Dr. Gustavo Piga (Italy) is an expert of international acclaim in the field of economics, having worked for a number of international organisations and written several books and numerous publications on Public Procurement and Public Debt Management. Dr. Piga obtained his Ph. D (1996) and M. Phil Degree (1992) in Economics from Columbia University, New York. He also holds a M.A. Degree (1991) in Economics from Columbia University, New York.

He has been serving as a Full Professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, for the past four years, where he teaches Micro and Macroeconomics in the Faculty of Economics. He is also the Head Director of the Masters in Procurement Management at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and a Member of the Organizing Committee for the university’s doctorate programme in Money, Banking and Finance and the Master’s programme in European Economics and International Finance. 

As a Senior Procurement Expert with the World Bank and Italian Trade Institute, Washington, D. C., Dr. Piga is currently drafting a report on: The Declining Share of Italian Firms in World Bank Procurement. He is also the Contractor for International Assistance in Procurement in Lithuania, Malta, Hungary and Bulgaria, where he works with the public procurement authority to establish an E-Procurement National Plan. Also included in his vast professional experience is chairmanship of the board of the Italian National Procurement Agency where he initially launched and chaired the European Union (EU) Learning Lab on Procurement, an expert group of 35 procurement agencies, from 26 EU countries. This group meets regularly to discuss strategic concerns in procurement practice. 

Dr. Piga’s professional experience also includes several international consultancies and in 2001, under sponsorship from the International Monetary Fund, he served as Advisor to the Turkish Treasury on the Optimal Structure of Public Government Issues after the Banking Crisis.

Among his many books and publications, Dr. Piga is the co-editor of Handbook of Procurement and the Economics of Public Procurement. His publications include: Why do Transparent Public Procurement and Corruption Go Hand in Hand; Benchmarking European Public Procurement Practices: Purchasing of Fix-Line Telephone Services and Paper for Printers; The Variety of Procurement Practice: Evidence from Public Procurement and When Should Procurement Be Centralized.