Academic Publications

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the academic literature on refugee economic integration, examining labor market outcomes, policy interventions, and the factors that facilitate or hinder successful integration of refugees into host economies.

This paper examines the impacts of a regularization program that granted temporary economic rights to over 281,000 undocumented Venezuelan forced migrants in Colombia. The program resulted in a general reduction in crimes committed by forced migrants, while also increasing the number of domestic abuse and sex crimes female migrants reported.

This commentary examines private hosting and sponsorship as promising alternatives for refugee integration in an era of scaling back government support, discussing evidence from Germany's response to Ukrainian displacement.

This study investigates the link between Southwest U.S. border crossings and labor market tightness, measured by the job openings to unemployed ratio, over nearly 25 years (2000 to 2024). Analyzing monthly data, it finds a strong positive correlation, suggesting that increased border crossings strongly align with greater job availability.

We study the global mobility patterns of inventors using patent data, examining how inventor migration affects innovation outcomes in both origin and destination countries.

Using the Yugoslav Wars as a natural experiment, we study how returning refugees affect the export structure of their home countries through the knowledge and skills they acquired abroad.

We study whether, when, and how better connectivity through nonstop flights leads to positive innovation outcomes for firms in the global context, finding that a 10% increase in nonstop flights increases citations by 3.4% and collaborations by 1.4%.

Using the entire Colombian business registry, we characterize firms owned by foreigners (primarily Venezuelan refugees) compared to firms owned by locals, finding they are more capitalized but have similar survival rates.

This article reviews how refugees foster international trade and cross-border investment between their countries of resettlement and origin, discussing mechanisms, evidence, and policies for engaging refugee diasporas.

We study how the diversity of birthplaces in a country's population affects its economic complexity, finding that immigration-driven diversity is associated with more sophisticated export baskets.

We study the effects of Colombia's large-scale amnesty program for Venezuelan refugees on labor market outcomes, finding significant improvements in formal employment and wages for beneficiaries.

We document how migrant inventors contribute to the technological advantage of their destination countries, showing that countries gain comparative advantage in technologies where their immigrant inventors have expertise.

I study how time zone differences affect where multinational corporations locate their knowledge-intensive activities, finding that real-time collaboration needs lead firms to concentrate R&D in time-zone-proximate locations.

This paper reviews the academic literature on the economic effects of diasporas on their home countries, examining channels such as remittances, trade, investment, and knowledge transfer.

We study how countries develop new export industries, finding that cross-sector linkages and knowledge spillovers play a key role in the evolution of comparative advantage.

This paper proposes a new methodology for measuring knowledge intensity across manufacturing industries using patent and trade data.

We document that countries are more likely to become exporters of products in which their immigrant populations have expertise, providing evidence that migration is a key channel for international knowledge diffusion.

We study how Venezuelan currency devaluations affected the stock prices of multinational companies with operations in Venezuela, documenting significant negative effects on firm value.

This paper documents the existence of a 'middle productivity trap' where firms at intermediate productivity levels face particular challenges in upgrading their capabilities.

We study how resource abundance leads to export concentration through Dutch Disease mechanisms, documenting that resource-rich countries tend to have less diversified export baskets.

A review examining the origins and economic impact of Israel's technology sector, analyzing the factors that contributed to the country's emergence as a global innovation hub.

We document that countries are more likely to develop comparative advantage in products that are exported by their geographic neighbors, suggesting that proximity facilitates knowledge diffusion.