Research
Publications and Acceptances
Day, S., Nunes, E., & Sultanum, B. (2023). Is It Still an Economics Course? The Effect of a Standardized Personal Finance Test on the Learning of Economics. The American Economist, 68(2), 277-294. Link
We study the implications of mixing economics and personal finance standards in a high school course. Using administrative, survey, and testing data on college students, we find that learning personal finance can help the learning of economics for some students but hurt it for others. We estimate that students who received more instruction in economics score almost 5 percentage points higher on our economics test. Furthermore, we estimate the effect of being assigned a certification test in personal finance as a part of this course. Taking the personal finance certification test increases economics test scores by 2.5 percentage points for the average student, but this effect is not uniform across students. The certification test significantly increases the economics scores of students with low SAT scores, while decreasing the economics scores of those with high SAT scores. Our results emphasize the potentially idiosyncratic effects of mixing economics with personal finance.
Working Papers
Pedagogy
Teaching Exchange Rate Modeling in a Classroom Project (WP upon request)
This paper describes a classroom project used in an undergraduate International Economics class at the author's university. The project was done in groups, where each group was assigned one country. Each group had to research basic facts about the country, collect data on its economy, and analyze the predictions of purchasing power parity and interest rate parity. Students reported their findings in writing and in a class presentation. The introduction of the project resulted in higher exam grades, especially when the exam was after the presentation, and students reported high levels of satisfaction with the project. Overall, this assignment helped students develop a more comprehensive understanding of a theoretical framework for exchange rates, and improve their grades.
Where are my peers? Peer review assignments in large classrooms (WP upon request)
I evaluate the results of different grading schemes, across multiple semesters, for a critical thinking assignment in a large classroom of principles of microeconomics. The goal of this assignment was to enhance student's critical and reflective thinking, while not imposing additional grading burden on the instructor. The grading schemes evaluated were self-grading and peer-grading, both of which allow students to take a more active role in their learning, with peer-grading also connecting them to each other, even if in an anonymous way. I find that the self-graded assignments resulted in inflated grades, and had a grade distribution similar to a complete/incomplete grading scheme. The peer-graded assignments had less of a grade inflation problem, and several students reported that they understood better the material after reading their peers answers, with many providing positive feedback supporting each other. However, several students never wend back to the assignment to grade their peers. These results are likely a refection of the many challenges that large classrooms face, and the lack of incentives students had in terms of being accurate while grading.
Education
Race and School Choice in Brazil (WP)
This paper investigates the role of race in early educational choice in Brazil. Using two national surveys, I provide evidence that non-white families are 4-5 percentage points more likely to place their children in a public school instead of a private one, even when controlling for income, education, and location. I also estimate lower returns to education for non-white individuals, which is consistent with the literature and can explain their school choice. At the same time, I do not find evidence of availability of private schools, peer preference, nor residential segregation affecting the school choice. This research shows that race and returns to education matter for school choice in Brazil, and better understanding them can help shape future policies.
Parental Educational Choice and School Vouchers (WP)
This paper studies an overlapping generations model of parental educational choice with public and private education alternatives. I use survey data from Brazil to estimate the technology parameters via a simulation-based method, and then use those estimations to perform counterfactuals to analyze the impact of private education vouchers. The results indicate that vouchers generally increase income and reduce inequality, but the welfare gains depend on size and design of the program.
Environment
Exports and CO2 Emissions in the Absence of Regulations (Draft upon request)
This paper studies the environmental performance of exporters and non-exporters in the absence of pollution controls. I develop a model of trade and emissions, where consumers dislike pollution and heterogeneous firms decide price and emission intensity. The model shows that depending on the characteristics and size of the foreign market, exporting firms will pollute more than non-exporting ones. So I calculate the amount of CO2 emissions using fuel consumption from detailed Chilean plant-level data during the 1990’s. The results using matched sampling techniques show that there was no significant evidence that exporting plants were polluting more than the others.
Publication in Non-Refereed Journal
Barbosa, F., Nogueira, R., & Nunes, E. (2009). Reservas Internacionais: Seguro ou Desperdício? (International Reserves: Insurance or Waste?). Conjuntura Econômica. Link to article in Portuguese.