We are delighted to welcome Aida Garcia-Lazaro and Thomais Massala to the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) as new Research Associates.

Aida joins us from the University of York, where she studied for a PhD in the Department of Economics and Related Studies. Her work focuses on macroprudential and monetary policies in developed and emerging market economies using Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models. Prior to York, Aida worked as an Assistant Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and conducted external research for the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) in Mexico. She holds MSc and Bachelor degrees in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

During her time at the IPR Aida will support ‘The Economics of Basic Income’ research project, which will examine the interaction between technology, output GDP, consumer income and expenditure.

Thomais joins us from the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath, where she studied for a PhD on financialisation and the UK pension system, pension investment regulations, and public-private pension schemes. Prior to this, Thomais studied for an MA in Social Research Methods at the University of Durham, and a BSc in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance at the American College of Greece in Deree College. She has also worked as a Teaching Assistant and Postgraduate Research Administrator at the University of Bath, and has former working experience in the banking sector.

During her time at the IPR, Thomais will support the ‘Pensions Reform in the UK’ project, which seeks to develop an in-depth understanding of the factors which affected reform of the UK pensions system, and contribute to our understanding of not only pensions reform, but wider policymaking processes.