Maurice Kugler

mkugler@gmu.edu  
George Mason University  
Schar School of Policy and Government  
3351 Fairfax Drive, MS 3B1, Arlington VA, 22201, U.S.A.  
Co-Director, Centerfor Microeconomic PolicyResearch (CMEPR)

Dr. Kugler is Professor of Public Policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government in GMU, with research expertise about the impact of new technologies on global labor markets, catch-up economic growth, human capital, and wage inequality. His work encompasses analyses of global value chains, international trade, entrepreneurship, migration, foreign direct investment, and vocational training. Kugler was Head of Research of the Human Development Report, the UN’s annual flagship publication on international development. Prior, he was Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government and Research Fellow at the Growth Lab of the Center for International Development at Harvard University. He published in top economics academic journals, such as American Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Public Economics, Review of Economic Dynamics, Review of Economics and Statistics and Review of Economic Studies. Research recognition includes awards (McTaggart at LSE and AEA/FRB at UC Berkeley), grants (NSF, MacArthur Foundation, and UK Economics and Social Sciences Research Council) and prizes (Global Development Network and Latin American and Caribbean Economics Association). Policy activities involved government advice, consulting for the World Bank Group(with both IBRD and IFC), the Inter-American Development Bank, and principal investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He earned a Ph.D. in economics at UC Berkeley, under Nobel Laureate Paul Romer, after B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees at the LSE.

Education

Ph.D., Economics, University of California at Berkeley, 2000  
M.Sc., Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science,1991  
B.Sc., Economics, London Schoolof Economics and Political Science,First Class Honours, 1989

Professional Experience

George Mason University  
Arlington, VA  
Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics (by courtesy since 2023)  
2018 – Now

World Bank  
Washington, DC  
Senior Consultant  
2017 – 2018

IMPAQ International, LLC  
Washington, DC  
Principal Research Scientist  
2014 – 2017

United Nations Development Programme  
New York, NY  
Head of Research of the Human Development Report  
2012 – 2014

World Bank  
Washington, DC  
Senior Economist  
2010 – 2012

Harvard University  
Cambridge, MA  
Visiting Professor of Public Policy  
2008 – 2009

Wilfrid Laurier University  
Waterloo, ON, Canada  
CIGI Chair of International Public Policy  
2007 – 2011

Harvard University  
Cambridge, MA  
Research Fellow  
2006 – 2010

Stanford University  
Palo Alto, CA  
Visiting Assistant Professor of Policy Studies  
2002 - 2003

University of Southampton  
Southampton, United Kingdom  
Assistant and Associate Professor of Economics  
1999 – 2006

Universidad de los Andes  
Bogotá, Colombia  
Assistant Professor of Economics  
1996 – 1999

University of California  
Berkeley, CA  
Research and Teaching Assistant to Professor Paul M. Romer  
1994 – 1996

Selected Publications

“Long COVID:The evolution of household welfarein developing countries during the pandemic,” Ben Brunckhorst, Alexandru Cojocaru,Yeon Soo Kim, and MauriceKugler, World Development, Vol. 175, pp. 106485-501, January 2024.

“How Did the COVID-19 Crisis Affect Different Types of Workers in the Developing World?”, Maurice Kugler, Mariana Violaz, Daniel Duque, Isis Gadis, David Newhouse, Amparo Palacios- Lopez and Michael Weber, World Development, Vol. 170, pp. 106331-47, October 2023.

“What Effects Could Global Value Chain and Digital Infrastructure Development Policies Have on Poverty and Inequality after COVID-19?” with Ximena del Carpio, José Cuesta, Gustavo Hernández and GabrielPiraquive, Journal of Risk and FinancialManagement, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 1-29, January 2022.

“Long-Term Education Consequences of Youth Vocational Training in Colombia: Impacts on Trainees, Their Relatives and Potential Mechanisms,” with Adriana Kugler, Juan Saavedra and Luis Herrera, The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 178-216, January 2022.

“Migration and Cross-Border Financial Flows,” with Oren Levintal and Hillel Rapoport, The World Bank Economic Review, Volume 32, Issue 1, pp. 148–162, 2018.

“Do PayrollTax Breaks Stimulate Formality? Evidence from Colombia’s Reform,”(Lead article) with Adriana Kugler and Luis Herrera, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 1-40, Economía, 2017.

Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience, as Head of Research with Khalid Malik et al., and Senior Technical Reviewer: Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz, Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme, New York, NY, 2014.

“Trade Reforms and Market Selection: Evidence from Manufacturing Plants in Colombia,” with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler. Review of Economic Dynamics, Volume 16, No. 1, pp. 135 -158, 2013.

Human Progress and the Rising South, with Khalid Malik (Eds.), United Nations, New York: UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2013. 0

The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World, as Head of Research jointly with Khalid Malik et al., and as the Senior Technical Reviewer: Professor AmartyaKumar Sen, Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme, New York, New York, 2013.

“Prices, Plant Size, and Product Quality,” with Eric Verhoogen, Review of Economic Studies, Volume 79, No. 1, pp. 307 – 339, 2012.

“Factor Adjustments after Deregulation: Panel Plant Evidence from Colombia,” with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler, Review of Economics and Statistics, Volume 92, No. 2, pp. 378 – 391, 2010.

“Factor Reallocation in Latin America,” with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler, in Norman Loayza and Luis Serven (Eds.), Business Regulation and Economic Performance, The World Bank Press, 2010.

“The Labor Market Effectsof Payroll Taxes: Evidence from Colombia,” with Adriana Kugler, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 56, No.2, pp. 335 – 58, U. of Chicago,2009.

“Plants and Imported Inputs: New Facts and Interpretation,” with Eric Verhoogen, American Economic Review, Volume 99 , No. 2, pp. 501 – 507, 2009.

“Factor Endowments and FDI,” in K. Reinert and R. Rajan(Eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 2008.

“Export Growth in Colombia:The Destination and Firm Margins,”with M. Eslava, J. Eaton and J. Tybout, in E. Helpman,D. Marin and T. Verdier(Eds.), The Organization of Firms in a Global Economy, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA., 2008.

“Migrant Remittances, Human Capital and Job Creation Externalities in Central America,” with E. Lotti, Integration & Trade Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp.105–34, 2007.

“Migration and Foreign Investments across the European Union: What Are the Links?” with H. Rapoport and S. Yaman, Revue Economique, Vol. 58, No.3, pp. 725–34, 2007.

“International Labor and CapitalFlows: Complements or Substitutes?” with Hillel Rapoport, Economics Letters, Vol. 92, No. 2, pp. 155 – 162, 2007.

“Migrant Remittances, Human Capital Creationand Job Creation Externalities in Colombia,” Coyuntura Social, Vol. 34, pp.45 – 74, 2006.

“Plant Turnover and Structural Reforms in Colombia,” with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger, and AdrianaKugler, International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 58 – 75, 2006.

“Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment: Within or Between Industries?” Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 80, Issue 2, pp. 444 – 477, 2006.

“Organized, Crime, Corruption and Punishment,” with Thierry Verdier and Yves Zenou, Journal of Public Economics, Volume 89, Issues 9-10, pp. 1639 – 1669, 2005.

“Checks and Balances: An Assessment of the Institutional Separation of PoliticalPowers,” with H. Rosenthal, Ch. 2 in A. Alesina(Ed.), Institutional Reforms in Colombia, MIT Press, 2005.

“The Effects of Structural Reforms on Productivity and Profitability Enhancing Reallocation: Evidence from Colombia,” with MarcelaEslava, John Haltiwanger, and Adriana Kugler, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 333-371, 2004.

“Effects of Tariffs and Real ExchangeRates on Job Reallocation: Evidencefrom Latin America,” with John Haltiwanger, Adriana Kugler, Alejandro Micco and Carmen Pagés, Journal of Policy Reform, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 189 – 208, 2004.

