iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This is a really cool study. Check it out www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... and Joan's website joanjmartinez.com #EconTwitter #EconSky

sciencedirect.com

010

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

One year with a math teacher 1 SD more stereotyped than average raises boys' on-time graduation by 0.9 pp and lowers girls' by 0.6 pp. In the 5 yrs after high school (ages 17–22), it raises boys’ formal employment by 4%–12% and widens the gender pay gap by 11% in the first 2 yrs

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The paper measures this grading gap for each teacher using blind vs teacher grades validated against their Implicit Association Test (IAT) scores.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

New in the JDE: Joan Martínez follows 1.6M Peruvian students from age 12 to 22 to study how teachers' gender bias in grading affects outcomes. Some math teachers' grades favor boys more. A year with such a teacher widens the gender gap in formal jobs and pay🧵

171

Reposted by Mauricio Romero

VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

🆕 Does private preschool really give children a head start? Today on VoxDev, Petter Berg (Watson School at Brown), Mauricio Romero (ITAM) & Abhijeet Singh (Stockholm School of Economics) discuss private preschool advantage in rural India: ow.ly/7tHz50ZuE2v

ow.ly

Does private preschool really give children a head start?

In rural India, children in private preschools learn far more than those in public ones. Unequal access to private preschools explains most of the learning gap between richer and poorer children at school entry.

022

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Why it matters: proxy reporting doesn't distort men and women evenly. For example, with both self- and proxy reports, the measured gender wage gap is 12.8%; self-reports only, 16.0%. Proxy reporting understates the measured gap by 25%. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

000

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

At least two reasons. Composition: men cluster at the top, where proxy understatement is largest. And income hiding: married men report 2.7% lower earnings with a spouse present than alone.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

What does proxy reporting do to reported earnings? Men's monthly earnings come in 7.2% lower when a proxy reports them; women's only 1.8%. Why the gender difference?

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The identification uses ENOE, Mexico's rotating labor force panel (2005–2019). The same salaried worker appears across waves, sometimes self-reporting, sometimes with a proxy filling in. That within-worker switch isolates the reporting effect.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The latest paper I accepted at the JDE: many surveys let another household member report a worker's earnings when the worker isn't home. @ricardoestradam.bsky.social , Goyheix & @marialombardi.bsky.social measure what that proxy reporting does. 🧵

155

Reposted by Mauricio Romero

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 26/06/2026

🗣️ Published today in @aeajournals.bsky.social. Ethan Lewis and I use a visa lottery, as a nationwide randomized experiment, to test the effects of foreign labor on US firms and workers. doi.org/10.1257/app.... A concise summary from @nber.org —> www.nber.org/digest/20221...

Abstract:
US firms hiring foreign workers in low-skill nonfarm jobs face a binding quota on the "H-2B" visa, allocated in part through a randomized lottery. We evaluate the quota's marginal impact using the lottery, a novel firm survey, and a pre-analysis plan. Firms exogenously employing more H-2B workers in low-skill jobs increase production (elasticity 0.20–0.22), investment (1.5–2.1), and profits (0.15). The elasticity of substitution between H-2B and US workers is very low (0.8–2.2). Thus, the effect on US employment is zero or positive overall, and positive in rural areas. Forensic analysis suggests similarly low substitutability of black-market labor.

116968

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

🚨 Final hours — submissions close TONIGHT, 23:59 MX (UTC−6). BREAD / ITAM / CAF Conference on Development Economics. Any topic in dev econ; presenter travel covered. Submit now: bread-mexico-2026.github.io#submit #DevEcon #EconSky

bread-mexico-2026.github.io

BREAD Mexico 2026 — Conference on Development Economics

ITAM, Mexico City · October 23–24, 2026. Submission deadline: June 19, 2026.

000

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

⏰ Deadline tomorrow — BREAD / ITAM / CAF Conference on Development Economics. 🗓️ Fri Jun 19, 23:59 MX (UTC−6). No extensions. ✈️ Presenter travel covered · any topic in dev econ. Submit: bread-mexico-2026.github.io#submit #DevEcon #EconSky

bread-mexico-2026.github.io

BREAD Mexico 2026 — Conference on Development Economics

ITAM, Mexico City · October 23–24, 2026. Submission deadline: June 19, 2026.

