PacDev Conference Agenda 2025 - Center for Economic and Social Research

PacDev 2025 Conference Agenda

Time	Session
8:30-9am	Breakfast/Registration
9-10:15am	Session I
10:15-10:40am	Break
10:40-11:55am	Session II
12-1:15pm	Lunch
1:15-2:30pm	Session III
2:30-3pm	Break
3-4:15pm	Session IV
4:15-4:30pm	Break
4:30-5:30pm	Keynote addess
5:30-7:30pm	Reception

Session List

	Session I: 9-10:15am	Session II: 10:40-11:55am	Session III: 1:15-2:30pm	Session IV: 3-4:15pm
Room 1: Taper Hall 108		Health	Mental health	Technology
Room 2: Taper Hall 110		Education	Education II	Education III
Room 3 Taper Hall 114	Migration	Production and usage of economic research	Social protection	Cash transfers
Room 4 Taper Hall 116	Environmental I	Environmental II	Environmental III	Agriculture I
Room 5 Taper Hall 118	Culture	Economic geography	Economic history	Trade
Room 6 Taper Hall 119		Firms I	Firms II	Firms III
Room 7 Taper Hall 208	Conflict	Labor I	Labor III	Job training
Room 8 Taper Hall 210	State capacity	Political economy	Taxation	Public Sector jobs
Room 9 Taper Hall 212	Gender I	Gender II	Crime	Gender-based violence

Session I: 9-10:15am

Conflict (Taper Hall 208):

9:00-9:25am: “Water Wars”, presented by Andrea Marcucci (Università della Svizzera italiana)

9:25-9:50am: “Land as a Path to Peace? The Effect of Land Restitution on Violence and Agricultural Investment”, presented by Juan M Jimenez (UBC)

9:50-10:15am: “Non-State Social Structures and Social Capital: Evidence on Crime and Conflict”, presented by Natalia Pia Guerrero Trinidad (University of Minnesota)

Culture (Taper Hall 118):

9:00-9:25am: “For Better or Worse? When Minimum Educational Requirement Meets Patrilocality: Evidence from China, Indonesia, and Ghana”, presented by Lilac Zihui Zhao (Stanford University)

9:25-9:50am: “The Costs of Leader Biases: Evidence from Superstitious Chinese Mayors”, presented by Justin Hong (Boston University)

9:50-10:15am: “The Rise of the Chinese Clan”, presented by Wenbing Wu (Department of Economics, University of Melbourne)

Environmental I (Taper Hall 116):

9:00-9:25am: “Disastrous Displacement: The Long-Run Impacts of Landslides”, presented by Travis Baseler (University of Rochester)

9:25-9:50am: “The Value of Monitoring for Disaster Prevention: The Desert Locust”, presented by Gordon Mccord (UC San Diego)

9:50-10:15am: “Frosty Climate, Icy Relationships: Frosts and Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Peru”, presented by Leah Lakdawala (Wake Forest University)

Gender I (Taper Hall 212):

9:00-9:25am: “Family Planning and Women’s Labor Supply”, presented by Dan Maggio (Rutgers University)

9:25-9:50am: “Do price regulations on birth control pills decrease fertility?”, presented by Ana Melissa Perez Castano (PhD Student, Applied Economics, University of Minnesota)

9:50-10:15am: “The Effects of Adolescent Girls Clubs: Evidence from a Multi-Country RCT in Five West African Countries”, presented by Claire Boxho (World Bank)

Migration (Taper Hall 114):

9:00-9:25am: “Skilled Immigration and Firm-level Upgrading as Exports Boosters in a Developing Country”, presented by Carlo Lombardo (Cornell University)

9:25-9:50am: “Immigrants’ Skills and Capital Deepening: Evidence from Chile”, presented by Alessandra Anna Palazzo (University of Maryland, College Park)

9:50-10:15am: “Conflict, Expectations and Refugee Economic Behavior”, presented by Emma Smith (Georgetown University)

State capacity (Taper Hall 210):

9:00-9:25am: “Organizing Fiscal Capacity”, presented by Devis Decet (Northwestern University)

9:25-9:50am: “Spillovers in State Capacity Building: Evidence from the Digitization of Land Records in Pakistan”, presented by Shan Aman-Rana (University of Virginia)

9:50-10:15am: “Updating the State: Making Implementation Data Accessible to Bureaucrats Strengthens Social Protection”, presented by Yusuf Neggers (University of Michigan)

Session II: 10:40-11:55am

Economic geography (Taper Hall 118):

