I.Semih Akçomak studied economics at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. Previously, he worked as a research assistant in the Department of Economics at METU where he also obtained his MSc. degree. Semih joined the UNU-MERIT PhD programme in 2003 and has completed his PhD dissertation in 2009 entitled as "The impact of social capital on socio-economic outcomes" which involves a set of papers on the impact of social capital on economic and social outcomes such as innovation, growth and crime and on how social capital forms and affects these outcomes. He currently works as a researcher at the Department of Economics, Maastricht University.