Yoseph Yilma Getachew was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He Joined UNU-MERIT at 2003 where he has worked in a variety of topics such as institutions, income inequality, public capital, economic growth and knowledge that have enriched his analytical and research skills in economic development studies.  His thesis, titled “The Role of Public Capital on Economic Development” is composed of a number of theoretical and empirical papers. Yoseph is among the three winners of the Best PhD Papers Awards of Globelics 2009 conference. He is currently working as a research consultant in the World Knowledge Report project at the institute.