About Jaana

Dr. Jaana Remes is a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey’s business and economics research arm, based in San Francisco.

Since 2003, Jaana has co-led MGI’s research on productivity and competitiveness. Her most recent research sheds light on the patterns of global urban growth through the lens of MGI’s global Cityscope database of 2,000 cities. Other recent work has focused on urbanization in Latin America and productivity growth in the US. Her previous research includes an industry perspective on how different policies have contributed to sector competitiveness and growth across the globe; the impact of multinational companies on developing-country economies; as well as in-depth assessments of the barriers to competitiveness and growth in the US, UK, Brazil, and South Korea. She also leads MGI’s research agenda on energy, with a focus on understanding the microeconomic underpinnings of global energy-demand growth and the opportunity to reduce energy-demand through higher energy productivity. She advises global business and government leaders on related topics and frequently contributes to policy debates through articles and conference presentations.

Prior to joining MGI, Jaana was a consultant on McKinsey corporate finance and strategy projects in the US and Mexico, primarily working with software, semiconductor, and financial sector clients. Before joining McKinsey, she worked as a research fellow and consultant at several international development agencies and universities.  

Selected Published Works

"Building globally competitive cities: The key to Latin American growth," McKinsey Global Institute, August 2011

"Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities," McKinsey Global Institute, March 2011

"US growth and renewal: Retooling America’s economic engine," McKinsey Global Institute, February 2011

Education