Blair Edward Lapres is an economist working on private sector development in the World Bank. In this role he specializes in value chain analysis, market segmentation, and cluster policy. His work aims to understand how industry trends are changing market structures and creating new opportunities for developing countries. Since joining the Bank in 2010, he has worked with governments around the world in order to facilitate such improvements in private sector innovation and economic competitiveness. Blair - a graduate in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and Development Economics from Cambridge University - is originally from the United States and is currently based in Washington, D.C.