Research
Selected journal articles
"Production and persistence of criminal skills: Evidence from a high-crime context," Journal of Development Economics, 160 (with Maria A. Escobar and Martin Vanegas-Arias). [Paper | Outreach: Twitter thread (Spanish)] (2023)
"Do better prisons reduce recidivism? Evidence from a prison construction program," Review of Economics and Statistics, 104(6), 1256-1272 [Paper | Replication | Outreach: El Espectador, Razón Pública, Twitter thread] (2022)
"Community policing in the developing world," Science, 374(6571), 1046-1047. [Invited commentary | Paper | Outreach: Twitter thread (Spanish)] (2021)
"Place-based interventions at scale: The direct and spillover effects of policing and city services on crime," Journal of the European Economic Association, 19(4), 2022-2051 (with Chris Blattman, Donald Green and Daniel Ortega). [Paper | Online appendix | Teaching materials | Outreach: J-PAL Policy Reports] (2021)
"The Deterrent Effects of Surveillance Cameras on Crime," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 40(2), 553-571 (with Santiago Gómez and Daniel Mejía). [Paper] (2021)
"Hot Spots Policing in a High Crime Environment: An Experimental Evaluation in Medellín," Journal of Experimental Criminology, 17, 473–506 (with Daniela Collazos, Eduardo García, Daniel Mejía and Daniel Ortega). [Paper] (2021)
"Crises conducting stakeholder salience: Shifts in the evolution of private universities' governance in Latin America," Corporate Governance, 21(6), 1194-1214 (with Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Miguel Cordova, Erica Salvaj, Santiago Mingo, Carlos Rodriguez, Karla María Nava-Aguirre, Michel Hermans, Fabiola Monje Cueto and Dinorá Floriani). [Paper] (2021)
"Meta-Analysis of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Deficiency," Pediatric Transplantation, 24(6), e13774 (with Lina Castano-Jaramillo, Jose Bareno-Silva and Andres Escobar-Gonzalez). [Paper | Outreach: Twitter thread] (2020)
"The role of land property rights in the war on illicit crops: Evidence from Colombia" World Development, 103, 268-283 (with Juan Carlos Muñoz and Jesse D'Anjou). [Paper | Outreach: IDS Policy Briefings] (2018)
Selected book chapters
"Broken windows policing and crime: Evidence from 80 Colombian cities," in Buonanno, P., Vanin, P. and Vargas, J. (Eds.) A Modern Guide to the Economics of Crime, 55-87 (with Daniel Mejía, Ervyn Norza and Martín Vanegas-Arias). [Book | Working paper] (2022)
"Prisons", in Marciano, Alain, Ramello, Giovanni Battista (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Springer (with Paolo Buonanno and Juan Vargas). [Chapter] (2022)
"Crime: Economics of, The Standard Approach", in Marciano, Alain, Ramello, Giovanni Battista (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Springer (with Paolo Buonanno and Juan Vargas). [Chapter] (forthcoming)
Working papers and work in progress
"State-building on the margin: An urban experiment in Medellín" (with Christopher Blattman, Gustavo Duncan and Benjamin Lessing). [NBER Working Paper | SocArXiv Working Paper | Outreach: Nota de Política EAFIT, EDI Essay Series, EDI Research Videos, EDI Research Insights]
"Gang rule: Understanding and countering criminal governance" (with Christopher Blattman, Gustavo Duncan and Benjamin Lessing). [NBER Working Paper | SocArXiv Working Paper | Outreach: Twitter thread (English), Twitter thread (Spanish), Twitter thread (Portuguese), Nota de Política EAFIT, Webinar with key stakeholders, EDI Research Videos, EDI Research Insights, El Tiempo, Caracol Radio, El Colombiano, Foco Económico]
"How to measure public trust in the police?" (with Verónica Abril, Santiago Pérez-Vincent and Martín Vanegas-Arias). [SocArXiv Working Paper]
"The Pax Criminalis" (with Chris Blattman, Gustavo Duncan, Ben Lessing and Juan F. Martinez)
"Gangs of Medellín: How organized crime is organized" (with Chris Blattman, Gustavo Duncan and Ben Lessing)
"Gang entry and exit: Behavioral biases and gang recruitment" (with Chris Blattman and Maria Rodríguez-Uribe)
"Organized crime in Rio de Janeiro: Understanding non-state provision of order and justice" (with Benjamin Lessing and Joana Monteiro)
Other scholarly writing
"El gasto fiscal de la guerra contra los portadores de drogas ilícitas: Una aproximación para Colombia," Lecturas de Economía, 91, 79-116 (with Isabel Gutiérrez). [Paper] (2019)
"La situación del narcotráfico en Colombia ad portas del posconflicto," Contribuciones de la Universidad a la Agenda de La Habana, Edited by: Jorge Giraldo. Ed: Universidad EAFIT (with Isabel Gutiérrez and Gustavo Duncan). [Chapter] (2018)
"El Ciclo Criminal del Microtráfico y Consumo de Drogas: Contexto Nacional y Consecuencias en Entornos Locales," Territorios y Sociabilidades Violentas: Santo Domingo, San Juan, Sao Paulo, Cali y Medellin. Edited by: Jorge Giraldo. Ed: Universidad EAFIT (with Isabel Gutiérrez). [Chapter] (2017)
"Evaluación y seguimiento a las actividades de la policía de vigilancia," Gestión Territorial de la Seguridad en el Posconflicto. Edited by: Isabel Gutiérrez. Ed: Universidad EAFIT y Escuela de Postgrados de Policía, Policía Nacional (with Isabel Gutiérrez). [Chapter] (2017)
"La inversión obligatoria y el crédito agropecuario en Colombia," El desarrollo equitativo, competitivo y sostenible del sector agropecuario en Colombia. Edited by: Carlos Gustavo Cano, Ana María Iregui, Maria Teresa Ramírez & Ana María Tribín. Ed: Banco de la República (with Dairo Estrada and Paula Zuleta). [Chapter] (2016)
"The Rational Expectations Hypothesis: An Assessment on its Real World Application," Ecos de Economía: A Latin American Journal of Applied Economics, 18(37), 37-47. [Paper] (2014)
"Instituciones y cultivos ilícitos," Economía criminal y poder político, Edited by: Jorge Giraldo. Ed: Universidad EAFIT. [Chapter] (2013)
"Impuesto predial y desarrollo económico. Aproximación a la relación entre el impuesto predial y la inversión de los municipios de Antioquia," Ecos de Economía: A Latin American Journal of Applied Economics, 17(36), 173-198 (with Juan Carlos Muñoz). [Paper] (2013)