PhD in Politics by Princeton University. I am currently working at Paris School of Economics / J-PAL and I will start a lecturer position in the fall at Sciences Po.

My research fields are comparative politics, quantitative methods, and behavioral and experimental methods for political science.

My research interests lie in political economy, at the intersection of development and conflict. In particular, I focus on understanding the long-run consequences of criminal governance, territorial control, and how governments can manage and mitigate these. I have a regional expertise in Latin America.

My current research focuses on designing targeting mechanisms to detect youth at risk, designing and evaluating policy options to reduce gang recruitment, and understanding the process of gang recruitment in Medellín, Colombia. Together with coauthors, I am currently running a multi-phased RCT to test a new program anckowered around information-based interventions that correct misperceptions about the costs and benefits of school, legal work, and high-risk alternatives, and goal-setting interventions to strengthen adolescents’ capacity to plan and follow through on long-term goals. We are also running a new 10,000 adolescent survey to identify those at higher levels of risk.

In my dissertation work I aim to answer two questions. First, what are the consequences of living in a territory where there is a duopoly of power between the state and gangs on youth’s human capital accumulation. I look at two different dimensions: gang territorial control and gang violence. To answer these questions, I leverage large N administrative data, in depth case knowledge, and use quasi-experimental techniques. Second, who joins a gang and why? To shed light on this question I gather novel data on approximately 10,000 youth of Medellín that I use to estimate a structural model of youth’s life-paths. 

In terms of methodology, my research combines qualitative and quantitative methods. On the quantitative side, it includes quasi-experimental evaluations using large admin data, structural modeling, and the design and evaluation via randomized control trials (RCTs) of public policy. On the qualitative side, I have experience conducting semi-structured interviews which I combine with causal analysis to understand mechanisms.

I am a Research Fellow at Future Policy Lab and Researcher with Innovations for Poverty Action.

You can contact me via email – ma.rodriguez.uribe (at) gmail.com