Volkan Cetinkaya is a Senior Economist based in Washington, D.C., with 20 years of experience. He has been the health sector Task Team Leader for the World Bank’s Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) portfolio in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, leading high-impact, data-driven initiatives in health financing, impact evaluation, regulatory frameworks, competition and market structure. His work has focused on the design of incentives and governance arrangements that shape relationships among payers, providers, and distributors, including pricing policies, contractual arrangements, and market regulation.
Previously, he worked across several countries in the Europe and Central Asia region—including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Uzbekistan—where he prepared and led operations, including the first cross-sectoral Human Development Program-for-Results in Georgia. His experience spans public and private sector engagement, with a particular interest in how institutional arrangements, vertical integration, and regulatory frameworks influence sector performance and access to services.
Before joining the World Bank, he was a member of the health financing team at the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Egypt. He also spent more than four years in academia and management consulting in the United States, conducting research and advising companies on strategy, market analytics, and incentive design.
He received his B.A. from Bilkent University, Türkiye, and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Rutgers University, USA.