About

Chief Economist

José Caballero is the Chief Economist at the IMD World Competitiveness Center. He is responsible for the Center’s different research projects and leads the research team in the development and implementation of new models of assessing competitiveness. He identifies relevant aspects of competitiveness and determines ways to incorporate them into the Center’s research agenda and portfolio.

His research interests focus on the sources of the competitiveness of economies and more specifically on the competitiveness of enterprises. Caballero is particularly interested in practices and processes that strengthen the competitiveness of firms which ultimately lead to the achievement of long term value creation. He is keen on understanding how social asymmetries impact value creation. He is passionate about identifying the means to ameliorate those asymmetries while furthering competitiveness.

Caballero has conducted research at the International Institute for Corporate Governance (Yale School of Management) and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER, USA). In addition, he has acted as an academic adviser to the World Justice Project in the development of the Rule of Law Index. He has also worked as a consultant for the European Union Support Program for Central American Integration, the Private Sector Advisory Department at the World Bank, the International Investment Corporation (World Bank), and the Inter-American Development Bank.

He is an expert on the political economy of Latin America and has taught at the University of Warwick (UK) and the University of the West of England (Bristol, UK). He holds a PhD in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick and an MA in social science (government) from Harvard University.

Associate Director and Head of Operations

William is a social economist whose work focuses on the competitiveness of nations, transforming complex datasets into clear insights, compelling stories, and accessible visualizations. As Associate Director and Head of Operations at the IMD World Competitiveness Center, he oversees the production of the global competitiveness rankings and ensures the smooth delivery of annual reports, data products, and commissioned projects.

He holds a degree in Economic and Social History and a master’s degree in Information Management. William brings a multidisciplinary and holistic perspective to macroeconomic analysis, together with extensive experience in supporting higher education research.

Raised and educated in the United Kingdom, William has also lived in Niger, Chad, Serbia, and Switzerland, where he was naturalized in 2009.