Speakers - CSIL

Massimo Florio

Professor of Public Economics at University of Milan and Founder of CSIL

Massimo Florio is acknowledged at European level as top expert in the evaluation of EU policies, programmes and projects. He has been involved in several assignments for the European Commission (mainly DG Regional Policy), the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank, the OECD, the World Bank and other institutions (e.g. CERN, ASI, ESA, etc.). His main research interests are in applied welfare economics, cost-benefit analysis, industrial and regional policies, infrastructure and growth, privatization, public enterprise and socio-economic impact of research infrastructures. Since its first edition in 2011, he has been the Scientific Director of the Milan Summer School on cost-benefit analysis. His latest publication: “Investing in Science: Social Cost-Benefit Analysis of Research Infrastructures”, edited by MIT press (2019). More details on Massimo’s expertise and publications are available at http://www.massimoflorio.com

Henrik Andersson

Former SBCA Board Member, Associate Professor at Toulouse School of Economics, Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis Associate Editor

Henrik Andersson is an Associate Professor at Toulouse School of Economics. He is also a board member of the Society for benefit-cost analysis and Associate Editor of the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis. His research mainly concerns methodological and empirical issues of the evaluation of non-marketed goods using revealed- and stated-preference techniques and pricing of externalities. His research covers the areas of environmental, health and transport economics. Henrik has published several scientific papers, including some on the value of a statistical life, risk perception, and transportation noise. He has been involved in several international scientific conferences, either as an organiser or as a scientific committee member.

Chiara Pancotti

Senior expert of CBA and impact assessment

Chiara Pancotti is a Partner and Senior Economist at CSIL. She is specialised in financial, socio-economic and risk analyses of infrastructural projects. She boasts longstanding experience in projects’ appraisal - by reviewing the application forms of Italian major projects asking for EU co-financing in the transport and environment sector - as well as ex-post evaluations and impact assessment assessing long-term contribution of projects, especially in the environmental, transport, cultural and RDI fields. She co-authored the last edition of the CBA Guide prepared on behalf of the DG Regio. She contributed to drafting CBA methodological guidelines for the Government of Lithuania, the NICDP of Saudi Arabia, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Also, she has delivered training in the field of CBA to EU officials and international and national audiences in various countries, including Malta, Lithuania, Slovenia and the Republic of North Macedonia. Since 2013 she is amongst the main lecturers of the Milan Summer School on Cost-Benefit Analysis, annually organised by CSIL.

Witold Willak

Deputy Head of Unit DDG.02, Coordination of Programmes, European Commission

Witold Willak is currently Deputy Head of Unit DDG.02, Coordination of Programmes at DG Regional and Urban Policy of European Commission. He has been responsible for the appraisal of major projects submitted for ERDF/CF financing and for cooperation with the JASPERS initiative, set up together with the European Investment Bank, and now he has been coordinating Economic Appraisal Vademecum for 2021-2027. He was also responsible for coordinating all work related to the updated Cost-Benefit Analysis Guide 2014, and before he had been a programme manager responsible for operational programmes and projects in Czech Republic and Poland. Witold holds a Master of Economics with specialisation in regional and local policy.

Davide Sartori

Economist at the European Investment Bank

Davide Sartori is a project economist at the European Investment Bank, where he is responsible for the economic appraisal of energy efficiency projects and programmes supported by the Bank within its Energy lending policy. Between 2016 and 2020, he worked under the JASPERS mandate as a Cost-benefit Analysis specialist, supporting ESI Funds beneficiaries in preparing the financial, economic and risk analyses of infrastructure investment projects applying for EU co-financing. He also helped EU Member States to design and develop cost-benefit analysis training. He worked at CSIL as a project analyst, a role in which he authored the last edition of the EC Guide to Cost-benefit Analysis of Investment Projects (2014). He collaborated with the World Bank and the African Development Bank for the evaluation of development projects. Davide is visiting lecturer at EIPA, European Institute of Public Administration, and at the Milan Summer School on CBA, annually organised by CSIL.

Julien Bollati

Financial Engineering Manager, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), European Commission

Julien Bollati is Financial Engineering Manager at the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), European Commission. He is dealing with funding issues of European transport and energy infrastructures. His responsibilities include coordinating the assessment of Cost-Benefit Analyses submitted in the context of Connecting Europe Facility call for proposals. Before that, he has been Framework Contract coordinator at PwC for the assessment of Major Projects CBAs submitted to DG REGIO from across the EU. His past experiences include working at the EIB in the European PPP Expertise Centre and with the Major Project Team of DG REGIO. Julien Bollati has contributed to the 2008 edition of the European Commission methodology for CBA and has researched empirical approaches for the estimation of shadow wages.

