He is Professor of Economics at the European University Institute, Lead Researcher at the Centre for Economic Policy Studies and the Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA), Member of the European Economic Association and Honorary Member of the Spanish Economics Association, of which he was President in 2001. His primary research areas are econometric theory, labour economics and applied macroeconomics, on which he has published ten books and around 70 articles. Between 2003 and 2010, he was a member of the Economic Policy Analysis Group (GEPA) during the Romano Prodi and José Manuel Durão Barroso.presidencies of the European Commission.