“Manufacturing Growth and Financial Development: Evidence from OECD Countries,” with K. Neusser, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 80, No. 4, pp. 628–46, 1998.

Research in Progress

“U.S. Robots and their Impacts in the Tropics: Evidence from Colombian Labor Markets,” NBER WorkingPaper No. 28034,Cambridge, MA, with A. Kugler,L. Ripani and R. Rodrigo.

“School Vouchers, Labor Marketsand Vocational Education,” with E. Bettinger, Michael Kremer, C. Medina, J. Posso and J. Saavedra, University of Chicago.

“The Interaction of Individual Characteristics and Socio-Economic Contextas Determinants of Immigrant Entrepreneurship,” with James Witte and Wenjing Wang, George Mason Univesity, Institute for Research on Migration.

“Wage Growth, Land Prices and Export Performance: The Impact of Human Capitaland Housing on China’s Competitiveness,” with Ming Lu; Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

“Inside the War on Drugs: Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the (In) Effectiveness and Unintended Consequences on Community Outcomesof a Large Illicit Crop-Eradication Program in Colombia,” with Alberto Abadie,Maria Acevedo and Juan Vargas;Dept. of Economics, MIT.

“Mobile AccessExpansion and Price Information Diffusion: Firm Performance after Ethiopia’s Transition to 3G in 2008,” with K. Abreha, J. Choi, W. Kassa and Monica Kim, World Bank.

“Opportunity and Necessity Entrepreneurship by Migrants in the UnitedStates,” with Abu Bakkar Siddique, James Witte and WenjingWang, George Mason University, Institute for Research on Migration.

“Cognitive vs. Non-cognitive skillsin determining labor market outcomesand how best to deliver non-cognitive skills” with Diego Angel and Narae Lee, World Bank

Selected Recent Projects Awarded and Led

National ScienceFoundation – Future of Worker-AI Teaming  
2021

This four-year project is based on the design of collaborative robotics technology to enable neurodiverse workers with ADHD diagnostics to operate in construction site work environments, and performing a cost-benefit analysis to assess the private and social gains of enabling new workers to accessconstruction jobs in terms of productivity and avoided co-morbidity risks, such as substance abuse and criminal behavior, that reduce individual and social costs of ADHD.

[Co-PrincipalInvestigator with Behzad Esmaeili and Sogand Mohammadhasanzadeh]

U.S. Department of HomelandSecurity – CryptoMoney Laundering Grant  
2019

This three-year project includes the design of heuristic and machine learning algorithms for the detection of transaction patterns in crypto currency markets of histories in digital wallets of exchanges associated with the illicit use of assets for criminal purposes based on the linking of particular addresses with former investigations leading to prosecutions in federal cases. The algorithms’ aim is to provide evidenceof money laundering for investigative purposesrather than for prosecutorial objectives.

[Co-PrincipalInvestigator with Foteini Baldmitsi and Jiasun Li]

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)/ILAB – Evaluation of OCFT Livelihoods Projects  
2015

This three-year projectcomprised mixed-methods evaluations of different interventions funded by the Office for Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) of the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) to reduce child labor and forced labor in multipleDOL grantee sites (Brazil, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Peru, Rwanda, and Uganda). The research questions to be answered included (i) whether boosting household incomes effectively results in mitigation of the worst forms of child labor, including hazardous child labor and forced labor, and (ii) whether the evidence supports the theory of change that poverty and vulnerability are the root causes for parents prompting children to work rather than encouraging them to pursue human capital accumulation.

[Principal Investigator for IMPAQ International]

U.S. SmallBusiness Administration – Entrepreneurship in Low-Income Areas  
2015

This one-year research project analyzed benefits from entrepreneurship in low-income areas in termsof job creation dynamics. Businessowner and establishment characteristics were mappedas well. The objective was to identifybarriers to self-employment, entrepreneurship, and job creation.

