Luigi Toma, Ph.D., Research Fellow

Prior to joining the Foundation, he worked as a Senior Economic Analyst for the Lerman Group, researching Early Warning indicators and conducting business cycle modeling. Previously, he was a consultant with the Public Sector Management (PSM) Unit in the Poverty and Social Policy Department of the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where he carried out quantitative data analysis work suggesting that corruption has a negative and statistically significant impact on subsequent economic growth. The results of his work were included in the PSM background notes on governance and public sector management (1996).

Before his consulting assignments at the World Bank, Luigi was Head of the International Division of the Romanian Electricity Authority. In this capacity, he was involved in the negotiation of the first loan agreement between Romania and the European Investment Bank, as well as in the negotiation of two loan agreements between Romania and the World Bank. Luigi has started his career as a Research Economist at the Institute of Finance in Bucharest.

Luigi holds a MA in Development Banking from American University in Washington, D.C., and a PhD in Economics from the National Institute of Economic Research in Bucharest. Luigi was a Visiting Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also served as a member of the Advisory Committee of George Washington University’s Center for Professional Development.

Luigi has published numerous articles in refereed professional journals such as Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Since 1996, he serves on the Advisory Board of Technological Forecasting and Social Change journal.

In a report written while serving as an Ignatian volunteer at the Center of Concern in Washington, D.C., Luigi has constructed a Catholic Social Teaching Index (CSTI), which is an aggregate measure allowing different countries to be ranked according to the latent religion business ethics that permeate their culture. The report uses multivariate data analysis techniques to illustrate the complex multi-dimensional concept of CST and to make the significant point that cross-country comparisons in terms of latent religious business ethics may help civil societies learn from the experience of others.