Production Network Diversification and Economic Development (2024)
Co-Authors: Jorge Miranda-Pinto & David Fleming-Muñoz
Published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. You can view the article here.
The Effect of Feedback on News-Verification Demand: Experimental Evidence from Mexico
Co-Authors: Dario Trujano-Ochoa
Latest draft here
Funding Acquired (UC Alianza MX, UCLA Latin American Institute)
Summary: This study examines how feedback, overconfidence, and political bias influence individuals' ability to detect and respond to misinformation in politically charged contexts. Using a combination of fieldwork, surveys, and interviews in Mexico, the research explores how personal and group feedback affect participants' willingness to verify information and their accuracy in identifying falsehoods. The preliminary findings indicate that group feedback can significantly influence perceptions and behaviors around misinformation, while political alignment affects individuals' willingness to pay for information verification. This research aims to inform strategies for mitigating the spread of misinformation in politically sensitive environments.
Public Goods Misallocation & Voter Perceptions in the Philippines
Co-Authors: Junbeom (Paul) Bahk
Summary: This project examines how political favoritism in local procurement contracts impacts voter perceptions in the Philippines. By presenting voters with scenarios of development projects endorsed either by an international institution or a politically connected mayor, the study explores how perceptions of corruption and favoritism shape trust in government and political participation. The research aims to understand the broader political consequences of resource misallocation and the influence of political connections on voter behavior, providing insights into governance and accountability in public resource allocation.
Dynasties in Distress: Elite Adaptations in the Philippines.
Summary: This paper develops a model of elite adaptation in electoral democracies, using the Philippines as a case. It argues that elites with different resource endowments allocate resources between clientelistic transfers and programmatic public goods depending on the level of institutional discretion, which determines whether the two act as complements or substitutes. High-resource elites (HREs) are those with established financial, organizational, and network advantages that lower the cost of clientelistic exchange, while low-resource elites (LREs) rely more on programmatic or rule-based appeals. Under high-discretion settings, where elites retain control over benefit allocation, clientelism and public goods reinforce one another, allowing HREs to consolidate their dominance. Under low-discretion settings, where allocations are more rule-based, the two become substitutes, weakening clientelist networks and enabling LREs to compete more effectively. The paper tests these predictions using municipal-level data on electoral competition, budget composition, and elite characteristics.
Sweetening the Deal: Colonial sugar cultivation and the historical roots of elite capture in the Philippines.
Co-Authors: Blaine Finstein
Summary: This paper argues that agricultural endowments shaped local financial networks and created enduring opportunities for elite capture. In the Philippines, sugar mills served as economic chokepoints that tied farmers’ livelihoods to local landed elites. This dependence fostered durable patron–client relationships that helped consolidate political and economic power over time. These historical dependencies produced more centralized elite networks in sugar-growing regions, compared to the more fragmented structures found elsewhere. The study combines historical data on sugar mills with municipal-level electoral networks, linking political clans through shared family names. Preliminary results show that municipalities historically organized around sugar chokepoints are more likely to capture disaster aid during crises, suggesting that entrenched elite coordination continues to shape the distribution of public resources in the present day. The analysis uses network measures of centralization and modularity, supported by econometric strategies that leverage variation in exposure to structural and programmatic shocks.