Henk Jan Reinders is an economist and strategist working at the intersection of macroeconomics, public policy, and technology.
I am currently a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund in the Strategy, Policy and Review Department, focusing on structural change in the economy. I am also affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam and the University of Bologna, and am based in Washington, DC.
Previously, I held economist and advisory positions at the Dutch Central Bank, the European Commission, and the World Bank. My educational background is in philosophy, physics, and economics.
My academic research focuses on the economics of structural change — such as climate change, pandemics, and technological shifts — and assesses their impact on the economy and the financial sector. My work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, working papers, and book chapters.
At the IMF, I work on the macroeconomic and financial-stability implications of artificial intelligence — how adoption may reshape productivity, labor markets, and public finances, and what this means for the resilience of economies and financial systems.
As an adjunct professor, I teach modules and guest lectures on the two-way interaction between climate change and finance — climate risks (transition and physical) and the ways finance can contribute to better climate outcomes, from risk management and earmarked finance to carbon markets and disaster-risk insurance.
My thesis improves the understanding of how climate- and pandemic-related shocks affect financial-sector variables. It contributes to the development of climate risk stress tests, which translate initial climate-shock parameters into metrics relevant to financial institutions — such as solvency and liquidity — with a focus on financial asset value and institution solvency.