[Project Director and Principal Investigator for IMPAQ International]

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)/ILAB – Closing the Evidence Gap on ChildLabor  
2014

This five-year project comprised five randomized control trial (RCT) evaluations of different interventions to reduce child labor, respectively in Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Malawi and Rwanda. The research questions addressed include (i) whether makingeducation more accessible effectively resultsin mitigation of the worst forms of child labor (including hazardous child labor),

(ii) whether there is differential effectiveness of program services for population sub-groups (e.g. girls vs. boys), and (iii) whether there are synergies between policies, calling for holistic approaches, to reduce child labor supply and policies to reduce child labor demand.

[PrincipalInvestigator and SeniorTechnical Advisor for IMPAQ International]

Seminars (Alphabetical order)

American University (School of International Studies)2020 Universidad de los Andes (Department of Economics) 1996  
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Institute for EconomicAnalysis) 2000   
University of Birmingham (Economics Departmental Seminar) 2005  
University of California at Berkeley (Department of Economics) 2000 and 2003 CERGE (Prague) 2002  
Cities on the FrontlineSeries - ResilientCities Network (WorldBank and Rockefeller) 2020   
Columbia University (Development Seminar) 2006  
DELTA (Paris) 2002  
University of Exeter (Economics Departmental Seminar) 2005 George Mason University (Schar School of Public Policy) 2017  
Harvard University (International Economics) 2007  
Harvard University (Kennedy School)2008 and 2009 University of Houston 2005  
Inter-American Development Bank 2003   
International Monetary Fund 2023  
London Business School (Centre for Emerging and New Markets) 2001  
London School of Economics (Centre for Economic Performance) 2001 and 2006   
University College London (Institute for Fiscal Studies) 2005 and 2006  
MIT (Development Economics) 2007  
University of Nottingham (International Economics) 2001  
University of Reading (Department of Economics) 2006  
Royal Holloway College 2005  
Universidad de San Andres 1998  
Université de Lille 2005  
University of San Francisco 2005  
University of California, Santa Cruz (Department of Economics) 2000  
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) 2019  
Stanford University (Development SeminarLabor Seminar) 2002 and 2003  
The World Bank 2002 and 2009  
The World Trade Organization 2003  
U.S. Department of Labor 2015  
U.S. International Trade Commission 2009  
U.S. Small Business Administration 2017  
Yale University (International Trade Seminar) 2005

Conferencesand Meetings (Chronological order)

LACEA-LAMES, Bogota, November 2023  
Washington Area Development Economics Symposium, WADES, GWU, May 2023  
Mid-Atlantic International Trade Workshop, University of Richmond, April 2023   
Washington Area International Trade Symposium, WAITS, GMU, April 2023  
LACEA-LAMES, Lima, Peru, November 2022  
After the Pandemic Public Policy Lessons Conference, International Centre for Economic Analysis, 11/13/2021  
Resilience and Digital Entrepreneurship Workshop, Indiana U., Creative Spark Berlin, November 2021  
5^th CEnSEUrban and Regional Economics Workshop, Gothenburg, October 2021  
Data for Policy Conference, University College London, September 2021  
Jobs and Development Conference, IZA and World Bank, September 2021 Washington Area Investment and Trade Symposium, American University, May 2021  
Washington Area Labor Economics Symposium, George Washington University, February 2021 2^nd International Research Colloquium on Government Auditing, Lima, Peru, December 2019  
APPAM Annual Research Conference, Chicago, IL., November 2017  
NBER Summer Institute, International Finance and Macroeconomics, Cambridge, MA, July 2016  
U.S. Department of Labor, Research on Child Labor Workshop, Washington DC, March 2016  
NBER Labor Studies Conference, San Francisco, CA, February 2016  
LACEA, Bolivia, October 2015  
NBER Education Conference, Washington DC, November 2014  
LACEA, Santiago, November 2011  
ILO Conference on Globalization and Labor Markets, Geneva, June 2011  
World Bank/IZA Employment and Development Conference, Mexico, May 2011  
LACEA, Medellin, November 2010  
Society of Labor Economists Conference, London, June 2010  
International Migration Conference, World Bank, September 2009  
NBER Inter-American Economics Conference, Santiago, November 2008  
LACEA, Bogotá, November 2007  
Stanford University, Conference on Migration and Human Development, April 2007  
CEPR Conference on Globalization, Firms and Markets, Munich, February 2007  
LACEA, Mexico DF, November 2006  
Stanford University, Conference on Trade and Development, April 2006  
NBER Productivity Group Meeting Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, March 2006  
European Trade Study Group, University College Dublin, September 2005  
Econometric Society World Congress  
University College London, August 2005  
NBER Summer Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, July 2005  
Royal Economic Society, Nottingham, March 2005  
Pacific Development Conference, University of San Francisco, March 2005  
Inter-American Development Bank Conference on Migrant Remittances, February 2005  
CESifo Global Economy Conference, December 2004  
LACEA, San Jose, Costa Rica, November2004  
European Trade Study Group, Nottingham University, September 2004  
Econometric Society, Brown University, June 2004  
Industrial Dynamics and Economic Development, LSE, November2003  
Econometric Society, UCLA, June 2002  
Royal Economic Society, Warwick, March 2002  
Econometric Society, Atlanta, January 2002  
Conference on Discrimination, CEPR, University of Le Mans 2002  
European Economic Association, Lausanne, August 2001  
Econometric Society, UMCP, June 2001  
Royal Economic Society, Durham, April 2001  
Global Development Network Annual Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 2001 Conference on Labor Market Reform in Latin America, Stanford University, 2001  
Conference on FDI and Multinational Corporations, CEPR and CREI, Barcelona, 2001 Invited Panel on Foreign Direct Investment, Econometric Society Meetings, UDESA, 2001  
Conference on Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Integration, University of Nottingham, 2000  
Conference of LACEA’s Political Economy Group, Cartagena, Colombia, 1999 and 1998

Awards, Grants, Prizes and Keynotes

Awards

• McTaggart Award for Undergraduate Scholarship Excellence, London School of Economics, 1989.
• American Economic Association and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Ph.D. Scholarship, 1995.
• Entries in Marquis Who’s Who ® in America: 2009 – 2023.
• The 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award

Research Grants

• Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation, The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, “AI Technology to Enable ADHD Workers Access to Construction Jobs,” 2021, 4 years, $2 M.
• Co-Principal Investigator, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Criminal Investigations and Network Analyses (CINA), “Crypto Money Laundering,” 2019, 3 years, $400K (Schar School joint with Computer Science and Business School– both GMU also).
• Principal Investigator, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)/Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), “Multi-Site Evaluation of Livelihoods Projects Funded by the Office for Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT),” 2015, 3 years, $1.5 M.
• Principal Investigator, U.S. Small Business Administration, “Research on Entrepreneurship in Low-Income Areas,” 2015, 1 year, $150K (for IMPAQ International LLC).
• Principal Investigator, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)/ILAB, “Closing the Evidence Gap on Child Labor,” 2014, 5 years for 5 randomized control trial (RCT) evaluations, $4.5 M
• Co-Principal Investigator, MacArthur Foundation Grant, “Migration, Capital Flows and Development: Diaspora Network Effects,” 2008, 2 years, $320K (for Center of International Development at Harvard University, with Jeffrey Frankel and H. Rapoport).
• Co-Principal Investigator, Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Grant, “Long-Term Impact of Secondary School Vouchers on Human Capital and Employment,” 2008, 1 year, $20K (with Michael Kremer).
• Co-Principal Investigator, UK ESRC/DfID Grant, “Trade Liberalization, Job Reallocation and Poverty: Employment and Earning Losses after Worker Displacement,” 2007, 2 years, $450K, (with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler).
• Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation Grant, “Plant-Level Prices, Productivity Measurement and Industry Dynamics,” 2006, 3 years, $420K, (with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler).
• Co-Principal Investigator, Tinker Foundation Grant, “Market Institutions: Firm and Job Turnover in Colombia,” 2004, 2 years,$80K, (with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler).

