Luis Felipe López-Calva is a Global Director with the World Bank Group’s Prosperity Vertical. He has 25 years of professional experience working with international institutions and advising national governments. He rejoined the World Bank in 2022 from the United Nations Development Programme, where he served as UN Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean since 2018.
At the World Bank, he has held various positions including Global Director for Poverty and Equity, Practice Manager of the Poverty and Equity Global Practice for Europe and Central Asia, Co-Director of the World Development Report 2017 on Governance and the Law, Lead Economist and Regional Poverty Advisor in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice for Europe and Central Asia, and Lead Economist in the Poverty, Equity and Gender Unit in the PREM Directorate for Latin America and the Caribbean.
López-Calva is a Board Member at the Global Development Network (GDN) and a Fellow of the Human Development and Capabilities Association.
His research interests focus on labor markets, poverty and inequality, institutions, and the microeconomics of development. He has published extensively on these issues in peer-reviewed academic journals, books, and policy reports. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Boston University, as well as a Master’s and a PhD in Economics from Cornell University.