He was most recently vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic and previously served as President and CEO of Mastercard.
Romer was previously a professor at New York University, and before that chief economist at the World Bank.
Business Ready replaces the institution’s previous Doing Business project.
Scott’s research interests focus on areas including the behavior of physicians and the health workforce.
He started work in the new research leadership role on Dec. 1.
S Anukriti and Sandra Rozo are now senior economists within the institution’s development research group.
He takes up the new post on September 1.