Linas Jasiukevičius

Expert of the Public and Private Partnership, Competence Centre at Central Project Management Agency

Dr Linas Jasiukevičius is a finance expert and head of the investment and finance group of the Public and Private Partnership (PPP) Competence Centre at the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA). He is a developer of national CBA methodology and tools in Lithuania and has been involved in initiatives of DG REGIO to simplify CBA for the programming period 2021 – 2027. He defended PhD in economics at the Kaunas University of Technology on "the assessment of PPP's possibilities to optimise investments in public infrastructure". Since 2012, he delivers lectures and seminars on finance and CBA at Kaunas University of Technology and other universities of Lithuania. He is experienced in providing technical/methodological assistance in doing CBA for project promoters and evaluators and delivering CBA training courses. He is also responsible for developing methodological tools used to assess the projects implementation's practicality and benefits.

Jincheng NI

Senior expert, France Stratégie

Jincheng NI has been an economist and senior expert at France Stratégie (https://www.strategie.gouv.fr/membres/jincheng) since 2015. His work focuses on socioeconomic evaluation methods, mobility/transport, territories/metropolisation/urbanisation and the Chinese economy. He was previously Director of Transport Economics in the Strategy Department of SNCF, Director of Development and then Director of Territorial Affairs for the SNCF Paris St-Lazare and Normandy regions. He graduated from TSE (Toulouse School of Economics) and ENSAE Paris (National School of Statistics and Economic Administration, Institut Polytechnique de Paris).

Martin Kmetko

Senior Analyst at the Value for Money Division of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic

Martin Kmetko studied economics at Masaryk University in Brno. Before joining the Ministry of Finance, he worked in technology companies on marketing and analytical topics. At the Value for Money unit (MoF), his job is evaluating feasibility studies for public investment and methodological guidance for their preparation, especially in the field of information technology and defence.

Gelsomina Catalano

Senior expert of CBA and impact assessment, CSIL

Partner and Senior Economist at CSIL. She is specialised in financial, economic and risk analyses of infrastructural projects, especially in the transport, environment, health and RDI fields. She co-authored the last edition of the CBA Guide prepared on behalf of the DG Regio; she reviewed several application forms of Italian major projects asking for EU co-financing; she contributed to several ex-post evaluations – including ex-post CBA - of projects co-financed by ESI funds. Over recent years, she has gained experience with the socioeconomic impact assessments of research infrastructures (e.g., LHC and HI-Lumi, ALBA synchrotrons, FCC) and contributed to developing a model for socio-economic impact assessment of research infrastructures in the framework of the Horizon 2020 RI-PATHS project. She boasts several training experiences in CBA for civil servants and practitioners in Italy. She is currently teaching evaluation of health programme and policies, including CBA, at the University of Milan. Since 2011, she in charge of coordinating the Milan Summer School on Cost-Benefit Analysis, annually organised by CSIL

W. KiP Viscusi

University Distinguished Professor of Law, Economics, and Management Co-Director, Ph.D. Program in Law and Economics

W. Kip Viscusi is Vanderbilt's first University Distinguished Professor, with tenured appointments in the Department of Economics and the Owen Graduate School of Management as well as in the Law School. Professor Viscusi is the award-winning author of more than 30 books and nearly 400 articles, most of which deal with different aspects of health and safety risks. He is widely regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on benefit-cost analysis. Professor Viscusi's estimates of the value of risks to life and health are currently used throughout the Federal government. In the Carter administration, he was Deputy Director of the Council of Wage and Price Stability, which was responsible for White House oversight over all new federal regulations. He has served on different panels of the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for over a decade. Professor Viscusi served as the President of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis and the President of the Southern Economic Association. Professor Viscusi is the founding editor of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, which he has edited since 1988. In 2019 he received the Earl Sutherland Prize for Achievement in Research, which is Vanderbilt’s most prestigious honor for faculty research and scholarship. More details are available at https://law.vanderbilt.edu/phd/faculty/w-kip-viscusi/index.php

Francesco Angelini

Economist at the European Investment Bank

Francesco Angelini is a Project Economist working for the JASPERS initiative with the Energy Efficiency and Energy Advisory Division at the European Investment Bank. He deals with cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of major investment projects financed by EU Funds in the energy sectors, particularly in Central and Eastern EU Member States. He contributed to the preparation of the latest editions of the European Commission’s CBA Guide and Economic Appraisal Vademecum, co-authoring the chapters dealing with energy projects. He previously worked at the European Commission, first with the Evaluation Unit and then with the Major Projects Team of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy, where he was the main author of the Commission's 2007-2013 Guidance document on CBA. He holds a degree in Economics and International Institutions Management from Università Bocconi in Milano and a Master's degree (MSc.) in Project Analysis, Finance and Investment from the University of York.

