Franziska Gassmann is Professor of Social Protection and Development at Maastricht University.
Franziska Gassmann has over 25 years of experience as a researcher, teacher and consultant on poverty and social policy issues. She is an applied economist/social scientist with a strong track record in the field of poverty, social protection and applied public policy analysis and has written over 90 publications. She is experienced in the design and implementation of policy evaluations, indicators and data collection methods (both quantitative and qualitative) that allow measuring poverty and wellbeing and assessing social policies. The focus of her current research is on understanding to what extent and under what conditions formal and informal social protection contribute to inclusive development and how such policies impact intermediate objectives such as the accumulation of human capital, the investment in, protection and accumulation of productive assets, labor market participation and the generation of local multiplier and spillover effects. Her research also addresses questions such as how social protection can be expanded to those groups that are currently not covered by formal systems, for example informal workers, and the determinants of preferences for redistributive policies. She is the coordinator of the social protection specialization of the MSc Program in Public Policy and Human Development at Maastricht University and leader of the social protection research. Franziska Gassmann has advised international organizations, such as UNICEF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, OECD, ILO, UNDP and national governments. She has been the principal investigator of more than 30 research and project grants up to a monetary value of 2 million Euro. Her project experience covers more than 15 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. She is regularly teaching in graduate programs (MSc, PhD) in the field of welfare economics, social protection and public policy analysis (certified university teacher BKO), and executive training programs.
