Augusto de la Torre

Chief Economist, Latin America & the Caribbean

Augusto de la Torre, a national of Ecuador, is the Chief Economist for Latin American and the Caribbean. Since joining the World Bank in 1997, he has held the positions of Senior Advisor in the Financial Systems Department and Senior Financial Sector Advisor, both in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. de la Torre was the head of the Central Bank of Ecuador, and in November 1996 was chosen by Euromoney Magazine as the year’s "Best Latin Central Banker." From 1986 to 1992 he worked at the International Monetary Fund, where, among other positions, he was the IMF’s Resident Representative in Venezuela (1991-1992).

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Mr. de la Torre has published extensively on a broad range of macroeconomic and financial development topics. He is a member of the Carnegie Network of Economic Reformers. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics at the University of Notre Dame and holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Ecuador.

Contact information: Email: Adelatorre@worldbank.org

Recent Papers and Publications:

blue arrow Regulatory Reform: Integrating Paradigms (with Alain Ize) 2009. World Bank Working Paper No. 4842

blue arrow Low Carbon, High Growth: Latin American Responses to Climate Change (with Pablo Fajnzylber and John Nash) 2009, World Bank.

blue arrow Drivers and Obstacles to Banking SMEs: The Role of Competition and the Institutional Framework (with M. S. Martinez Peria and S. Schmukler) 2008. World Bank Working Paper No. 4788.

blue arrow Bank Involvement with SMEs: Beyond Relationship Lending (with M.S. Martinez Peria and S. Schmukler) 2009. World Bank Working Paper No. 4649.

Fair Growth: Economic Policies for Latin America's Poor and Middle-Income Majority (with N. Birdsall and R. Menezes) 2008. Center for Global Development and Inter-American Dialogue. Versa Press.
blue arrow The Basic Analytics of Access to Financial Services, Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments (with T. Beck). 2007. World Bank Working Paper Version No. 4026.

Financial Development: Maturing and Emerging Policy Issues (with J. C. Gozzi, and S. Schmukler) World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 22, No. 1, Spring 2007. World Bank Working Paper Version No. 3963.

blue arrow Innovative Experiences in Access to Finance: Market Friendly Roles for the Visible Hand? (with J. C. Gozzi, and S. Schmukler) 2007. World Bank Working Paper No. 4326.

blue arrow Emerging Capital Markets and Globalization: The Latin American Experience (with S. Schmukler) Stanford University Press and the World Bank. 2007.

blue arrow Capital Market Development: Whither Latin America?” In Strengthening Global Financial Markets (with J. C. Gozzi, and S. Schmukler) 2007. IASE/NBER Volume, ed. M. Garcia and S. Edwards. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. World Bank Working Paper Version No. 4156.

blue arrow Stock Market Development under Globalization: Whither the Gains from Reforms? (with J. C. Gozzi, and S. Schmukler) 2006. World Bank Working Paper No. 4184.

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Brazil: Interest Rates and Intermediation Spreads (with S. Claessens) 2006. World Bank Report No. 36628-BR.

blue arrow Coping with Risk Through Mismatches: Domestic and International Financial Contracts for Emerging Economies (with S. Schmukler). 2004. International Finance, 7:3. World Bank Working Paper Version No. 3212.
Living and Dying with the Hard Pegs: The Rise and Fall of Argentina's Currency Board (with E. Levy and S. Schmukler). 2002. Economia. Spring. World Bank Working Paper Version No. 2980.
blue arrow Financial Globalization: Unequal Blessings (with E. Levy and S. Schmukler) 2002. International Finance, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 335-357. World Bank Working Paper Version No. 2903.
Ecuador Crisis in the Late 1990's: Banking, Currency and Debt Meltdown (with R. Garcia-Saltos and Y. Mascaro). 2001. Mimeo.
blue arrow Washington Contentious: Economic Policies for Social Equity in Latin America (with N. Birdsall) 2002.