10:40-11:05am: “Initial Conditions, Size, and the Biggest Push in US History”, presented by Daniel Velasquez (University of Michigan)

11:05-11:30am: “The Global Value of Cities”, presented by Aakash Bhalothia (UC San Diego)

11:30-11:55am: “Resource Extraction, Revenue Sharing, and Growth”, presented by Traviss Cassidy (University of Alabama)

Education (Taper Hall 110:):

10:40-11:05am: “Hard to Read: The Impact of Advanced Reading Assignments on Language and Literacy Outcomes”, presented by Mridul Joshi (Stanford University)

11:05-11:30am: “Reading for Life: Lasting Impacts of a Literacy Intervention in Uganda”, presented by Jason Kerwin (University of Washington)

11:30-11:55am: “The best buy? Prospective evidence on successful remediation in Morocco’s public primary schools”, presented by Andreas De Barros (University of California, Irvine)

Environmental II (Taper Hall 116):

10:40-11:05am: “Gender and culture shape prosociality more than heat stress in a five-country experiment”, presented by Alessandra Cassar (University of San Francisco)

11:05-11:30am: “Labor Productivity Impacts of Air Purifiers”, presented by Teevrat Garg (UC San Diego)

11:30-11:55am: “Price Incentives for Conservation: Experimental Evidence from Groundwater Irrigation”, presented by Ariel Zucker (UC Santa Cruz)

Firms I (Taper Hall 119):

10:40-11:05am: “All in the Family: Kinship Pressure and Firm-Worker Matching”, presented by Nicholas Swanson (Stanford)

11:05-11:30am: “Outsourcing, Labor Regulations and Profit-Sharing: Evidence from Mexico”, presented by Agustina Colonna (University of Zurich)

11:30-11:55am: “Selection and Sorting when Supervisors have Discretion: Experimental Evidence from a Tanzanian Factory”, presented by Yuen Ho (University of California Berkeley)

Gender II (Taper Hall 212):

10:40-11:05am: “Transit Infrastructure, Couples’ Commuting Choices, and Gender Earnings Inequality”, presented by Daniel Velasquez (University of Michigan)

11:05-11:30am: “Female Entrepreneurship and Professional Networks”, presented by Francesca Truffa (Michigan)

11:30-11:55am: “Worker Selection and Preferences for Job Amenities: Evidence from Jordanian Women”, presented by Bailey Palmer (UC Berkeley)

Health (Taper Hall 108:):

10:40-11:05am: “Experiential and Social Learning”, presented by Gabriella Fleischman (Harvard Kennedy School)

11:05-11:30am: “Self-Detrimental Avoidance of Rest”, presented by Alexandra Schubert (University of Zurich)

11:30-11:55am: “Investigating the know-do gap in antibiotics prescribing: experimental evidence from India”, presented by Zachary Wagner (USC)

Labor I (Taper Hall 208):

10:40-11:05am: “Payments Under the Table: Employer-Employee Collusion in Brazil”, presented by Javier Feinmann (UC Berkeley)

11:05-11:30am: “The Role of Cash in Illegal Labor Market Practices: Evidence from Uruguay”, presented by Maximiliano Lauletta (Federal Reserve Board)

11:30-11:55am: “The Role of Unions in Labor Markets with Informality: Evidence from Brazil”, presented by Nikita Kohli (Duke University)

Political economy (Taper Hall 210):

10:40-11:05am: “Health for Votes? Political Business Cycles and Birth Outcomes in Mexico”, presented by Hector Mendoza (El Colegio de México)

11:05-11:30am: “Pay-to-Play: Campaign Contributions and Kickbacks in Public Procurement”, presented by Juan Felipe Ladino (Stockholm University)

11:30-11:55am: “Political Appointment Cycles and Tax Collection”, presented by Raul Duarte (Harvard University)

Production and usage of economic research (Taper Hall 114):

10:40-11:05am: “Data Availability and the Geography of Economic Research”, presented by Wilson King (UC Berkeley)

11:05-11:30am: “Endogenous Sample Selection”, presented by Niclas Moneke (Oxford)

11:30-11:55am: “The Mismeasure of Weather: Using Remotely Sensed Earth Observation Data in Economic Contexts”, presented by Anna Josephson (Arizona)

Session III: 1:15-2:30pm

Crime (Taper Hall 212):

1:15-1:40pm: “CONFRONTING Prejudice: UNCOVERING STEREOTYPES AMONG POLICE OFFICERS IN INDIA”, presented by Abhilasha Sahay (World Bank)

1:40-2:05pm: “Monitoring Harassment in Organizations”, presented by Ada Gonzalez-Torres (Ben-Gurion University and Harvard University)

