Antoni Castells | Director Europe G

With a PhD in Economics from the University of Barcelona, he is Professor of Public Finance at the University of Barcelona. Author of numerous articles and books related to the topics of fiscal federalism, regional economy and welfare state.

He has been director of the Department of Political Economy, Public Finance and Finance and Tax Law of said university, visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore), founder and Co-director of the Postgraduate course (now Master) in Regional and Local Finance and co-founder and first Director of the IEB (Institut d’Economia of Barcelona), a leading research centre in fiscal federalism and regional economics.

After working as an economist in the International Division of Banca Catalana, the Research Service of Banca Catalana and the Metropolitan Corporation of Barcelona, he has been a trustee of the Public Audit Office for Catalonia, a member of the State-Catalan government Joint Evaluations Commission, Spanish member of the European Court of Auditors, a member of the Parliament of Catalonia, and Minister of Economy and Finance of the Regional Government (Generalitat) of Catalonia (2003-2010).

He is Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Catalonia-Europe Foundation, a member of the Advisory Council of FUNCAS and member of the Board of Trustees of the Arxiu Tarradellas Foundation.

Josep Oliver | Co-director Europe G

With a PhD in Economic Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, he is Professor of Applied Economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is the author of numerous papers on the analysis of families’ consumption and investment in human capital, income distribution and the analysis of the Catalan and Spanish economies, and their interrelationships, as well as on the specific features of their labour markets and the economic impact of immigration.

He is also a regular contributor to various communication media. Catalonia Prize for Economics 1994 and Sardá Dexeus Col•legi d’Economistes de Catalunya Prize for the best economics book in 2005 and 2008 (collective works). He has been Vice-rector of Teaching Staff at the UAB, and is currently a member of the Governing Council of the UAB and director of the same university’s Department of Applied Economics. He has also been a member of the Agency of University Quality of Catalonia (AQU), general coordinator of the Strategic Accord for the internationalisation, quality of work and competitiveness of the Catalan economy, a member of the Commission for the evaluation of the quality of the degrees and programs of the Catalan Agency for University Evaluation, a member of the Commission responsible for identifying the causes and proposing remedies for Catalonia’s inflation differential with Spain, a member of the Scientific Commission that has laid the foundations of the National Pact for Immigration of Catalonia and a member of the Scientific Committee which drafted the materials necessary for the production of the Catalan Strategy for employment for the General Employment Plan of Catalonia.

He has been an advisor to CatalunyaCaixa’s Research Service since 1995, and Director of the Manpower Index on the labour market situation in Spain. Director (along with E. Aja and J. Arango) of the Immigration Yearbook, edited by CIBOD and other Spanish institutions and Member of the Governing Council of the Catalan Agency for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IVÀLUA).

Rafael Myro

Professor Emeritus of Applied Economics at the Complutense University of Madrid, an institution to which he has belonged since 1975. He is the author of numerous works on the Spanish economy, especially referring to its growth, the specialization and competitiveness of the industry, foreign trade and foreign investment, which have been published in various books and in articles collected in Spanish and international economic reviews. Likewise, it has collaborated with the central government and several regional governments in the analysis of the industry, its foreign competitiveness and the guidelines of industrial policy. Within the framework of this collaboration, he has directed more than 35 research projects contracted and financed by public organizations. In 2023 he received the Medal of Merit in Commerce from the Secretary of State for Commerce, for his work on Spain’s foreign trade and for his collaboration with the Public Administration in this area.

He has been a member of the Academic Council of the Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard University (2007-2011), and has belonged to the Editorial Boards of several economic journals. Between 2000 and 2007, he directed the Department of Applied Economics II at the UCM. From 1994 to 2002, he was director of the European Economy Program at the Ortega y Gasset University Institute, within which he first offered a Master’s Degree in European Economics and then a Doctorate in European Economic and Monetary Integration. From 1983 to 1989, he directed the School of Economics of the College of Economists of Madrid. He is also an advisor to the Santander Nebrija Chair in business internationalization, contributing to the formation of a network of researchers in international economics, and to the organization of the Internationalization Research Conferences.

Emilio Ontiveros (†)

With a PhD in Economic Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid, he is Professor of Applied Economics at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is the Founder and President of Analistas Financieros Internacionales (Afi). He is the author of several books and numerous articles in academic journals and in the media.