Prizes

• Juan Luis Londoño Prize, presented to best paper on social policy in the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association Conference program, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, October 15-17, 2015. (“Educational, Labor Market, and Welfare Impacts of Scholarships for Private Secondary School: Evidence from Colombia,” co-authored with Eric Bettinger, Michael Kremer, Carlos Medina, Christian Posso and Juan Saavedra).
• First Prize for Best Contribution in the area of “Globalization, Regulation and Development” in the Global Development Network Annual Conference Program, Prague, Czech Republic, January 16-18, 2010. (“Trade Reforms and Market Selection: Evidence from Manufacturing Plants in Colombia,” co-authored with Marcela Eslava, John Haltiwanger and Adriana Kugler).

Plenary Addresses

• Invited Panel on Robots, AI and Employment in Latin America, “The Impact of U.S. Robots in the Tropics,” Latin American and Caribbean Economics Association (LACEA), Bogota, Colombia, November 16-19, 2023.
• Keynote Speaker, “Robot technology for neurodiverse workers in construction projects,” 2nd Global Meet on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Barcelona, Spain, October 19-21, 2023.
• Keynote Speaker, “The use of collaborative robot technology to expand the supply of workers in the construction sector,” 2nd International Meeting on Infrastructure and Construction (INFRAMEET2023), Paris, France, June 5-7, 2023.
• Distinguished Speaker, “Does Vocational Training Beget Formal Education? Evidence from Two RCTs in Colombia,” Work Integrated Learning and Graduate Employability Virtual Summit, October 2022.
• Keynote Address, “Urban Policies to Save Lives and Livelihoods in the Face of the Pandemic Challenge,” COVID-19 Urban Policy Symposium, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 2020.
• Invited Panelon Well-Being and The Future of Work convened by World Bank and Inter- American Development Bank, “Vocational Training Impact on Long-term Employment and Wages: Evidence for two RCTs,” Latin American and Caribbean Economics Association Annual (LACEA) Meetings, Puebla, Mexico, November 2019.
• Keynote Address, “The Impact of Robots on Global Value Chains and Employment along the Supply Chain.” 2^nd Annual Conference on Regional Sustainable Development, Regional Science Academy, Guangzhou, China, October 2019.
• Keynote Address, “Money Laundering in Crypto Currency Markets,” Future of Money, Governance and the Law Conference, Government Blockchain Association, Schar School of Policy and Government, September 2019.
• Keynote Address, “U.S. Robots and Labor Market Outcomes in Latin America: Evidence from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico,” 4^th Biennial China Development Studies Conference, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, July 2019.

Professional Activities

University Service

• Faculty Chair: Retention, Promotion and Tenure Committee, Public Policy & Administration, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, 2019 –
• Advisory Committee Panel Member: ADVANCE Program, Northern Virginia Community College – George Mason University, 2019 – 2021.
• Examiner: Ph.D. Qualifying Comprehensive Exams in Public Policy, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, 2019 and 2022.
• Convener: MPA (International Development), Dissertation Workshop, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2007 – 2009.
• Director: M.Sc. Economics & Econometrics Program, Department of Economics, University of Southampton, 2003 – 2006.

Community Service

• Advisory Council Member: Global Blockchain Business Council, New York, NY.
• Senior Advisor: Global Blockchain Association, Washington DC.
• Lecturer: ENCORE, Course on Crypto Currencies, April-May, 2022.

Refereeing and Selection Panels

American Economic Review, Annales d’Economie et de Statistique, Bulletin of Economic Research, Economic Journal, Economia, Canadian Journal of Economics, U.K. Economic and Social Research Council, European Economic Review, International Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Growth, Journal of the European Economics Association, Journal of International Development, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Risk and Financial Management, Labour Economics, U.S. National Science Foundation, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Industrial Organization, Canada Social Science Research Council, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, U.K. Department for International Development, U.S. Aid, World Bank Economic Review and World Development.

