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Ana Balcão Reis
Ana Balcão Reis
Professor
Economics
Research Track
Web site
Ciência ID: B011-9F87-A3D0
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0962-4605

Ana Balcão Reis is Full Professor of Economics at Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE) and holds a PhD in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa. She currently serves as Associate Dean for Degree Programs and Scientific Director of the Nova SBE Economics of Education Knowledge Center (EEKC), and was President of the Pedagogical Council of Nova SBE from 2015 to 2023.

Her research focuses on the economics of education, economic growth, and human capital, with particular interest in school effectiveness, student performance, and education policy. Her work has been published in leading international journals, including Journal of International Economics, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, European Economic Review, and Economics of Education Review.

At Nova SBE, she has been teaching courses in Economics of Education at master’s programs. She also supervises master’s and PhD students.

Since July 2024, she is Member of the National Education Council, (CNE).

In 2025, she was appointed Portugal’s national delegate to the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, contributing to international research and policy innovation in education systems. Beyond academia, she actively participates in policy debates and research initiatives focused on the Portuguese education system and educational outcomes. 

2020 - "Agregação" in Economics, Nova SBE

1999 - PhD in Economics, Nova SBE

Economics. Macroeconomics. Economics of Education; Determinants of Student Achievement, the Impact of Retentions, Teacher Quality 

  • Angelo, Catarina, Balcão Reis, Ana (2025). Gender gaps in different assessment systems: The role of teacher gender. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 25 (4), 1051-1076.
  • Batista, Cátia, Costa, David M., Freitas, Pedro, Lima, Gonçalo, Balcão Reis, Ana (2025). What matters for the decision to study abroad? A lab-in-the-field experiment in Cape Verde. Journal of Development Economics, 173.
  • Colaço, Ricardo, Freitas, Pedro, Nunes, Luis Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana (2025). Understanding the private-public school performance gap in PISA: evidence from Portugal. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 13 (1).
  • Angelo, Catarina, Balcão Reis, Ana (2021). Gender gaps in different grading systems. Education Economics, 29 (1), 105-119.
  • Balcão Reis, Ana (2020). Public funding of higher education: who gains, who loses?. International Journal of Economic Theory, 16 (2), 196-215.
  • Câmara Leme, Afonso, Escardíbul, Josep Oriol, Nunes, Luis Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria Carmo (2020). The effect of a specialized versus a general upper-secondary school curriculum on students’ performance and inequality. A difference-in-differences cross-country analysis. Applied Economics, 52 (39), 4317-4331.
  • Silva, Pedro Luis, Nunes, Luís Catela, Seabra, Carmo, Balcao Reis, Ana, Alves, Miguel (2020). Student selection and performance in higher education: admission exams vs. high school scores. Education Economics, 28 (5), 437-454.
  • Cerdeira, José Miguel, Nunes, Luis Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria Carmo (2018). Predictors of student success in Higher Education: secondary school internal scores versus national exams. Higher Education Quarterly, 72 (4), 304-313.
  • Nunes, Luis Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria Carmo (2018). Is retention beneficial to low-achieving students? Evidence from Portugal. Applied Economics, 50 (40), 4306-4317.
  • Freitas, Pedro, Nunes, Luís Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria Carmo, Ferro, Adriana (2016). Correcting for sample problems in PISA and the improvement in Portuguese students’ performance. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 23 (4), 456-472.
  • Morgado, António, Sequeira, Tiago Neves, Santos, Marcelo, Ferreira-Lopes, Alexandra, Balcão Reis, Ana (2016). Measuring labour mismatch in Europe. Social Indicators Research, 129 (1), 161-179.
  • Nunes, Luís Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria Carmo (2015). The publication of school rankings: a step toward increased accountability?. Economics of Education Review, 49, 15-23.
  • Cunha-e-Sá, Maria A., Balcão Reis, Ana, Roseta-Palma, Catarina (2009). Technology adoption in nonrenewable resource management. Energy Economics, 31 (2), 235-239.
  • Balcão Reis, Ana, Traça, Daniel (2008). Spillovers and the competitive pressure for long-run innovation. European Economic Review, 52 (4), 589-610.
  • Balcão Reis, Ana, Sequeira, Tiago Neves (2007). Human capital and overinvestment in R&D. Scandinavian Journal Of Economics, 109 (3), 573-591.
  • Cunha-e-Sá, Maria A., Balcão Reis, Ana (2007). The optimal timing of adoption of a green technology. Environmental & Resource Economics, 36 (1), 35-55.
  • Balcão Reis, Ana (2006). Welfare, taxes and foreign investment. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 30 (6), 1045-1061.
  • Sequeira, Tiago Neves, Balcão Reis, Ana (2006). Human capital composition, R&D and the increasing role of services. Topics in Macroeconomics, 6 (1).
  • Balcão Reis, Ana (2001). Endogenous growth and the possibility of eliminating pollution. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 42 (3), 360-373.
  • Balcão Reis, Ana (2001). On the welfare effects of foreign investment. Journal Of International Economics, 54 (2), 411-427.
  • Henriques, Rafaela, Nunes, Luís Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria do Carmo (2018). Vocational education: coursetaking choice and impact on dropout and college enrollment rates. Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación. Asociación de Economia de la Educación (AEDE), Vol. 13, 2. 37-56.
  • Madeira, Miguel, Nunes, Luís Catela, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria do Carmo (2018). Does the age of entry in primary school affect student’s achievement?. Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación. Escardíbul, Josep-Oriol, Choi, Álvaro (Eds.), Asociación de Economia de la Educación (AEDE), Vol. 13, 7. 133-150.
  • Nunes, Luís Catela, Oliveira, João, Balcão Reis, Ana, Seabra, Maria do Carmo (2018). Effectiveness of state funded private schools versus public schools: a comparative analysis in Portugal. Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación. Escardíbul, Josep-Oriol, Choi, Álvaro (Eds.), Asociación de Economia de la Educación (AEDE), Vol. 13, 8. 151-178.
  • Batista, Cátia, Costa, David M., Freitas, Pedro, Lima, Gonçalo, Balcão Reis, Ana (Aug 2024), 37 p., (Nova School of Business & Economics, n. 660), What matters for the decision to study abroad? A lab-in-the-field experiment in Cape Verde.