Biography
Naotaka Sugawara is a Senior Economist in the Prospects Group at the World Bank Group.
Previously, he was an economist in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund and in the World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia. He also worked in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit of Europe and Central Asia Region and in the Development Research Group at the World Bank. He has numerous research publications related to economic growth, international economics and finance, fiscal policy, and financial sector development. He received a Master’s degree in International Development from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in Political Science from Meiji University, Tokyo.
Profiles
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Income Convergence
- In middle-income countries, recoveries from the last two global recessions were associated with convergence of per capita income levels with high-income countries
- In low-income and fragile economies, the income differential with high-income countries widened by 2025, relative to the gap in 2019, while the differential narrowed during a recovery following the 2009 global recession
- Stalled income convergence has significant implications for poverty reduction and job creation in vulnerable economies, including low-income and fragile ones