Javier Baez is a Lead Economist for Southeastern Africa in the World Bank’s Poverty Global Practice and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). He brings extensive analytical and operational experience across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and South and Central Asia. His research examines how market functioning, spatial frictions, and shocks shape human capital accumulation, labor market outcomes, and risk management among low-income households, and assesses the effectiveness of policies aimed at poverty reduction and resilience. His work has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Development Economics, American Economic Review, Economic Development and Cultural Change, World Development and Journal of Development Studies. Javier earned his PhD in Economics from Syracuse University, a Master's Degree in Development Economics from Harvard University, and holds B.A. and M.Sc. degrees in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia.