Research

Working Papers

• “Traffic Congestion and Labor Supply: Evidence from Smartphone data in Mexico”
  (presented at 2022 CREEA Annual Conference, TWEEDS 2022, PacDev 2023, 2023 AERE Summer Conference, 2023 Emerging Mobility Scholars Conference, 20th International Economic Association World Congress, and the 2023 LACEA and LAMES Conference)
  Abstract

  Does traffic congestion affect time allocation? I use highly granular smartphone data from Mexico City to study empirically how traffic congestion affects work- time allocation. I find that traffic increases hours worked. The effect is driven by workers leaving work later, not by changes in arrival time. There is modest evidence that labor income does not increase although total hours do. These results highlight an avoidance mechanism consistent with bottleneck models that has been overlooked when estimating the costs of congestion.
• “Is it Too Hot to Work? Evidence from Peru” (Revise and Resubmit)
  Abstract

  Will raising temperatures due to climate change affect labor markets? This paper studies the effect of temperature on hours worked using panel data for Peru from 2007-2015. I combine hours worked from household surveys with reanalysis and satellite weather data. I find evidence that hours worked are negatively affected by hot temperatures. This effect is driven by informal jobs instead of jobs in industries highly exposed to the weather. These results suggest that labor market segmentation may play a role in the impacts of climate change on labor market outcomes in developing countries.

Work in Progress

• “Migration and Environmental Quality: Evidence from Facebook data in Colombia”, with Pablo Ordonez and Julieth Santamaria.
  (presented at 2022 AAEA Annual Meeting)
  Abstract

  How would the projected massive migration to cities in the developing world impact the environment? We study the effect of urban growth on air pollution using the exogenous Venezuelan diaspora to Colombia. We track migrants using the Facebook logins of users who created an account in Venezuela and are currently in Colombia. Using a difference-in-difference approach and an instrumental variable approach, we find that migration increases PM 2.5. This result highlights the need for labor market policies that allow newcomers to relocate to less polluting industries.
• “Who work outdoors? Using Machine Learning, Text-as-Data, and Large Language Models (LLMs)”, with Jose Incio and Carlos Ospino.

Journal Publications

2. "COVID-19 impacts on Amazon Deforestation", Trees, Forests and People, Volume 20, 2025 (with Jerico Fiestas and Javier Montoya) paper


1. "The Persistent Effects of COVID-19 on Labor Outcomes: Evidence from Peru", Applied Economics Letters, 30:8, 1065–1076, 2023 (with Fernando Aragon and Carlos Ospino) paper - working paper