Overview

Can policy make markets work better? My research examines policies intended to improve market efficiency in developing countries, such as tariff cuts, trade agreements, and major domestic reforms (e.g., on labor or taxation). I study how firms react to these policies and what that means for competition in both labor and product markets. My research is centered in the fields of development economics and international trade, but I often borrow tools and insights from other fields. My work is primarily on Latin America. Here is my CV.

Publications

Tax Administration versus Tax Rates: Evidence from Corporate Taxation in Indonesia, with M. Chatib Basri, Rema Hanna, and Benjamin Olken. Appendix. American Economic Review 2021, 111 (12): 3827-71. Summary video.

Working Papers

Trade, Labor Market Concentration, and Wages. Slides. Revise and Resubmit at American Economic Review.

Outsourcing, Labor Market Frictions, and Employment, with Michael Wong. Appendix. NBER working paper 34172. This is a heavily revised version of The Reallocation Effects of Domestic Outsourcing, presented at the NBER 2024 Development Fall meeting and available here.

The Origins of Structural Transformation, with Julieta Caunedo and Kristina Manysheva. Draft available upon request.

Selected Papers in Progress

Coordination Incentives of Tariff-Rate Quotas, with Jorge Florez-Acosta and Diego Jiménez-Hernández.

Employment Preferences of Favela Residents, with Beatriz Marcoje, Ieda Matavelli, and Maria Clara Rodrigues. To be presented at ASSA 2026 Paper Session Labor Markets in Developing Countries.

Admins, Scale, and the Extensive Export Margin, with Rodimiro Rodrigo.

Wage Transparency Within and Across Firms: Experimental Evidence from Brazil, with Ieda Matavelli and Bobak Pakzad-Hurson. Designed and implemented in collaboration with Brazil’s Ministry of Planning. Winner of pilot grant from J-PAL JOI Brasil.

Data Collection Initiatives

Employment Valuation Surveys, with Ieda Matavelli . Funded by the EGC Incubation Fund.

Teaching

ECON 703: Empirical Trade and Development: A Practitioner’s Guide. PhD elective, Canvas.

ECON 3380b / GLBL 4102b: Emerging Markets. Undergraduate, Catalog.

Older Research

Charter Schools and Suspensions: Evidence from Massachusetts Chapter 222. Appendix.