Álvaro S. González is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), where his research focuses on how mechanism design and auction theory can improve the allocation of development finance and market performance in low- and middle-income countries. His current work centers on a gap in how multilateral development banks deploy concessional finance: the absence of incentive structures that link lending instruments to job creation and productivity growth, especially for large firms.
Prior to joining CGD, Álvaro spent two decades at the World Bank, most recently as Lead Economist for Finance, Competition, and Investment in the East Asia and Pacific region, leading analytical and lending work on private sector development, trade, and productivity. Earlier, as Principal Economist in the Bank’s Jobs Group, he advised senior government officials on private sector reform and oversaw the group’s analytical portfolio on firms and employment.
His earlier experience includes serving as Senior Economist at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, where he provided economic analysis for regulatory proceedings on next-generation telecommunications markets. He began his career as a Senior Research Scientist at Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), designing spectrum auctions and leading research on interconnection pricing, secondary markets for spectrum, and broadband incentive mechanisms across Latin America.
Álvaro holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the California Institute of Technology, specializing in industrial organization and game theory, an M.S. in Regional and Development Economics from MIT, and a B.A. from the University of Washington. He has published on spectrum auctions, firm growth and employment dynamics, labor regulation design and enforcement, and private sector development.
