Dr Michalis Moatsos (M.)
My main interest lies with the evolution of material deprivation and inequalities on a global scale, both in the 21st and previous centuries. In my research the role of prices is of essential importance in both the identification and measurement of poverty. I am also investigating the levels and trends of historical real wages around the world. Lately, I delve into the realm of the rich, by investigating the distribution of wealth in the Netherlands since the mid-19th century.
In terms of thesis supervision, my interests include: Global, regional and national poverty measurement and implications for policy. Between and within countries (economic) inequality. Sustainable development goals (SDG). Wellbeing measurement. Global price datasets (commodities and services, particularly health and education services).
Specific Topics:
- Definitions of poverty around the world (national levels)
- Evolution of income and wealth inequality within countries
- Explaining international patterns of economic inequality
- Poverty, inequality and growth on national, regional or global level
- Policies for achieving SDGs (goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13 and 16)
- Policies and their implementations from the World Bank, IMF, UN and other international institutions in achieving SDGs (goals 1, 2, and 10)
- Multidimensional wellbeing, definition and measurement
- Measurement issues of SDGs and their implication for policy makers
- SDG strategies on national level (goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13 and 16)
- Sources for price datasets on commodities and services (particularly health and education services) around the world.
Expertises
Poverty, Wellbeing, Inequality.
Career history
Since March 2024 I have received tenure in my appointment as an assistant professor of international economics at Maastricht University, and I have been awarded a UKRI postdoctoral fellowship (evaluated through the Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship round of 2021), on the conceptualization and unification of global poverty measurement for the 21st century.
My contribution thus far is to challenge the veracity of the official estimates of global poverty; to propose an alternative methodology for poverty measurement and implement methods that estimate the uncertainty of available global poverty statistics. My approach has been recognized by the World Bank Commission on Global Poverty --presided by the late Prof. Sir Tony Atkinson-- positively citing my work in its official final report.
I have given more than 25 presentations (8 as an invited speaker) in international seminars, workshops, and conferences (listed below), including at the 2016 Nuffield College Economic History seminar, at Oxford University, UK. I co-organized a two-day international workshop (co-sponsors: Posthumus Institute, Utrecht University and Wageningen University) to advance the measurement of long-term well-being with early career and established scholars in the field, such as Prof. Dr. Anne McCants (MIT), the President of the International Economic History Association. At the XIX World Economic History Congress (2022, Paris) I co-organized two sessions on living standards, one of them organized in collaboration with the renowned scholar on global inequality Prof. Dr. Branko Milanovic (CUNY - LIS). At the 2022 International Association for Research in Income and Wealth (IARIW) General Conference I co-organized the session entitled “New Measures of Global Comparisons in Well-Being and Sustainability”, and another session on the “Dynamics of the Wealth Distribution around the world”.
In 2024, I co-organized with Dr. Dean Jolliffe (Lead Economist, World Bank) a session on global poverty measurement at the 2024 IARIW General Conference entitled "Global Poverty Measurement: Pitfalls and Opportunities".
My research has been featured, among others, by The New York Times and Our World In Data. Together with Daniel Gallardo-Albaran (WUR) we co-edited a Special Issue on the ”Metrics and Drivers of Well-Being in the Long-Run” for the Journal of Economic Surveys (2025). I became part of the founding team behind the journal of Reviews of Economic Literature (Stanford University Press).
At Maastricht University I have co-organized public lectures with guests like Dr. Dean Jolliffe (World Bank), Prof. Dr. Leandro Prados de la Escosura (Carlos Madrid III), Dr. Federico Esposito (Tufts) and Dr. Branko Milanovic (CUNY).
Files
<p>Detailed CV</p>