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Assistant Professor of Economics
Weatherhead School of Management
11119 Bellflower Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Office Phone: 216-368-0208
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I work in applied microeconomics, development economics and international trade.
Working Papers
Abstract: Trade
liberalization can generate substantial distributional conflicts. Despite
its importance, the effect on income from household production has received
little attention. This paper measures the impact of increasing trade
openness between Mexico and the U.S. resulting from NAFTA on the income of
small versus large cash-crop farmers in Mexico. Relating NAFTA cuts in
trade restrictions to border prices of Mexican exports and imports, I find
that NAFTA-induced tariff reductions decreased the border price of corn,
Mexico's main agricultural import, and increased the border prices of
tomatoes and melons, Mexico's main agricultural exports. Then, I find that,
among cash-crop farmers, the rise in fruit and vegetable prices benefited
small farmers more than large farmers; while the drop in corn prices hurt
large farmers more than small. This study accounts for benefits to Mexican
farmers resulting from higher prices of export goods as well as losses
incurred from greater import competition. Finally, the analysis at the
regional level shows stronger results in the central region where trade
liberalization increased the level of earning of poor farmers relative to
those of large farmers. These results are consistent with observed cropping
patterns and regional characteristics.
Endogenous Fertility, Inequality and Human Capital
With Dilip Mookherjee and Debraj Ray
Abstract: This
paper integrates the endogenous fertility and endogenous inequality
literatures. It studies steady states of an overlapping generations economy
with borrowing constraints and two occupations varying in skill and
training costs. Parental altruism is dynastic a la Barro-Becker, uses a
less restrictive specification of fertility preferences than most
formulations, and is yet consistent with a negative quality-quantity
correlation in demand for children. Introducing endogenous fertility is
shown to remedy two problems of endogenous inequality models: steady states
are (generically) locally determinate, and can exhibit intergenerational
mobility despite lack of any randomness or agent heterogeneity. The model
permits detailed analysis of long run effects of human capital, fertility
and fiscal policies.
Abstract: This
paper measures the impact of NAFTA-induced real border prices changes of Mexican
imports and exports on wages and employment of agricultural workers in
Mexico. I find that changes in real border prices of crops did not affect
agricultural wages. On the other side, increases in the real price of
vegetables (main agricultural export) were associated with an increase in
employment in the cultivation of vegetables, while the drop in the real
price of corn (main agricultural import) reduced the employment in the corn
sector. This is in line with the predictions of neoclassical trade theory:
in the absence of mobility costs or sector-specific skills, factors moved
smoothly from import-competing sectors into export sectors.
Work in Progress
The Evolution of Aspirations through Social Interactions: Evidence from Mexico
With Carlos Chiapa and José Luis Garrido
Abstract: Recent economic theory argues
that poverty may have a close link between the aspirations of the poor and
their condition of poverty. This theory also suggests people's aspirations
can be changed through social interactions with individuals of higher
education and economic status. This paper analyzes if this hypothesis is
supported by the data. We consider PROGRESA, a program that exposes poor
participants to a frequent level of interaction with individuals of higher
education and economic status, such as doctors and nurses. We study if
parents' aspirations towards the educational attainment of their children
change as a result of these social interactions. Results suggest that
frequent contact with doctors and nurses increases parents' educational
aspirations for their daughters a third of a school year, while there is no
significant effect for boys. A number of tests show that what drives the
change in parental aspirations is not PROGRESA per se but constant and
repeated interaction.
Childhood Obesity, Parents’ Knowledge, and Report Cards (with Heather Royer)
Self-Control and Nutritional Knowledge: What Influences
Children’s Food Consumption? (with Heather Royer)
Microsavings Products and Market Failures: Evidence from
Nepal
Microsavings Products and Networks: Evidence from Nepal
Older Works
Social Sectors and Poverty in Armenia: from Equity in
Access to Equity in Quality
Human
Development Working Paper, World Bank, March 2006
(with D. Angel-Urdinola and S. Jain)
Generational Accounting in the ECA Region
Human
Development Working Paper, World Bank, November 2005
(with M. Chawla, N. Krishnan, P. Rizza, R. Zakirova)
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