Research
Publications:
- “Political Uncertainty and the Forms of State Capture” (2023) Journal of Development Economics (w/ Nathan Canen and Leonard Wantchekon). The questionnaire used in the field.
- “Campaign Finance and State Capture,” Economic and Development Institutions, Benin Institutional Diagnostic, WP19/BID05 (with Mathias Hounkpe and Leonard Wantchekon). Forthcoming, Chapter 4 of “State Capture in a Rent-Based Economy: An Institutional Diagnostics of Benin”, editors Bourguignon, Francois, Romain Houssa, Jean-Philippe Platteau, and Paul Reding, Cambridge University Press.
- “Measuring the Size and Growth of Cities Using Nighttime Light” (2020), Journal of Urban Economics (w/ Diego Martin and Juan F. Vargas). Preprint. Appendix. Replication Material
- “Endogenous Taxation in Ongoing Internal Conflict: The Case of Colombia” (2018), American Political Science Review (w/ Abbey Steele, Jacob Shapiro, and Juan F. Vargas). Appendix. Replication Material. Dissertation Ch.3.
- VOX: “Death and taxes: Political violence shapes local fiscal institutions and state building”, London: VOX.
On electoral accountability and crime:
- “Going local: how reelection breaks the national pressure of local governments to fight organized crime in Mexico”. Job market paper and Chapter 1 of my Dissertation.
- “Love your Incumbent but Hate his Party: The Asymmetric Effect of Reelection on Partisan and Personal Incumbency Returns in Mexico” Chapter 2 of my Dissertation. (NEW DRAFT COMING SOON!)
On climate security and criminal governance:
- “Criminal rule: Narco-Aid in Climate Distressed Populations in Mexico,” (with Jane Esberg and Ulrich Eberle).
- “Can climate adaptation policies reduce criminal governance and violence in climate-affected populations? Assessing index-based weather insurance in Mexico.”
- “Can public employment ameliorate climate shocks and reduce criminal governance and violence? The case of a randomized workfare program in Mexico”, (with Jane Esberg and Ulrich Eberle).
On conflict and nation-building:
- “Territorial Control and Economic Growth: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the Colombian Insurgency,” (with Juan F. Vargas and Michael Weintraub).
- “Tariff revenues matter for democratization: Theory and evidence from the First Wave of Globalization” (with Carlos Felipe Balcázar).
- “Tackling Child Labor Through Cash Transfers: Evidence from Brazil’s Bolsa Familia” (with Kim Singer Babiarz, Grant Miller, and Pablo Querubin)
- “Can Mediation Help Tackle Biased Beliefs, Polarization, and Disengagement in Pacification Programs? A Field Experiment in Mexico.”
- “Illicit Behavior and the Foundations of State-Building: Evidence from Colombia,” (w/ Abbey Steele, Jacob Shapiro, and Juan F. Vargas)
- “Narcotactics & the use of unconventional warfare methods to win the hearts and minds of citizens: the case of Mexico.”