Szabolcs Pásztor earned his PhD in 2014 in the field of Management and Organizational Sciences. Since 2005, he has taught at several universities both abroad and in Hungary, and he is currently an associate professor with habilitation at the National University of Public Service.

In 2020, he joined the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation, where he currently serves as Director of Research. His research focuses on analyzing the impact of globalization processes on the transformation of the center-periphery relationship, with particular attention to Central and Eastern Europe as well as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Previously, he worked at the Hungarian National Bank and the Hungarian Banking Association. He regularly teaches at universities in Italy, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Republic of South Africa.