Pretrial detention accounts for an important share of prison population worldwide and imposes detrimental consequences on defendants. We examine its impact on sentencing outcomes in Chile's criminal justice system, where plea bargaining has historically been a limited prosecution tool. Pretrial detention increases conviction probability from 53 to 76 percent. To assess the role of plea bargaining, we exploit a reform that expanded prosecutorial bargaining tools for robbery-related crimes. The impact of pretrial detention on conviction increased substantially for these crimes while remaining unchanged for others, confirming that expanding plea bargaining amplifies pretrial detention's effect.
Learning by playing: Experimental Evidence on Financial Education
AEA RCT Registry Field work Spanish report English report
This paper examines the short-term effects of a financial literacy board game on middle and high school students in Chile. Using a randomized controlled trial with 366 students across 11 schools, I estimate the effectiveness of game-based learning as a tool for financial education. Students assigned to treatment classes score 0.34 standard deviations (SD) higher on financial knowledge and 0.35 SD higher on financial attitudes than students in control classes. Effects are larger among middle school and male students, increase with repeated gameplay, and are largest among students with below-median baseline knowledge. I find no statistically significant impact on financial behaviors, savings, or preferences over money and well-being. The results suggest that game-based learning can serve as a low-cost entry point for financial education.
How does state pension age affects longevity?
with Lars Hoogstra
The Family as Infrastructure: Intergenerational Care and the Welfare State
with Lars Hoogstra
Enforcing Care: Child Support and State Capacity
with Parijat Maitra
Gender-based violence : evidence from a municipal program in Chile
Master Thesis (Advisors: Olivia Bertelli, Emilio Depetris-Chauvin and Francisco Silva)
2020
I study the impact of a municipal program on gender-based violence in Chile. I exploit the fact that the implementation of the program is through “Centros de la Mujer” and only some municipalities have one. This allows to measure the effect of the program with a difference-in-difference approach including municipal and month fixed effects. The study concludes that in municipalities in which the program is implemented, all kinds of violence against women decrease 4.13%. Results suggest that the program reduces violent crimes (domestic violence, sexual abuses and rapes) for both women and men. The program has heterogeneous effects across age of victims and a 1-year delay since its implementation until results are observed.
Aprender jugando con evidencia: impacto de ABJ FinanCity en educación financiera, F-entrepreneur, March 2026
La prisión preventiva y la ley de agenda corta en seguridad, El Mercurio, February 2025
Efecto de las cuarentenas en la delincuencia, Contrafactual, October 2020