2:05-2:30pm: “Breaking the Gang: A Preventive Approach to Reduce Recruitment in Schools”, presented by Carlos Schmidt-Padilla (University of California, Berkeley)

Economic history (Taper Hall 118):

1:15-1:40pm: “Richer but Stricter? The Mixed Legacy of British Colonial Army Recruitment in India”, presented by Anahita Karandikar (University of British Columbia)

1:40-2:05pm: “Attached once, attached forever: The persistent effects of concertaje in Ecuador”, presented by Alex Rivadeneira (Banco de México)

2:05-2:30pm: “Missionaries and the birth of international development”, presented by Youn Baek (NYU Stern)

Education II (Taper Hall 110:):

1:15-1:40pm: “Does Restricting Access to Credit Affect Learning Outcomes? Evidence from a Regulatory Shock to Microfinance in India”, presented by Muneer Kalliyil (Indian Institute of Management Bangalore)

1:40-2:05pm: “Does Expanding Female Economic Opportunities Improve Children’s Human Capital? Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Bangladesh”, presented by Claus Portner (Seattle University)

2:05-2:30pm: “Assessing the Efficacy of Debt Forgiveness Incentives in Promoting Higher Education Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia’s National Student Loan Company”, presented by German Pulido (University College London)

Environmental III (Taper Hall 116):

1:15-1:40pm: “Digging for Answers: The Effects of Mining Pollution Externalities on Local Agricultural Output in Africa”, presented by Mira Korb (UC Davis)

1:40-2:05pm: “Agricultural Technology Adoption and Deforestation: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial”, presented by Clark Lundberg (SDSU)

2:05-2:30pm: “Narco-Deforestation: The Environmental Effects of Coca Cultivation”, presented by Giulia Tozzi (Queen Mary University of London / Aix-Marseille School of Economics)

Firms II (Taper Hall 119):

1:15-1:40pm: “Value Creation and Value Capture in Indian Garment Sector Bargaining”, presented by Russell Morton (Yale University)

1:40-2:05pm: “The Supply Side of Access to Finance: Evidence from Loans to Agricultural Firms in Four African Countries”, presented by Mohamed Abouaziza (London School of Economics (LSE))

2:05-2:30pm: “Small by Choice: Reassessing the Aggregate Implications of Size-Based Regulations”, presented by Kalyani Padmakumar (Florida State University)

Labor III (Taper Hall 208):

1:15-1:40pm: “Equity Conundrum: Unintended Consequences of College-Level Affirmative Action on the Labor Market”, presented by Ritika Gupta (University of Virginia)

1:40-2:05pm: “Outside Options and the Supply of Sex Work”, presented by Ruchi Mahadeshwar (Brown University)

2:05-2:30pm: “Public Pensions, Retirement, and Earlier-in-Life Labor Supply: Evidence from Ecuador”, presented by Diego Vera Cossio (Inter-American Development Bank)

Mental health (Taper Hall 108:):

1:15-1:40pm: “Long-Term Reductions in Depression and Intimate Partner Violence Over 8 Years: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial”, presented by Michelle Escobar (University of Melbourne)

1:40-2:05pm: “The Long-Term Impact of Pharmacotherapy in India”, presented by Manuela Angelucci (UT Austin)

2:05-2:30pm: “Spousal Relationship and Adolescent Psychosocial Health: Evidence from an RCT”, presented by Ashish K. Sedai (ashish.sedai@uta.edu)

Social protection (Taper Hall 114):

1:15-1:40pm: “Credit and Welfare Across the Lean Season”, presented by Ethan Ligon (UC Berkeley)

1:40-2:05pm: “Pedaling towards Prosperity: The Impact of Bicycle Distribution on Rural Livelihoods in Zambia”, presented by Jeffery Mcmanus (IDinsight)

2:05-2:30pm: “Deepening Intrahousehold Inequalities? Evidence from Floods in Bangladesh.”, presented by Fatima Najeeb (University of Maryland, College Park)

Taxation (Taper Hall 210):

1:15-1:40pm: “Limits to VAT Self Enforcement”, presented by Tejaswi Velayudhan (University of California, Irvine)

1:40-2:05pm: “Tax Audits and Their Distortionary Effects”, presented by David Henning (UCLA)

2:05-2:30pm: “Rewarding Nominal Growth: Unintended Impacts of Tax Cuts in Iran”, presented by Javad Dashtimanesh (Sharif University of Technology)

Session IV: 3-4:15pm

Agriculture I (Taper Hall 116):

