Publications
Dust to Dust: Tracing Air Pollution’s Impact on Work Accidents
with Ismael Moreno-Martinez
Draft
Forthcoming: Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists
Presented at: SAEe 2025, 39th AIEL Conference, 24th EAERE Annual Conference, 2nd Young AERNA Day, 10th Atlantic Workshop on Energy and Environmental Economics; Early Career Workshop on the Environment, Climate Change and Disasters, 1st International Conference of the Georgian Economic Association, Microeconometrics Working Group EUI, Norges Bank, Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union
Coverage: La Fonte
Abstract
This study provides causal estimates of the effect of air pollution on workplace safety using data on the universe of work accidents reported in Spain (2010-2019). We focus on a near-worldwide natural source of air pollution: mineral dust precipitation. Our estimates reveal dust precipitation marginal effects and overall burden on workplace safety are of the same order of magnitude as those of high temperatures. Impacts are widespread, spanning most worker and accident characteristics, and consistent with dust inducing human error across diverse tasks and activities. However, we find null effects for workers at the top quintile of the wage distribution.Working Papers
Recruiting Better Teachers? Evidence from a higher Education Reform in Chile
with Sofia Sierra Vasquez
and Adriano De Falco
Draft
Submitted
Presented: 8th LEER conference, 1st CESifo/ifo Junior Workshop on the Economics of Education, EALE 2023, SAEe 2023, AIEL - Padua Workshop on the Economics of Human Capital 2024, EAYE conference 2024, 6th QMUL Economics and Finance Workshop (2024), BSE Summer Forum (2024), XVI Labour Economics Meeting, IPEW 2024, 39th AIEL Conference.
Prizes: Luis Toharia Grant for young researchers in Labour Economics
Coverage: La Fonte
Abstract
This paper analyzes the impact of a recruitment policy aimed at improving the quality of new teachers. The reform introduced a scholarship to incentivize the enrollment of high-achieving high school graduates in teacher training programs and imposed enrollment restrictions on low-achieving high school graduates. The screening device used to define achievement was the national standardized university entry exam. Using rich administrative data, we document that the reform was effective in improving the average test scores of new teachers, especially in public schools. To assess the impact of the reform on teacher quality, we construct teacher value-added (TVA) measures based on standardized test scores of their pupils. Our findings indicate that the reform led to a significant increase in the TVA of mathematics teachers, equivalent to 30\% of their standard deviation. However, it did not affect the average TVA of Spanish teachers. We provide evidence that this heterogeneity across subjects can be explained by differences in the predictive power of test scores on teacher quality. Finally, we show that the increase in average teacher quality cannot be explained solely by the higher presence of high-achieving teachers.From Free to Fee: How Emission Permit Allocation Affects Firms
with Marie Alder
and Eva Franzmeyer
Draft
Submitted
Presented at: SAEe 2025, Onzième Conférence Évaluation des Politiques Publique 2025, FIT Internal Seminar 2025, XXXVII SIEP Conference 2025, 13th IAERE Annual Conference, Departmental Seminar Utrecht University, International Conference on the Ex-post Evaluation of Emissions Trading
Abstract
This study provides new causal evidence on the firm-level effects of reducing free emission permits in emission trading systems. Using a difference-in-differences design, we exploit a reform that altered an eligibility threshold for free permit allocation. Receiving fewer free permits reduced emissions by more than 14 percent relative to firms that retained them. This reduction was accompanied by similar declines in revenue, employment, and assets. We develop a multi-product general equilibrium model that explains these patterns through a novel mechanism linking permit allocation to firms’ decisions. Firms that receive fewer free emission permits terminate their least productive product lines, increasing the market share of the remaining ones. Higher expected profits then encourage earlier adoption of an efficiency-improving technology.Work in Progress
Dust Pollution, Mortality and Healthcare Infrastructure
with Ismael Moreno-Martinez
Temperature and Learning in Chile
Policy Work
Investment Report 2023/2024: Transforming for Competitiveness, European Investment Bank, Chapter 5
A positive trade-off: Emissions reduction and costs under Phase IV of the Emissions Trading System
with Jan Eric Hagendorn and Fotios Kalantzis
EIB Working Paper 2024/05