010

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

⏳ 3 days left to submit to the BREAD / ITAM / CAF Conference on Development Economics. 📅 Oct 23–24 · Mexico City 🗓️ Deadline Fri Jun 19, 23:59 MX (UTC−6) ✈️ Presenter travel covered Submit: bread-mexico-2026.github.io#submit #DevEcon #EconSky

bread-mexico-2026.github.io

BREAD Mexico 2026 — Conference on Development Economics

ITAM, Mexico City · October 23–24, 2026. Submission deadline: June 19, 2026.

033

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

More details in the paper: Novella, Freund & Rosas-Shady, "Digital Skills for Better Jobs: Experimental Evidence from a Bootcamp Training Program in Peru," Journal of Development Economics. sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Digital Skills for Better Jobs: Experimental Evidence from a Bootcamp Training Program in Peru

We evaluate the impacts of an online digital skills bootcamp for youth in Peru. Using a randomized experiment and combining administrative records on …

000

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This is one of the first RCTs on an online digital bootcamp for less-skilled unemployed youth in a developing country, and one of the few RCTs of fully online job training. Really high quality data: Admin payroll plus survey data trace who moves into formal vs informal work.

110

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The null hides sharp track gaps. Data Analytics raises formal employment 8.4 pp and monthly income ~$51; Mobile & Game Dev is null to negative on every outcome.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The average ITT on formal employment is +0.5 pp, indistinguishable from zero (control mean 28%). Income too. But entry-level tech employment rises 1.5 pp two years out, an 88% jump off a 1.7% base, in admin payroll records.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Jóvenes Bicentenario, run by Peru's Ministry of Labor under an IDB project, offered ~400 hours of free online digital training to unemployed youth. Applicants chose one of four tracks — web, mobile & game, data analytics, or digital marketing.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

New in JDE: @rnovella.bsky.social , @richardfreund.bsky.social & Rosas-Shady run an RCT in Peru of an online digital-skills bootcamp (N=1,766). The average effect on formal employment and income is null, but there is occupational upgrading. More below.

133

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I'm going to try to make a thread on every paper I accept while serving at the JDE. I just accepted my first paper, so here it comes...

172

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

🤝 Call for BREAD mentors: BREAD fellows and affiliates interested in mentoring an LAC junior researcher — sign up by July 15, 2026 at mtromero@itam.mx 📚 Selected papers will be invited to a Virtual Special Issue at the Journal of Development Economics.

020

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Organizing Committee includes @marcogn.bsky.social .bsky.social, @thomasfujiwara.bsky.social ujiwara.bsky.social, Imran Rasul, Micaela Sviatschi, Miguel Urquiola, @ricardoestradam.bsky.social, Claudio Ferraz, Verónica Frisancho, Paulina Oliva, and Miguel Urquiola 🔗 bread-mexico-2026.github.io

120

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

A special feature: a mentoring program for junior researchers based in Latin America & the Caribbean (PhD students or ≤7 yrs past PhD). Those interested may submit a full paper, an extended abstract, a research design, or a pre-analysis plan.

110

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

We invite submissions on any topic in development economics — from BREAD and non-BREAD researchers alike. The conference features advanced-stage research by senior/junior researchers, plus early-stage research by junior researchers.

110

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

📣 Call for Papers — BREAD / @ITAM_mx / @AgendaCAF Conference on Development Economics 🇲🇽 ITAM, Mexico City 📅 Oct 23–24, 2026 🗓️ Submission deadline: June 19, 2026 Submit: bread-mexico-2026.github.io#submit 🧵👇

bread-mexico-2026.github.io

BREAD Mexico 2026 — Conference on Development Economics

ITAM, Mexico City · October 23–24, 2026. Submission deadline: June 19, 2026.

144

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Full paper here: doi.org/10.1086/739022 Also, keep an eye out for a follow-up project with Eric Edmonds, Martina Jakob, and Carla Coccia (in partnership with @poverty-action.bsky.social), testing mentoring and information to prevent dropout in Guatemala.

doi.org

Preventing School Dropout at Scale: Experimental Evidence from Guatemala | Journal of Labor Economics: Vol 0, No ja

