Gust Blauwens has a PhD in applied economic sciences and is professor at Antwerp University where he teaches courses on transportation economics and policy. He is visiting professor of transportation economics at Ghent University.

Robert Boyer is a widely recognised economist working at CEPREMAP and a senior researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He is also professor at EHESS and member of the Council of Economic Analysis. He has published widely on various economic issues. One of his recent books is ‘The Future of Economic Growth. When New Becomes Old’ (2004).

Enrico Colombatto is professor of economics at the School of Economics of the University of Turin. He is director of the International Centre for Economic Research (ICER) in Turin as well as director of CLEI, the Inter-university Center for Comparative Law and Economics, Law & Economics and Economics of Institutions. He currently is visiting professor at the universities of Rome, Paris II and Aix-Marseille III.

Ben De Poorter is professor at the Center for Advanced Studies in Law of Ghent University. He holds a J.D. from the Ghent University, an LL.M. from Yale Law School, an M.A. in Economic Analysis of Law from Hamburg University and a PhD in Law and Economics from Ghent University. Among his published books are ‘Telecommunications and the Internet: The Changing Boundaries of Law’, with Guy Schrans (Mys & Breesch, 2001) and ‘The Law and Economics of the European Union’, with Paul Stephan and Francesco Parisi (Lexis, 2003). He has authored thirty papers in the field of law and economics, intellectual property and comparative legal theory.

Alain Eraly is professor at the faculty of sociology and political sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. In 2003, he received the Chair Francqui (Political Actors and Institutions in Belgium) from the Université de Liège. He published widely on politics and institutions.

Nicolas Lecaussin holds a Sciences-po degree and a Licentiate in Modern Literature. Since 1998 he has worked at IFRAP Foundation (Institute for Research on Public Administration) where he is the Editor of the magazine ‘Société civile’. He is the author of ‘Cet Etat qui tue la France’ – ‘The State that kills France’ (Plon, 2005) and co-author of several other books. He frequently publishes, lectures and debates on issues of public policy, state reform, social policy and education. He is frequently in the media, leads a seminar at the Marne-la-Vallée University and participates in hearings at the National Assembly.

Professor Ashok Parikh is an Emeritus Professor of Economics. His research interests are varied and he has worked on economic growth in Asian economies, poverty measurement in India, measurement of efficiency in Pakistani agriculture, impact of trade liberalisation and growth on balance of payments in developing countries, EMU and policy convergence, exchange rate dynamics and tax harmonisation in EU, labour mobility in Europe and many other fields in quantitative development economics. His latest research is on the measurement of poverty in India and trade liberalisation and economic growth. He has published papers in various international journals and has worked with the IMF, the World Bank, UNCTAD and many other international organisations and held visiting professorships at many universities.

Fabrice Pirnay has a PhD in management sciences from the Université de Lille II. He works at the Centre de Recherche PME et d'Entrepreneuriat at the Université de Liège. He specialises in university spin-offs and has published widely on this topic.

Gilles Saint-Paul is an economist at Université des Sciences Sociales de Toulouse. He also teaches at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. He is economic adviser at the French ministry of environment. One of his recent publications is ‘The Political Economy of Labour Market Institutions’ (Oxford University Press, 2000).

Leo Sleuwaegen is professor of Managerial economics at the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven, research director of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School and part time professor at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. As expert-consultant he has worked for the European Commission, the World Bank, the OECD, the United Nations, the Belgian and Flemish government and major international companies. Leo Sleuwaegen has published in a wide array of international journals. He is also associate editor of the International Journal of the Economics of Business.

Jef Vuchelen is professor of economics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is a renowned public finance specialist with an active role in the public debate.

Shlomo Weber is professor economy and director of the Center for Economic Studies of the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Professor Weber obtained a PhD in economy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He published hundreds of articles in prominent economical and political magazines. Recently he received the Alexander von Humboldt prize for leading foreign scientists. Professor Weber also has experience as a consultant in Eastern and Central Europe as well as in the former Sovjet republics. He had a seat in the expert panels of the IMF.