My research examines how biological, psychological and social factors influence decision-making, and how decisions affect welfare and economic development. My theoretical work addresses the implications of bounded rationality for welfare economics and the link between aspirations and poverty. My experimental research has focused on the effect of poverty on productivity, preferences, biases, cognitive functions and rationality. I have also studied the effect of goal setting on productivity and of unemployment benefits on labor supply. Most recently, funded by a DFID Grant, I have designed and conducted field experiments to understand the determinants of small-firm growth. In Kenya, I study the effect of mobile money on firm performance. In Indonesia, I investigate how business skills can be learned from successful peers and in Ghana how goal setting can become an effective low-cost tool to help small-businesses grow. With another ESRC-DFID grant, I am working in India on the evaluation of an intervention aimed to increase the power of marginalized parents in the schools where their children attend. Finally, with an IGC-FCDO Grant, I study how to improve bureaucrats performance in India.

More information can be found by clicking my CV.

Current positions:

2016-  Associate Professor, Tilburg University

2009 - Research Fellow, CentER.

2011 - Research Associate, CAGE, University of Warwick

2014 - Research Fellow, EBC, Tilburg University.

Previous positions:

2014- 2016 Tenured Assistant Professor, Tilburg University

2011 - 2015 Research Fellow, Netspar.

2008- 2010 Research Fellow, ESRC-DFID Grant "Chronic Poverty and Aspiration Failures"

2007-2008: Resident Tutor, University of Warwick.

2003-2004: Senior Consultant, Inter-American Development Bank Institutional Improvement Program for the Productive Sector or Less Developed Argentine Provinces.

2003-2004: Research Fellow, Research and Teaching Centre for Development Economics, Arg.

1997-2002: Analyst of Public Investment Projects, Argentine Ministry of Economy, Department of Federal Public Investment.

• 2021 -         Lecturer, Development Economics (Research Masters)
• 2015 -         Lecturer and Tutor, Development Economcis (BSc Economics), Tilburg University.
• 2010 -         Lecturer and Tutor, Microeconomics 1 (BSc Economics), Tilburg University.
• 2016 - 2021 Lecturer and Tutor, Advancing Society (BSc EBE), Tilburg University.
• 2011 - 2014 Lecturer and Tutor, Microeconomics 4 (BSc Economics), Tilburg University.
• 2009 - 2010 Lecturer and Tutor, Macroeconomics 1 (BSc Econometrics and O.R), Tilburg University.

Click here for my courses.

PhD Thesis supervisor (first job)

• Sueda Evirgen (Tilburg U.) - Currently
• Tung Nguyen (Tilburg U.) - Currently
• Julius Rüschenpöhler (Tilburg U.) (Post Doc, U.C. Bekeley)
• Victor H. Gonzalez (Tilburg U.) - (Assistant Prof, U. Viena)

Member of PhD Committee

• 2019 - Seemanti Ghosh (Glasgow University)
• 2017 - Rahel Kitessa (Tilburg U.)
• 2017 - Lucas Besters (Tilburg U.)
• 2015 - Wang Ruixin (Tilburg U.)
• 2015 - Martin Leites (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona)
• 2015 - Mequanint Biset Melesse (Wageningen University) 
• 2014 - Haki Pamuk (Tilburg U.)
• 2014 - Giovanni Giusti (Pompeu Fabra)