CV
Education
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA June 2005
Master in Economics
Universidad Católica Boliviana, La Paz, Bolivia June 1999
Bachelor in Economics, Summa Cum Laude
Professional Experience
IA Analytics January 2025 – Present
Founding Partner — CDMX, Mexico
Independent research practice producing AI-based tools that improve firm and government decision-making. Current research program integrates machine learning methods into poverty measurement, distributional analysis, and social mobility for Latin America and the Caribbean across six themes. Produced 20+ working papers submitted to and under review at leading journals in the first year of operation.
International Labour Office June 2024 – December 2024
Senior Economist Consultant — Lima, Peru
Evaluated development effectiveness of ILO climate adaptation programs. Developed economic models to analyze distributional consequences of climate adaptation policy. Delivered training programs on distributional impact methods for country teams and national statistical offices.
Equity Policy Lab, The World Bank October 2020 – May 2024
Senior Economist E.T. Consultant — Washington, DC
Developed economic models and tools to forecast distributional consequences of climate loss and damage. Responsible for social protection tools in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Cameroon, South Africa, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe, and Benin. Built augmented PMT validated across 18+ countries.
Fundación ARU August 2006 – September 2020
Founding Executive Director (2006–2018); Distinguished Research Fellow (2018–2020) — La Paz, Bolivia
Positioned ARU as a Top 3 think tank in Bolivia and Top 50 in the region. Secured $3M+ in core and project funding. Designed and executed 50+ research projects, 20+ data collection projects, 10+ impact evaluations, and 3 behavioral experiments. Independent evaluation estimated 650× ROI through contributions to Bolivian policy change.
Development Research Group, The World Bank March 2002 – August 2003
Full Time Consultant — Washington, DC (Supervisors: Peter Lanjouw, Quentin Wodon)
Technical advisory on small-area estimation of disaggregated poverty maps. Joint production of the first poverty maps for Bolivia and Guatemala.
Research Department, Inter-American Development Bank January 2001 – March 2002
Research Fellow — Washington, DC (Supervisors: Suzanne Duryea, Carmen Pagés)
Developed and maintained a data oracle of 200+ household surveys for LAC countries. Prepared inputs for the IDB’s Report on Economic and Social Progress in Latin America.
Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) January 2000 – December 2000
Research Fellow — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Supervisor: Ricardo Paes de Barros)
Developed harmonized data bank of 50+ household surveys for Central America. Analyzed structural determinants of poverty and inequality. Studied racial disparities in Brazil’s labor and education markets.
Economic and Social Policy Analysis Unit (UDAPE) June 1999 – December 1999
Junior Economist — La Paz, Bolivia
Built microsimulation model to evaluate the impact of financial and commercial liberalization on poverty and inequality in Bolivia.
Academic and Professional Leadership
LACEA Network of Inequality and Poverty 2018 – Present
Network Head (2018–2022); Research Co-Director, RIDGE-LACEA (2022–2025). Set the research agenda for the region’s principal academic network on poverty and inequality, coordinating competitive calls, training, conferences, and dissemination across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bolivian Academy of Sciences Since November 2013
Académico de Número (Full Academician). Lifetime appointment in recognition of contributions to economic science.
Institute for Socio-economic Research, UCB Since August 2018
Research Fellow, Universidad Católica Boliviana.
Selected Research Grants
UNICEF Innovation Fund 2025 – 2026
Competitive seed finance for ML applications to small area estimation of undernutrition and child labor.
IDB Latin American and Caribbean Research Network 2007 – 2019
Seven competitive grants over twelve years covering social protection, savings, intergenerational mobility, unemployment insurance, education quality, and urban welfare.
The Think Tank Initiative (IDRC) 2010 – 2019
Core institutional grants, +$3,000,000 CAD. Strengthened capacity of Fundación ARU as an independent policy research institution.
Partnership for Economic Policy 2014 – 2015
Two competitive grants for community census data collection and community-based monitoring systems.
Awards
- Best Bolivian Economist Under 40, Hanns Seidel Foundation (2015)
- Best Practice Research Award, Partnership for Economic Policy (2014)
- Dean Fellowship Graduate Scholarship, University of Pennsylvania (2003–2004)
- Academic Excellence Fellowship, Universidad Católica Boliviana (1998–1999)
Earlier Publications (Selected)
- What Separates Bolivians From Each Other? A Survey Experiment on the Effects of Social Identities on Trust and Affection (with P. Ojeda). Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico (LAJED), No. 42, 2024. [SciELO]
- Forecasting the Distributional Impacts of Climate Change and Climate Policy. World Bank Technical Note, 2024. [WP]
- Meta-analysis of ILO interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean on child labor, forced labor and human trafficking. International Labour Organization, 2020.
- Efectos intencionados y no intencionados de Transferencias Monetarias no Condicionadas: El Caso de la Renta Dignidad (with G. Mena). Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico (LAJED), Special Edition, 2015. [DOI]
- Evaluando el Impacto de Microcréditos en Bolivia: Evidencia del Crédito Productivo Individual — Banco de Desarrollo Productivo (with P. Villarroel). Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico (LAJED), Special Edition, 2015. [DOI]
- Intended and Unintended Effects of Non-contributory Pensions: The Case of Bolivia’s Renta Dignidad (with G. Mena). IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-631, 2015. [WP]
- Are Teachers Well Paid in Latin America and the Caribbean? In Incentives to Improve Teaching: Lessons from Latin America, E. Vegas (Ed.). World Bank, 2005.
- Regional Integration and Wage Inequality (with S. Duryea and R. Robertson). In Beyond Borders: 2002 Report on Economic and Social Progress in Latin America. Inter-American Development Bank, 2002.
- Bolivia: Efectos de la Liberalización sobre el Crecimiento, Empleo, Distribución del Ingreso y Pobreza (with R. Pereira and W. Jiménez). In Liberalización, Desigualdad y Pobreza: América Latina y el Caribe en los 90. UNDP, 2002.
- La evolución de la pobreza en Bolivia: un enfoque multidimensional (with P. Villarroel). Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico (LAJED), No. 20, 2013, pp. 7–74. [DOI] [WP]
- Pobreza monetaria. Crecimiento y redistribución (with A. Uribe). Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico (LAJED), No. 20, 2013, pp. 149–230. [DOI]
- Unemployment in Bolivia: Risks and Labor Market Policies (with E. Yáñez and M.A. Villegas). IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-271. [WP]
Languages and Software
Languages: Spanish (native), English (proficient), Portuguese (proficient), French (basic)
Software: Python, R, Stata, LaTeX, Git/GitHub
Tools: GitHub Actions, Jupyter, matplotlib, React
