ECONOMICS · DATA · PUBLIC POLICY
Germán Daniel Caruso
Economist · Data & Public Policy Leader
I work at the intersection of economics, public policy and institutional data—helping governments and international organizations turn evidence into stronger systems, better decisions and practical implementation.
I currently serve as Head of the Regional and Sectoral Data Group, Inter-American Development Bank, on external service from the World Bank.
What I Do
My work has increasingly focused on a simple question: how can better evidence and better data improve the decisions that public institutions make?
I use applied economics, country diagnostics and policy analysis to understand how public policies, economic shocks and institutional choices affect people. My work has covered poverty and inequality, human capital, migration, climate change, labor markets and fiscal and distributional policy.
I work on the systems that allow evidence to be used repeatedly rather than produced once and forgotten: data governance, documentation, interoperability, analytics, institutional data capabilities, nontraditional data and responsible applications of AI and machine learning.
Good analysis matters only when institutions can act on it. I have led multidisciplinary teams and international initiatives connecting governments, economists, data scientists, technology specialists, development partners and senior decision-makers.
Selected Work
Data · Governance · Analytics · Institutions
At the Inter-American Development Bank, I lead work to strengthen how regional and sectoral teams discover, govern, integrate and use data for analytical and operational decisions.
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Climate · Human Capital · Evidence · Policy
At the World Bank, I led and contributed to global work examining how climate change affects people throughout the life cycle and how human-capital policy can strengthen resilience and climate action.
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Migration · Labor · Data · Government Response
My work on Venezuelan migration combined economic research with government-facing analytics across Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.
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Government Systems · Delivery · Monitoring
Across Honduras, Costa Rica and Guinea-Bissau, I have worked with governments on the institutional architecture behind better delivery.
Explore this workFeatured Research
Journal of Development Economics
Examines the long-run effects of childhood exposure to natural disasters across Latin America and shows that consequences for education, health and welfare can persist into adulthood and across generations.
Read paperOxford Economic Papers
Uses high-frequency administrative data to study employment, wage and poverty effects associated with large migration flows into Colombia.
Read paperApplied Economic Perspectives and Policy
Uses unsupervised machine learning to identify drought exposure and examine its consequences for women's vulnerability and early marriage in Malawi.
Read paperMedia & Talks
My work has also appeared in public conversations about migration, climate shocks, data, development economics and public policy.
BBC Worklife
The labor-market implications of migration and the opportunities and risks facing migrant workers.
ReadCentroamérica Resiliente
Ignite Talk on resilience, shocks and human development.
WatchWorld Bank
Launch and public discussion of work on Venezuelan migration and its implications for development policy.
WatchChicago Policy Review
What are the true costs of natural disasters?
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About
Over the course of my career, my work has moved between research, government advisory, operations, institutional data and international policy dialogue.
That combination has shaped how I approach public policy today: analytical rigor matters, but so do the systems, incentives and institutions that determine whether evidence is actually used.
More About MeContact
For professional collaboration, speaking engagements, research or other inquiries: