Ciro Biderman is currently a visiting fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and an affiliated researcher at the Regional and Economic Planning Group at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Professor in the graduate and undergraduate programs in public administration and in economics at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV); associated research at the Center for the Study of the Politics and Economics of the Public Sector (CEPESP/FGV); and associate researcher at the Metropolis’ Urbanism Laboratory at São Paulo State University (LUME/FAUUSP). He is also a short term consultant for the World Bank in the economics and politics of local development. He got his PhD in economics at FGV/EAESP on 2001 and his post doctoral degree at DUSP/MIT on 2007. His research interests include urban and regional economics focused on public policies at the sub-national level, with particular emphasis on land policies and its interaction with real estate markets and transport costs.

Current research projects include:

• Estimating the Impact of Participatory Budget on Fiscal Variables
• Governance and Corruption in Managing Public Health Funds Among Brazilian Municipalities

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Nicolas Rockler is an economic consultant specializing in regional economic impact measurement, modeling, and assessment.  He is a partner in the Vermont consulting firm Kavet, Rockler and Associates, LLC.  He has more than 25 years experience as a regional economist.    Recent work has included analysis of impact estimation methodologies and review of estimates used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Hurricane Katrina damage analysis, estimating the taxation consequences of Vermont’s universal healthcare insurance program (on-going), estimating the impact of the Port of Miami, Florida on the regional economy of South Florida, and construction of a regional economic model in support of development planning for Aqaba, Jordan.

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