He has been President of the Committee on convergence with the European Union with respect to the Information Society. He is a member of the Advisory Council for the Electronic Administration and of the Advisory Council for Innovation in the Madrid Science Park (UAM). In December 2006, he was appointed by the Mayor of Madrid as a member of the City of Madrid’s Executive Council. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the CYD Foundation and the trusts of several foundations as well as various boards of directors and advisers to companies and institutions.

Among the awards he has received, in addition to those awarded for his doctoral thesis, are the IX Business Circle Prize for economic research and the Mi Cartera de Inversión Prize for the promotion of economic and financial knowledge. In 2000, he received the plaque of recognition of Regional Merit from the Castile-la Mancha regional government. He has been a Fellow of the Real Colegio Complutense, at Harvard University, as well as a member of the Advanced International Economics Research Group and visiting scholar at the Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania.

Martí Parellada

PhD in Economics and professor of Applied Economics at the University of Barcelona. He is the author of numerous articles and books, especially on the Spanish and Catalan economy.

Since 2003, he has been director of the Annual report on the role of the University in regional development, of the Development and Knowledge Foundation (Fundación CyD). Also, in the framework of the CYD Foundation, he has directed several works, notably those related to the labour market for university graduates and the governance of universities. He is the director of the Revista Económica de Cataluña (Economic Journal of Catalonia) and president of the Advisory Council of the Catalonia Economic Report, published annually by the Catalonia Council of Chambers of Commerce. He is chairman of the executive committee of the Consortium of Menéndez y Pelayo International University of Barcelona (Ernest Lluch centre), patron of the ICO Foundation and director of the Institute of Economics of Barcelona.

He has been director general of the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (1984-1986), vice-rector of the University of Barcelona (1986-1990) and guest professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA). From 1992 until 2002, he was director of Les Heures, continuing education centre of the University of Barcelona. He has also been a member of the Council of Labour, Economic and Social of Catalonia, president of the Catalan Statistical Council, of the Spanish Association of Regional Science from 2000 to 2008 and of the Catalan Association of Regional Science. He has also formed part of the Council of the European Regional Science Association. He has been a member of the Committee of Experts of the Observatory of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade of the Spanish Government and the GRENCYT (Group for Reflection on the National Science and Technology Strategy) of the National I+D+I Plan, 2008-2011.

Vicente Salas

Professor Emeritus of the University of Zaragoza, member of IEDIS and associate researcher of FUNCAS. Graduate and Master in Business Administration from ESADE and Master of Science and Doctor in Management Science from Purdue University (USA). Professor of business organization at the Universities of Zaragoza and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​and visiting professor at the universities of Stanford and Connecticut.

He has been a member of the Governing Council (1994-1998, 2006-2018) and the Executive Commission (2006-2018) of the Bank of Spain. Specialized in the economic analysis of the company, he has published several books and articles in national and international academic journals in his area of ​​specialization. He has been part of the boards of CEMFI and the Institute of Economic Analysis and the scientific committees of the BBVA Foundation and FEDEA. He has been recognized with the following distinctions: King Jaime I Prize for Economics, Medal for Professional Merit by the Government of Aragon, Juan Sardá Prize for Economics, Grand Cross for Merit in the Service of the Economy, the Basilio Paraíso Medal and Doctor Honoris Causa for the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Gemma García | Coordinator Europe G

With a PhD with extraordinary prize in Economics from the University of Barcelona, she is a lecturer in Applied Economics at the university and a member of the Institute of Economics of Barcelona (IEB). Prize of the Economic and Social Council for her doctoral thesis “Unemployment benefits and duration of unemployment”. Specialized in the field of labour and regional economics, she has published numerous papers and articles on the subject in national and international journals. She has been a reviewer for the journals Revista de Economía Aplicada y Revista Econòmica de Catalunya.

She has been co-director and member of the advisory council of the Economic Report of Catalonia, edited annually by the Council of Chambers of Commerce of Catalonia. Co-director of the collective work “Catalan Economy: reptes futur”, awarded the 2008 Joan Sardà Dexeus Prize for the best economics book. She has been Deputy Director General of Studies in the Department of Economics and Finance of the Catalonia regional government and director of the journal Nota d’Economia (2004-2011).