I develop methods that help policymakers and researchers use data to make better decisions. My work brings together statistical decision theory, causal inference, and experimental design.
I am a Ph.D. candidate in economics at Brown University. In September 2027, I will join the University of Oxford and Nuffield College as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
Is it enough to target the households that look poorest?
Some households look especially poor because their incomes are underestimated. I develop a targeting method that accounts for this uncertainty. In simulations, it achieves the same poverty reduction as standard targeting with 6.1 percent less spending.
How much should a small pilot change the experiment that follows?
A pilot can help researchers choose a more efficient split between treatment and control, but a small pilot can also mislead. I develop a method that guards against overreacting to limited evidence and approaches the optimal split as the pilot grows.
Does partisan alignment across levels of government facilitate corruption?
Using close elections in Colombia, we find that partisan alignment between mayors and governors increases the fabrication of “ghost” students to obtain education transfers. Actual enrollment and student performance do not improve.