000

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

To sum up: a gov’t-led, ultra low-cost program (USD 2–3/student) reduced dropout at the critical 6th→7th grade transition by 1.2pp (~3%). Effects faded after 2 yrs, highlighting both the promise of these types of intervention to prevent dropout & the need for follow-up support.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Indeed, in 2019, the Ministry rolled out the guide nationwide; cohort differences vanished thereafter, consistent with this.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Despite fadeout, ENTRE is very cost-effective: ~0.64 years of schooling gained per USD 100, far above CCTs/scholarships (0.01–0.17). It has a ~27% IRR and a cost–benefit ratio of 7–17. At <$3/student, ENTRE is affordable within the national education budget.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

ENTRE was designed for scale: led by Guatemala’s Ministry of Education using existing staff, costing only USD 2–3 per student. This gov’t ownership reduced the risk of ‘fade out’ often seen when NGO pilots expand. (See "experiment at scale" by @karthik-econ.bsky.social Paul Niehaus)

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Qualitative data revealed 3 takeaways: (1) ENTRE signaled dropout prevention as a gov’t priority, motivating teachers; (2) the guide gave concrete tools & legitimacy to act; (3) deep barriers (e.g., poverty, social norms, scarce scholarships) remained, limiting long-run impact.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Admin data let us see longer-term: ENTRE boosted 6th→7th grade transition in 2019, but by 2020–22 gains vanished. Many later dropped out, likely due to a lack of follow-up support in secondary (and other structural factors)

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

We use admin data to track student enrollment for several years. What do we find? Dropout decreases by ~1.2 pp from a 34% base (≈−3.3%). Effects similar across arms; lists and nudges add ~0 beyond training+guide.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

These 4,000 schools were randomly split: • 1,000 got training + guide • 1,000 got training + guide + risk list • 1,000 got training + guide + risk list + nudges • 1,000 were controls. Schools were spread nationwide, making this one of the largest dropout-prevention RCTs.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

We evaluated ENTRE in 4,000 Guatemalan schools (from 6,080 eligible, ~44% of all 6th graders). Eligibility required enough secondary school supply, excluded the smallest primaries, and only included schools with some predicted at-risk students.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Finally, some principals received 5 monthly nudges (via the ministry’s portal) to keep dropout top of mind.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Some schools also received a list of 6th-graders at highest risk of dropping out, predicted using sex, age, GPA, grade repetition & school history. The model identified 82% of future dropouts (See doi.org/10.1080/0964... for more details on the predictive model)

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

The core of ENTRE is a half-day training + a practical guide for principals & 6th-grade teachers. The guide offered simple, low-cost strategies: motivate students, help with scholarship information, provide remedial support, engage families, and ease enrollment logistics.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

In 2017, Guatemala’s gov’t & World Bank launched ENTRE, a low-cost early warning system to cut dropout in the 6th→7th transition. It trains principals/teachers, flags at-risk students, and uses behavioral nudges to address knowledge gaps, data deficiencies, and prioritization issues

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Guatemala’s dropout crisis is rooted in deep structural problems: >50% live in poverty, 6th globally in malnutrition, and secondary schools are scarce & urban-biased. While fixing these takes time, we test a low-cost, scalable intervention to reduce dropout now.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

For context: Globally, primary enrollment is near universal, but secondary is not; many drop out in the transition. In Guatemala, 1 in 3 students leave school, moving from 6th→7th grade. Because most schools offer only primary or secondary, switching schools raises dropout risk.

100

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Officially forthcoming at @jlaborecon.bsky.social, our new paper with Melissa Adelman, Francisco Haimovich, and Emmanuel Vazquez on the results from a large experiment with 4,000 schools on how to reduce dropout between primary and secondary schools in Guatemala. Short 🧵below #EconSky

110

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Note that our colleagues in the Business School are also hiring. It’s a fantastic, young department pushing frontier research with strong links to the Econ Department. Great people+ great energy: econjobmarket.org/positions/11... #econsky #econjobmarket

econjobmarket.org

EJM - Econ Job Market

020

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

I have such data for mexico... Not sure if you want it for the US or just generally speaking

110

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

We (Econ at ITAM) are hiring:econjobmarket.org/positions/11841 Pay is competitive with the US (in absolute terms), working language is English, virtually no service work, spend ~80% of your time in research, and you get to live in one of the coolest cities in the world. #econsky

063

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

This is part of a larger agenda studying ECE in India.Expect more soon 🙂 +check out @petterberg.bsky.social, he is on the market and is fantastic;he was the driving force behind this paper: sites.google.com/view/petterb... His JMP focuses on the long-run effects of outsourced schools in Sweden.

sites.google.com

Home

Petter Berg

010