Economist

María Carmen Gallastegui Zulaica, born in Bergara, is a professor of economic theory and the director of the Environmental Economics Unit of the Instituto de Economía Pública at the Universidad del País Vasco.

She has been president of the executive committee of Ikerbasque until 2009, a foundation created by the Basque Government to attract experienced researchers to the Basque scientific system.
She holds a degree in economic and business science from the Universidad de Valladolid, an MSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics, UK, and a PhD. from Brown University (USA).
She began her research developing optimum management models for exploiting renewable resources, a field in which she has written some referential publications.
She has published work in areas of economic theory other than the environment and natural resources and, in particular, in areas related to the functioning and design of the public sector, the incorporation of Spanish economy into the euro area and the phenomenon of delocalisation of economic activities.
She has directed many research projects of the Ministry, the Basque Government and the Universidad del País Vasco. She has participated as an PR on the research team made up of members of the UPV and AZTI/Tecnalia, in the Fifth and Sixth EU Framework Programmes.
As well as her research work at the university she has participated, with the Institute for Public Economics, of which she was the director, in numerous applied projects financed by the private sector (Fundación BBVA, Iberdrola, Cámara de Comercio) and by public organisations (IVAP, Basque Government, Territorial Government)..
She spent time in Oxford during 2001/2002 as a Basque Fellow, carrying out research into the integration of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country into the EU, analysing fiscal and institutional aspects.
She was the director of the PhD programme in economic analysis, quantitative techniques and public economy, which earned a special mention for quality from the Ministry, and she directs a research group of excellence. She has directed eight PhD theses, given PhD courses at the UPV and at other universities in Spain.

In 2005 she won the National Lucas Mallada Prize for Economics and the Environment and in 2006 the Euskadi Prize for Research in Economics.
She has been a member of the Economic and Social Board, member of the Governing Board of the UPV, member of the Faculty Council, head of the Department of Economic Theory at the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences and Member of the Social Board of the UPV.
She was regional minister for Economics and Planning in the Basque Government in 1991. Throughout her career as a teacher and researcher she has participated at national and international scientific conferences, seminars and summer courses.

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