Rudiger Ahrend is the head of regional economics and governance in the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. In this capacity, he is currently supervising numerous projects related to metropolitan development, including a study on the impact of urban policies on economic productivity. At the OECD, where he started as an official in 2002, Dr. Ahrend worked first as a senior economist in the organization's Economic Department. Prior to joining OECD, he worked as a researcher and independent consultant. In addition to his work on OECD countries, he has extensively worked on Russia and other emerging economies, and has published widely, both in academic journals and newspapers. Dr. Ahrend holds degrees in social sciences and mathematics from the University of Göttingen and the Sorbonne in France, and a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics.