Gerton Rongen

Gerton Rongen serves as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Economics at the School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, while pursuing his PhD at the same institution. He is concurrently a PhD Fellow at the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD), with ancillary roles including Member of the Advisory Council for the College & Graduate School of Social Sciences at Universiteit van Amsterdam (2022–present) and an upcoming Short-term Consultant at the World Bank (May–June 2025).

His research centers on poverty dynamics, income inequality, and development economics, with empirical focus on Southeast Asia and Africa. Key projects include analyzing economic mobility in Malaysia, adjusting survey-based inequality measures for missing top incomes (applied to Mumbai), and evaluating water/sanitation programs in Durban. He also investigates perceptions of inequality and their political implications, contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty reduction and health equity.

Publication trends reveal a methodological emphasis on synthetic panel construction and vulnerability analysis for poverty measurement, with regional expertise concentrated in Malaysia and India. His work bridges micro-level economic analysis with policy-oriented development research, frequently collaborating with institutions like the World Bank.

Rongen actively disseminates findings through academic presentations, including a 2021 lecture on Malaysian poverty dynamics co-delivered with P. Lanjouw. His research has garnered policy references, Wikipedia citations, and significant Mendeley readership (57+), indicating real-world impact in development economics circles.