Isidoro Tapia

Economist at the European Investment Bank

Isidoro Tapia is a Senior Economist in the Energy Efficiency Division of the European Investment Bank. He holds a dual degree in Law and Economics from Carlos III University of Madrid and a MBA from Wharton Business School of Pennsylvania. Before joining the EIB, he worked as a member of the cabinet of the Secretary for Energy in the Spanish Government, and was Secretary General of IDAE, the Spanish National Agency for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Teresa Calvete

Senior Officer at the European Investment Bank

Teresa Calvete worked in the Board of Directors at the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank on behalf of the Spanish government before joining the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 1996. Her career at the EIB has taken her to EBRD, Bucharest and Brussels and covered many functions, including change management. Within EIB, she joined JASPERS (Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions) in 2009, where at present she works in projects, and programmes in several sectors, including health and education. She is an economist and holds a MBA.

Silvia Vignetti

Senior expert of CBA and impact assessment

Silvia Vignetti is the Director of Evaluation Studies at CSIL. She is a CBA expert with a longstanding experience (more than 20 years) in project appraisal, managing large scale, international and EU-wide, studies, (ex-ante, mid-term and ex-post) evaluations, impact assessments and feasibility studies. She co-authored the last three editions of the CBA Guide prepared on behalf of the DG Regio. She has broad training experience in CBA for civil servants and practitioners in Italy and abroad (e.g. Malta, Lithuania, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Ghana). She contributed to several impact assessments of Research Infrastructures, e.g. LHC (CERN), Centre of Hadrontherapy (Pavia), E–RIHS, etc. She has recently contributed to the Horizon 2020 RI-PATHS project, developing a model for assessing the socio-economic impact of Research Infrastructures. Also, she has provided technical assistance to the University of Milan, developing guidelines and technical solutions for the harmonised collection of data on the cost of ESFRI Roadmap research infrastructures. Since 2013 she is amongst the main lecturers of the Milan Summer School on Cost-Benefit Analysis, annually organised by CSIL.

Phoebe Koundouri

Professor in Economic Theory and Econometrics, Athens University of Economics and Business

Prof. Phoebe Koundouri is a world-renowned environmental economics professor and global leader in sustainable development. She is widely recognised as a pioneer in innovative, human-centric, interdisciplinary systems for the sustainable interaction between nature, society, and the economy. She is listed in the most-cited women economists in the world, with 15 published books and more than 465 published peer reviewed scientific articles, book chapters and reports. She is Elected Member of the World Academy of Art & Science, President of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists and she has received numerous international awards for academic excellence. With 100 European / global research projects / initiatives and a team of 150 researchers, her work defines global policies and supports human well-being. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and has taught at Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Reading University. She is a professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), founder / director of the ReSEES Research Laboratory (AUEB), the Sustainable Development Unit at the ATHENA Research and Innovation Center and the European Institute of Technology (EIT) Climate-KIC Greece. She chairs the United Nations SDSN - Europe, International Center for Research ICRE8 and the European Forest Institute. She is a commissioner of the global COVID-19 Lancet Commission, a member of the Pissaridis Commission (Greek Recovery Plan) and of the National Climate Change Committee of Greece, and an advisor to the EU, the World Bank, the UN, NATO, the WHO and other international organisations and governments worldwide. In 2020 she received the European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant, the most important European research funding / award, and first in Greece / Cyprus.

Valentina Morretta

Post Doc Research fellow at the University of Milan

Valentina Morretta is a Post Doc Research fellow at the University of Milan - Department of Economics, Management, and Quantitative Methods (DEMM). She has extensive experience in research and analysis in different socio-economic disciplines, including the evaluation of the socio-economic impact of research and innovation policies. She has participated in several international projects, including cost-benefit analysis of Large Hadron Collider at Cern and cost-benefit analysis of public policies in the space industry. She holds an MSc in Business Economics from the University of Palermo, a Master in International Cooperation and Development from the Institute of International Political Studies (ISPI) of Milan and a PhD in regional economics from the Centre for Economic and Enterprise Development Research of the Middlesex University (CEEDR). Before starting her career in academia, she gained work experience in the field of finance and local development in different countries, including Ireland, Italy, Kosovo and the UK. Her main research interests focus on the evaluation of innovation policies, cost-benefit analysis, local development and firm productivity.