I am a PhD candidate in Economics at Fordham University. My main fields of research interests are international trade and development, applied econometrics and applied microeconomics. I am writing my dissertation on the impact of a trade policy reform on the exports from developing countries. My current research agenda is twofold. First, I aim to provide data driven impact estimates to aid the trade policy dialogue between developing and developed countries. And second, acknowledging that even the most development friendly international trade rules need to be backed by sound domestic policy reforms, I aim to investigate the role of state capacity in facilitating trade and investment.