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Lozano-Gracia, Nancy

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Last updated: March 26, 2024
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Nancy Lozano-Gracia is a Lead Economist in the World Bank’s Office of the Regional Director for Sustainable Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 20 years of experience in applied economics and international development. She is also the co-lead for the Global Solutions Group on Spatial and Territorial Development. Since joining the World Bank in 2009, she has worked extensively on designing and delivering major analytical products across all regions. She holds a PhD in applied economics from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in environmental and agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland and Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

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    Overcoming Left-Behindedness: Moving beyond the Efficiency versus Equity Debate in Territorial Development
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-26) Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Bartalucci, Federico; Dávalos, Maria; Lozano-Gracia, Nancy
    Territorial development theory and practice have witnessed significant change in recent times. This change has increasingly put the spatial dimension at the center of development policies. Although agglomeration-focused policies derived from urbanization and agglomeration economics were once prominent, their empirical limitations have become increasingly apparent. Greater territorial polarization and pervasive left-behindedness have underscored the need for a more inclusive territorial development approach, prompting increased interest in understanding and addressing regional disparities to ensure more equitable economic growth. This paper synthesizes the growing interest in territorial development, which has driven the adoption of what are increasingly place-based and place-sensitive approaches to development. The paper also emphasizes the need for complementarity between efficiency-driven and equity-focused interventions, while highlighting emerging topics in regional economics research, including the role of institutions, agency, and external megatrends such as the green transition. The paper concludes by advocating a place-sensitive approach that tailors policies to regional challenges, promoting economic potential, diversification, and inclusivity across all regions.
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    Migrants, Markets, and Mayors: Rising above the Employment Challenge in Africa’s Secondary Cities
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-12-14) Christiaensen, Luc; Lozano-Gracia, Nancy; eds.
    Research on migration and urban development in Africa has primarily focused on larger cities and rural-to-urban migration. However, 97 percent of Africa’s urban centers have fewer than 300,000 inhabitants, and a sizable share of urban migrants come from other urban areas. A more holistic and dynamic perspective, incorporating migration flows along the full urban hierarchy, as well as urban-urban migrants, is needed to better understand and leverage migration for urban development. Migrants, Markets, and Mayors: Rising above the Employment Challenge in Africa’s Secondary Cities draws on demographic data, research literature, key informant interviews, and empirical research to better understand how migrants in Africa’s secondary cities fare in urban labor markets, how they affect aggregate urban productivity, and how mayors can leverage migrants’ potential to the benefit of all. It explores these questions across countries and four urban case settings: Jijiga in Ethiopia, Jinja in Uganda, and Jendouba and Kairouan in Tunisia. Although mayors in secondary cities often see migrants as a burden to their cities’ labor markets and a threat to development, the report finds that migrants contribute increasingly less to urban population growth and that they usually strengthen the resident labor force. The report also finds that labor market outcomes for migrants are at least as good as those for nonmigrants. Africa’s secondary cities are well placed to leverage migration, but evidence-based policies are needed to manage the growth and development of land and labor markets. The report reviews policy options that mayors can take to strengthen the financial, technical, and planning capacity of secondary cities and better leverage migration to benefit migrants and nonmigrants alike.