3:00-3:25pm: “The Labor Market Effects of Agriculture Mechanization: Experimental Evidence from India”, presented by Steven Brownstone (UC San Diego)

3:25-3:50pm: “Large-Scale Irrigation and Water Use Inequality in South Africa”, presented by Tereza Varejkova (University of Maryland, College Park)

3:50-4:15pm: “Learning from Weather Forecasts and Short-Run Adaptation: Evidence from an At-Scale Experiment”, presented by Jess Rudder (University of Chicago)

Cash transfers (Taper Hall 114):

3:00-3:25pm: “Mental Accounting and Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence from a Humanitarian Setting”, presented by Till Wicker (Tilburg University)

3:25-3:50pm: “Long-Term Impacts of Exposure to Conditional Cash Transfers in Adolescence: Evidence from the Philippines”, presented by Abhilasha Sahay (World Bank)

3:50-4:15pm: “A “Big Push” Through the Finish Line: Evidence from a Composite Scholarship for Ugandan Students”, presented by Benedetta Lerva (World Bank)

Education III (Taper Hall 110:):

3:00-3:25pm: “Agricultural Mechanization, Teenage Labor Supply, and High School Enrollment”, presented by Hundanol Kebede (Southern Illinois University)

3:25-3:50pm: “Improving preschool services: Experimental evidence on a technology-aided intervention in India”, presented by Ajinkya Keskar (Binghamton University (SUNY))

3:50-4:15pm: “Labor Market Consequences of Pre-School Construction in Peru”, presented by Ronald Alonso Cueva (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and World Bank)

Firms III (Taper Hall 119):

3:00-3:25pm: “The Role of (Mis)Perceptions in Product Choice: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Zambia”, presented by David Sungho Park (KDI School of Public Policy and Management)

3:25-3:50pm: “The Impact of Restricting Large Retailer Operation Days on Independent Retailers and Consumers: Evidence from South Korea”, presented by Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (UC-Berkeley)

3:50-4:15pm: “Small-scale Production dereservation and Product Quality”, presented by Vidhya Soundararajan (Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning)

Gender-based violence (Taper Hall 212):

3:00-3:25pm: “Has Colombian legislation affected domestic violence reports and health outcomes?”, presented by Ana Melissa Perez (PhD student University of Minnesota)

3:25-3:50pm: “The Unintended Impacts of an Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program: Experimental Evidence from Rwanda”, presented by Arthur Alik-Lagrange (World Bank – Paris School of Economics)

3:50-4:15pm: “Gender-Based Violence in Schools and Girls’ Education: Experimental Evidence from Mozambique”, presented by Sarita Oré (Columbia University)

Job training (Taper Hall 208):

3:00-3:25pm: “Beliefs and the Demand for Employee Training: A Field Experiment with Small Firms in Uganda”, presented by Arman Rezaee (University of California, Davis)

3:25-3:50pm: “Capital Underutilization and the Provision of Firm Training: Experimental Evidence from Uganda”, presented by Anna Vitali (NYU)

3:50-4:15pm: “The Economic Consequences of Knowledge Hoarding”, presented by Luisa Cefala (UC Berkeley)

Public Sector jobs (Taper Hall 210):

3:00-3:25pm: “Feigning Fairness: The Loss from a Voluntary Gender Quota in Public Service”, presented by Jiawei Lyu (University of Pittsburgh)

3:25-3:50pm: “Impact of Government Job Age Cut-off on Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates”, presented by Md Shahadath Hossain (University of Houston)

3:50-4:15pm: “Public Sector Hiring and Labor Market Flows of Indian College Graduates”, presented by Niharika Singh (University of Notre Dame)

Technology (Taper Hall 108:):

3:00-3:25pm: “Hate in the Time of Algorithms: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment on Online Behavior”, presented by Aarushi Kalra (Brown University)

3:25-3:50pm: “Fostering Social-Media Entrepreneurs”, presented by Fangzhou Lu (University of Hong Kong)

3:50-4:15pm: “Dinner at Your Door: How Delivery Platforms Affect Workers and Firms”, presented by Pascuel Plotkin (University of British Columbia)

Trade (Taper Hall 118):

3:00-3:25pm: “Environmental Policy Coordination”, presented by Xiongfei Li (Duke University)

3:25-3:50pm: “Losing Venezuela: Trade Collapse and the Performance
of Colombian Exporting Firms”, presented by Nicolas De Roux (Universidad de Los Andes)

3:50-4:15pm: “Beefing Up the Service Sector: Commodity Exports to China and Production Network Spillovers”, presented by Francesco Amodio (McGill University)