Research

Interests: Macroeconomics, Development, Institutional Economics, Political Economy, Economics of Education, Economics Pedagogy

Research on Economics Education & Pedagogy

  • Decolonising Social Sciences (October 2022)
    Decolonising Social Sciences: A Workbook
    Decolonising the Academic Year
    (Warwick staff can access the resources here)

    Please leave your feedback here. 

  • Teaching Macroeconomics. A Modern and Inclusive Approach, editor (forthcoming June 2022) Elgar Guides to Teaching, Edward Elgar Publishing. 
    The 2010s was not a good decade for Macroeconomics. It started and ended with crises of diverse nature, but that have rocked the discipline's priors. After the financial crisis of the 2008, students demanded an update in the curriculum that includes topics in crises and inequality, the more recent events have expanded the discussion beyond the economic consequences of the pandemic to include the effects on women, black and more in general minority groups. The discipline has also had to deal with serious accusations regarding sexism and discrimination. These criticisms are more linked than they seem: lack of representation in economics also means lack of variety in in ideas. This book offers pedagogical tools and methodologies on how to update the syllabus and our teaching (including assessment) to make macroeconomics more engaging and respond to the demands of a variety of students. We provide ideas and practical tips on how to include various topics in your lectures, how to assess students to keep them engage, and how to create an inclusive teaching environment that fosters diversity and contributes to retain talent. 

  • Women in Economics (September 2020)
    "Economics for All: 7 Action Points" a guide for Departments of Economics on how to become more inclusive.
  • Rethinking Economics Lectures for Current Economics Students 
    In progress. 
  • Using Polling Systems to Improve Students' Engagement
    Presentation at the University of Warwick
    Slides (July 2017)
  • Making Feedback Accessible
    Teaching Incidence Analysis prepared for AFHEA recognition
    Download here (August 2015)

Research in Economics

  • From free movement of labour to free movement of people. How can Macroeconomics benefit from a Human Rights approach
    In progress. Summary coming up soon
  • The Origins of Institutions in Latin America 
    Two chapters of my thesis investigate the origins of institutions in Latin America. Most of the literature that relates colonial aspects to current development is based on the assumption that colonial institutions are strongly correlated with contemporary ones, and therefore the same aspects that affected colonial institutions still affect current ones. I show that the correlation between early and current institutions in Latin America is not as strong as considered by this literature.

    Furthermore this literature does not explain the changes in these institutions since independence. I offer an empirical model in which I explain which colonial factors (resource endowment) and other events (indirect British influence, and the discovery of natural resources) have affected the development of institutions in these countries. The conclusions of this study emphasise the role of inequality and natural resources.

    Version presented at the Research Institute for Development, Growth and Economics (RIDGE) Workshop, 2016 
  • The effects of oil dependence in Ecuador
    This research uses time series data for the period 1970-2008 in Ecuador to analyse the effects of oil production on the whole economy. The empirical analysis shows that oil production in Ecuador has had a direct positive impact on GDP growth. However, the positive effect of oil on GDP does not necessarily mean that oil has not harmed this economy. Indeed, this study also introduces an empirical analysis of the Ecuadorean non-oil sector (part of GDP produced by other sectors of the economy) which shows strong evidence that oil production harms the other sectors of the economy, in particular the agricultural and the manufacturing sector.

    On the policy side, this country shows a lack of policies to help to diversify its productive structure, and this is reflected on the negative impacts of oil production on non-oil GDP: an increase in oil production is related to a decline of the other tradable sectors. It should be considered the instability that small-open economies highly specialised on primary sector (like Ecuador) face due to the instability in exports. Therefore, it is highly advisable for these economies to invest in diversification of their productive structure in order to decrease the effects of possible shocks for changes in the international market.

    This economy presents clear symptoms of Dutch disease: contraction of other tradable sectors (agricultural products), high inflation rates especially in the non-tradable sector. These symptoms need to be taken seriously in order to reach a more stable and sustainable economic growth in Ecuador.

Other work

  • Does Aid Foster Growth? January 2011 download (This essay was written for the LSE Economic Policy Challenge 2011) 

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