News Media Coverage

• Middle Eastern Broadcasting Network Inc. – From the Capital, Washington DC,

TV interviews about the global macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19 shock, multiple appearances in 7/2021-10/2023, broadcasted in 22 countries in Middle East and Northern Africa (wider regional coverage than the BBC).

• Global Development Network – GlobalDev Blog, “Globalization and Inequality after the Pandemic,” with Ximena del Carpio and Jose Cuesta, April 26, 2022.
• Brookings Institution – Future Development Blog, “The Impact of COVID-19 and the Policy Response in India,” with Shakti Sinha, July 13, 2020.
• Dainik Jagran– “Without COVID-19economic relief package picture of economy in India can become worse and deflationary,” with Shakti Sinha, in India and the World’s largest circulation daily newspaper, July 12, 2020.
• Hindustan Times – “A road map for India’s exit from the lockdown,” with Shakti Sinha, in India’s largest circulation English daily newspaper, April 30, 2020.
• CCTV News – Chinese Government TV, Guangdong, China, interview about the effect of robotics on geographic configuration and specialization pattern in global value chains connected to China (Robot Proliferation and Global Value Chains), October 19, 2019.
• NBC Universal – National Broadcasting Corporation, Noticias Telemundo, Washington D.C., interview on inflation impact of Saudi oil supply drop after drone attacks (Ataque en Arabia Saudita Amenaza los Precios de la Gasolina en EE.UU.), September 15, 2019.
• Yahoo!Finance – GlobeNewswire, interview about crypto money laundering and the projected impact of Schar’s symposium on The Future of Money, Governance & Law (Government and Industry Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Leaders), September 3, 2019.
• Wall Street Journal – WSJ, Coverage in article about school choice of paper “School Vouchers, Labor Markets and Vocational Education,” co-authored with 2019 Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer and others (Column Parents Know Better Than Standardized Tests by Jason Bedrick and Corey DeAngelis), April 28, 2019.
• NBC Universal – National Broadcasting Corporation, Noticias Telemundo, Washington D.C., interview on the Federal Reserve Board’s lower interest rate choice (Reserva Federal reduce tasa de interés en un cuarto de punto: Primera vez desde 2008), July 31, 2019.
• NPR – National Public Radio, Washington D.C., Live Panel Participation addressing strategic aspects in Think program on Assessing America’s Trade Wars, June 27, 2019.
• World Finance – Markets & Technology, London, U.K., interview on the Economics of Ideas conceptual framework by Nobel Laurate Paul Romer (Romer’s endogenous growth theory could provide a solution for global problems), January 15, 2019.

Conference Scientific Program Committees

• European Economic Association (EEA)Meetings, 2002
• Latin American and Caribbean Economics Association (LACEA) Annual Conference, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2023.
• Latin American Meeting of the Econometric Society (LAMES), 2022 and 2023.
• Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA)-RIDGE Labor 2024

Ph.D. Supervisor   
(Graduation year, university, and first employment placement)

• Zheng Wang (2003, U. of Southampton, World Trade Organization)
• Emanuela Lotti (2005, U. of Southampton, Surrey University)
• Johnson Asiama (2005, U. of Southampton, Bank of Ghana)
• Zul Zakaria (2006, U. of Southampton, Malaysian Technical University)
• Souraya Yaman (2006, U. of Southampton, World Trade Organization)
• Normazwana Ismail (2007, U. of Southampton, University Putra Malaysia)
• Phawarat Khonsomboon (2007, U. of S, UK Department for International Development)
• Hyun Ju Kim (2021, GMU, University of New Hampshire)
• Muhammad Salar Khan (2022, GMU, Rochester Institute of Technology)
• Abu Bakkar Siddique(2022, GMU, Florida Atlantic University)
• Daniel Grimaldi(Current Student, GMU, main advisor)
• Narae Lee (Current student, GMU, main advisor)
• Angelo Santos (Current Student, GMU, main advisor)