Dr. Ioannis Bournakis is an Associate Professor in Economics at the American University in Cairo. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Kent, UK, and an MA in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Manchester, UK. His research interests are in the areas of Applied Macroeconomics, Productivity, Regional Economics, and Innovation. He has recently published on the fiscal aspects of productivity in the UK. His work also focuses on the role of agglomeration gains in knowledge transfer at the firm and industry level. The macroeconomic work of Ioannis is on growth models, the link between financial reforms and innovation, and the impact of fiscal adjustments on productivity. More recently, Ioannis has developed a research interest in the interplay between institutional roots and the current performance of the MENA countries. Dr. Bournakis has published thirteen papers in international peer-reviewed journals among them in Regional Studies, Economic Inquiry, Review of Income and Wealth, Macroeconomic Dynamics, and Economic Modelling.