I am a research economist in the Human Development Team of the World Bank's Development Research Group and an affiliate at CESifo Research Network and an affiliate at the Households in Conflict Network (HiCN). My primary research fields are development economics and economics of education, with a focus on violence and crime.

Combining experimental and non-experimental approaches, one strand of my research agenda studies how educational interventions implemented in developing countries can modify at-risk youth performance, including socio-emotional skills, mental health, and violent behaviors. I also empirically analyze the interaction between crime and welfare, noting how criminal organizations usually harm countries' economic growth paths. I have built original datasets from the ground up, by combining datasets from administrative and geographic records, with primary data collected by myself. I have additional ongoing joint research projects in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Peru, Mozambique, South Sudan, and Ukraine.

I obtained my Ph.D. and Master in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and my B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) in Economics from ESEN in El Salvador, the country where I was born and raised.