Education
- May 2012—–Ph.D. Economics, Harvard University
- June 2009—-M.A. Economics, Harvard University
- June 2005—-B.A. Economics, ITAM, Honors
Fields of Interest
Research: Development Economics, Health, Economics of Education, Applied Econometrics–
Teaching: Econometrics, Microeconomics
Publications
“Benefits and Unintended Consequences of Gender Segregation in Public Transportation: Evidence from Mexico City’s Subway System,” with Emilio Gutierrez and Paula Soto. Economic Development and Cultural Change 64 (4), pp. 1379-1410. July 2021.
“The Effectiveness of Sin Food Taxes: Evidence from Mexico,” with Emilio Gutierrez and Enrique Seira. Journal of Health Economics, 77 (102455). May 2021.
“Fidelity of Implementation of Prospera Digital: Evaluation of a Multi-Site mHealth Intervention Aimed at Improving Maternal Health Outcomes in Mexico,” with Pablo Gaitán-Rossi, Selene De la Cerda, Alma C. Pérez, Manett Vargas, and Mireya Vilar-Compte. Current Developments in Nutrition 3 (10): nzz107. October 2019.
“Decomposition of Gender Differentials in Agricultural Productivity in Ethiopia,” with Eliana Carranza, Markus Goldstein, Talip Kilic and Gbemisola Oseni. Agricultural Economics 46(3): 311- 334. May 2015.
“Coping with La Crisis” with Georgia Hartman, David Keyes, Lisa Markman, and Max Matus. Chapter in Mexican Migration and the U.S. Economic Crisis. A Transnational Perspective, Wayne Cornelius, David Fitzgerald, Pedro Lewin Fischer and Leah Muse-Orlinoff (eds.), Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, UCSD, San Diego 2009.
“Desigualdad de la educación y de los ingresos laborales en México: la importancia de la calidad educativa” with María Elena Ortega, La Gaceta de Economía, Autumn 2007, 13 (23): 11-50.
Working Papers
“El Niño and Mexican Children: Medium-Term Effects of Early-Life Weather Shocks on Cognitive and Health Outcomes” with Marta Vicarelli. Revise & Resubmit at World Development. Latest version: June 2021.
“School Committees Versus Centralized Targeting. The Case of High-School Scholarships in Mexico.” Latest version: February 2020.
“Long-Term Effects of PROSPERA on Welfare,” with Cristina Barnard and Giacomo de Giorgi. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 9002. Latest version: September 2019.
“The power of information and motivation on women’s maternal health: an application with ad-hoc SMS in Mexico’s Prospera program” with Manett Vargas. Latest version: August 2018.
“Educational Self-Selection among U.S. Immigrants and Returning Migrants,” IZA Discussion Paper 7222.
Honors, Scholarships, and Fellowships
- 2017 Grant award from U.S. Fund and UNICEF (US$100,000)
- 2016 Grant award from the U.K. Foreign Commonwealth Office, Prosperity Fund (£251,194)–
- 2016 Grant award from U.S. Fund and UNICEF (US$185,185)
- 2015 Grant award from the Prosperity Fund (UK FCO, £134,477)
- 2015 Grant award from the All Children Reading Challenge (USAID, Australia Aid, WV, US$317,387)
- 2014 Grant award from the Inter-American Development Bank (US$30,000)
- 2014 Grant award from the Institute for Money Technology and Financial Inclusion (IMTFI, US$20,000)
- 2008-2009 Dissertation Completion Fellowship (Harvard University)
- 2009 Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (Harvard University)
- 2006-2010 Harvard University, CONACYT, Fundación México en Harvard Fellowship
- 2006 Tlacaelel National Prize. First place, undergraduate thesis (Mexico)
- 2005 Banamex Economics National Prize, First place, undergraduate thesis (Mexico)
Educational and Applied Projects
Econometrics Learning Material. Developed as support for Microeconometrics courses taught at ITAM at the Bachelor and Masters level (under development, available only in Spanish).
Mundo de Libros. A website that gives book recommendations for children between 6 and 10 years old based on an algorithm to match books and children based on the student’s reading abilities and interests. Currently adapting Machine Learning methods to improve the algorithm and seeking for strategic alliances to implement a second version of the project.
QFD: Qué Funciona para el Desarrollo. Member of the board. QFD is a Mexican non-for-profit organization that unites a team of experts in public policy design with prominent national and international researchers. QFD seeks to develop rigorous research that is useful and pertinent to boost innovative and evidence-based interventions for social and economic development.
AEA Trials Registered
Aguilar, Arturo et al. 2016. “Supporting healthier pregnancies and early child development one text at a time: Can personalized text messages, increased community participation and incentives to service providers help improve pregnancy and early childhood outcomes?” AEA RCT Registry No. 1035.
Aguilar, Arturo et al. 2017. “Opening Prosperity Mexico: Socio-emotional trial.” AEA RCT Registry No. 2010.
Aguilar, Arturo and María Elena Ortega. 2017. “Matching Children with Level-Appropriate Books and Engaging Families.” AEA RCT Registry No. 1034.
Presentations
- 2019 World Bank
- 2018 APPAM; UCSD
- 2017 RIDGE
- 2016 LACEA; UA T
- 2015 RAND; Seminar on climate change (Mexico)
- 2013 UVM; IFAD
- 2012 Mexico’s Central Bank; IDB; Georgetown Public Policy Institute; LACEA; APPAM
- 2011 ITAM; Seminar Huatusco IX (Mexico): “Inequality in the Returns to Education in Mexico”
- 2008 Harvard-Manchester Summer Workshop on Immigration and Social Change
Other Information
Referee: American Economic Review; AEJ: Applied Economics; Journal of Human Resources; Journal of Development Economics; Journal of Public Economics; Journal of Environmental Economics and Management; World Development Perspectives; Environment, Development and Sustainability; Journal of Development Studies; World Bank Economic Review; Review of Industrial Organization; Agricultural Economics; European Review of Agricultural Economics; International Journal of Manpower; Latin American Economic Review; Feminist Economics; IDB; El Trimestre Económico
Affiliations: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA); Que Funciona para el Desarrollo (QFD).
Softwares: Stata (advanced), R (intermediate), Python (basic), LaTex (advanced), Markdown (intermediate).
Languages: Spanish (native), English (fluent), French (basic).
Other Employment
2003-2006 Financial Analyst (full-time), Protego Asesores, Mexico Investment Banking: Real Estate Sector