Uniting
Research and Policy

I am a predoctoral researcher at the Harris School of Public Policy, working with Professors James Robinson and Leander Heldring. I am an Economist and Physicist from Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá. In Economics, my research interests lie in the intersection of Economic History, Political Economy, and Economic Growth. My main interests here are i) the dynamics and long-run consequences of war between states; ii) the historical roots of modern economic development and institutions, and technological progress; and iii) causal inference methodologies and data sources for historical research.

Comprising all these dimensions, my main research focus has been to understand Empires, their organization, and the long-run economic effects of their rise and fall. In particular, I have studied the Mongol Empire for the last 5 years. By collecting data on the geography, demographics, economic development, and land use indicators, for more than 1200 cities over 18 centuries, I could identify long-run macroeconomic trends stemming from the Mongol conquests: i) economic contraction in conquered territories; ii) accelerated growth in unconquered regions; iii) increased significance of Western European cities in global trade. i) and ii) antecede some of the documented effects of the Black Plague, and iii) can be measured before the Atlantic trade boom after the Conquest of the Americas.

At Harris, I am currently working on the influence of the Enlightenment over the institutional changes in England that followed the Glorious Revolution; how the networks between politicians and businesspeople influenced the South Korean 1970s and 1980s South Korean industrial policy; understanding the success of the IMIHIGO program in Rwanda; and how leaders choose between public good provision and the use of violence and repression to pursue their goals, case studying Colombian paramilitary commanders.