence plans from an intercultural and gender perspective in high complexity territories

Maite Vilalta

Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Barcelona, where she also obtained her PhD. She was a member of the Group of Experts for the calculation of the fiscal balance of Catalonia and has been a representative of the Generalitat de Catalunya in the Comisión Mixta de Transferencias Estado-Generalitat. Her main areas of research are fiscal federalism and public finance.