Ariel Fiszbein is the Lead Economist for the Human Development Department in the Latin America and Caribbean region of the World Bank.  Before that he was Human Development Leader for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay at the World Bank.  Before that he was a Principal Economist at the World Bank Institute where he coordinated the Growth and Poverty Team. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fiszbein received his Licenciatura in Economics at Universidad del Salvador (Buenos Aires) and Ph.D in economics at University of California, Berkeley. He has been at the World Bank since 1991 where he has held several positions. His research work is on poverty and inequality, education, labor markets, decentralization and institutional development. Some of his most recent publications include: "Working together for a Change: Government, Business and Civic Partnerships for Poverty Reduction in LAC" (co-authored with Pamela Lowden, EDI, 1999), "Fiscal Decentralization in Colombia: The Central Role of the Central Government" (co-authored with Richard Bird, Cambridge University Press, 1998) and "Reforming Institutions in Transition Societies: Education Decentralization in Central and Eastern Europe" (WBI, 2001).