Ritva Reinikka appointed Professor of Practice in development economics

Researcher and expert in development policy, Ph.D. in Economics Ritva Reinikka, has been appointed Professor of Practice in development economics. Her professorship is funded in part using development cooperation funds and will be based at the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics.

In recent years, Ph.D. in Economics Ritva Reinikka has provided valuable international expertise for Finland’s development policy. Photo: Liisa Takala/MFA

Ritva Reinikka’s impressive career in development policy has taken her from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to academic research, and onward to an expert position at the World Bank, where she worked for 20 years.

In recent years, Reinikka’s research has included an independent assessment of the effectiveness and impact of Finland’s development cooperation (2015) and a study on Finland’s role in solving the global learning crisis (2018).

The professorship and the research group on the economics of development are funded in part using development cooperation funds. The funding, granted in the form of a discretionary government transfer, amounts to EUR 137,000 and will continue until the beginning of 2021. The professor of practice and the research group will conduct research that promotes the development of economies and wellbeing in developing countries in cooperation with international partners. The information produced by this research can be used, for example, in finding ways to tackle the learning crisis.

The Helsinki Graduate School of Economics is a unit of expertise in economics managed jointly by Aalto University, the Hanken School of Economics and the University of Helsinki. It is strongly equipped to cooperate and develop interdisciplinary research in the field of developing country research and education, both in Finland and internationally.