Martín
Valdivia, Ph.D. Applied Economics, University of
Minnesota, is a senior researcher at the Grupo de
Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) in Lima,
Peru since 1993. He is currently acting as GRADE’s
director of research, the director of the Latin
American office of the Poverty and Economic Policy
(PEP) Research Network and a member of the consulting
group of the Policy Impact Evaluation Research Initiative
(PIERI). He is also an active member of professional
associations such as the LACEA and GDN. Microfinance
and rural development are two of his main areas
of research, having done work on the connection
between factor market imperfections, financial and
labor markets, and rural development, as well as
on the role of microsavings mobilization, information
sharing in the development of financial markets
and in improving the likelihood of urban and rural
microentrepeneurs to exit poverty. Recently, his
work has been increasingly connected to the use
of randomized control trials to evaluate the impact
of innovations in microfinance and infrastructure
to promote the microfinance sector and alleviate
rural poverty. He has often served as consultant
in issues of rural development with multilateral
organizations such as IADB, World Bank, FAO, among
others.
Martin Valdivia, GRADE