An
Austrian national, is currently the Director of the
Social Protection Unit of the Human Development Network
of the World Bank (since May 1997). This unit is in
charge of the conceptual and strategic Bank work in
the area of social risk management, covering pensions,
labor market interventions and safety nets. He joined
the Bank with a leave of absence from the University
of Saarland (Germany) where he is the professor of
economics and the Director of the European Institute.
As principal administrator at the OECD (1985-87),
he wrote a comprehensive report on public pension
reform in industrialized countries. At the IMF (1988-90),
he was heavily involved in fiscal and social security
issues of Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria. Prior to joining
the Bank he worked as a consultant on pension issues
in 11 transition economies of Central and Eastern
Europe and he researched intensively the economic
and financial market effects of the Chilean pension
reform. At the Bank, he was heavily involved in social
protection programs during the recent financial crisis
in East Asia. He has published 18 books and over 100
articles on social, fiscal and financial policy issues.
