Elsa Fornero

Professor of political economy at the University of Turin, she is scientific coordinator of the Centre for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies (CeRP); honorary fellow of the Collegio Carlo Alberto; member of the Italian Government Commission of Independent Experts for the assessment of Italy’s Social Security Reform appointed by the Ministry for Welfare; member of the scientific committee of the European Savings Observatory (Observatoire de l’Epargne Européenne, Paris); on the editorial board of the Rivista Italiana degli Economisti, and leader writer for the Italian economic daily Il Sole 24 Ore. Since November 2011 she has served as Minister of Labour, Social Policies and Equal Opportunities in the Monti Government. She was vice-president of the supervisory board of Intesa Sanpaolo (2010-2011), member of the executive board of the  Italian Society of Economists (2005-2007), member of the scientific committee of Confindustria (2005-2006), member of the team of evaluators in the area of pension reform at the World Bank (2003-2004), with responsibility for assessing the Bank’s role in implementing the welfare reforms in transition economies, member of the committee of experts of the task force on ‘Portability of Pension Rights and Taxation of Pension Schemes in the EU’ set up by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels (2001-2003). In 2001 she was the co-recipient with Ignazio Musu of the Saint Vincent Prize for Economics. In 2003, jointly with Olivia Mitchell, she was awarded the INA-National Lyncean Academy Prize for her work on insurance. Her studies have focused on public and private welfare systems, welfare reforms, population aging, retirement choices, household saving and life insurance.