Research

• Nation-Building Through Military Service

with Diego Ramos-Toro | Conditionally Accepted at Journal of the European Economic Association

This paper studies conscription’s role in durably shaping attitudes and beliefs consistent with nation-building. We pair original survey data covering 29 cohorts of conscripts in Argentina with random variation in service emerging from a lottery. We find that serving in the military leads to a stronger national identity and social integration several decades after serving but does not affect civic behaviors such as voting or paying taxes. Value inculcation during service helps explain the baseline patterns, while exposure to and interaction with diverse peers reinforce but do not drive the results.

[paper]
[pre-analysis plan, round 1]  [pre-analysis plan, round 2]
[video discussion at Faculti] [blog post at Foco Económico]

• Planning and Performance: Experimental Evidence from Small Firms in E-Commerce

This paper provides experimental evidence that behavioral frictions can affect operations planning in small firms, thereby reducing firm performance. I study a field experiment involving 14,500 e-commerce retailers in Argentina and Brazil conducted during the two weeks before Black Friday, a major sales event. The intervention randomized messages reminding managers that Black Friday was approaching and encouraging them to plan their pricing and advertising strategies. Treated firms shifted from generic to discount-related advertising and increased inventories before the event, but did not vary their pricing relative to the control group. As a result, sales increased by 5.2% for 60 days following the intervention. Machine learning methods reveal larger returns for relatively bigger firms with a stronger social media presence, suggesting strategic complementarities between firm size and light-touch interventions. 

• Divided for Good: Football Rivalries and Social Cohesion in Latin America

This paper examines the evolution of social cohesion in response to salient events that internally divide communities. The analysis focuses on football rivalries in Latin America, a fundamental cultural phenomenon in the region. Derbies induce polarization between the followers of both teams; however, since followers are not significantly segregated, derbies may also diminish the salience of other cleavages, such as socioeconomic status or ethnicity. By combining quasi-experimental variation in the timing of matches with public opinion surveys, I find that attitudes and beliefs conducive to social cohesion tend to improve for up to 30 days following a match. The effect is moderated by the behavior of football players, as captured by the number of red cards awarded during the game, suggesting that players-as-role-models is an important ingredient of such events.

[paper]

• Narratives and Market Exchange in Developing Countries

with Pablo Balán

• Moving Up The Ranks: Conscription and Intergenerational Mobility

with Diego Ramos-Toro

• AI Training for Micro-Entrepreneurs

with Marcos Balmaceda

• Union Negotiation and Wage Inequality in Argentina

CEDLAS Working Paper #145

In conjunction with the recovery of the Argentine economy between 2003 and 2011, income distribution improved considerably. Though it does not provide a quantitative assessment, the relevant literature points to the resurgence of union negotiation as central to this process. This paper provides an account of the evolution of intra-union and inter-union inequality in basic wage agreements signed during this period, and reveals considerable improvements in both. The second part of the paper studies the behavior of the Federación de Camioneros (Truckers’ Federation) and its role in wage negotiations during the same period.

[paper]