working_papers
The Tired and The Blind: The Effect of Cognitive Load on Rule-Following Propensity and Social Norms
Masters Thesis Defense · Universidad del Rosario · October 2022
We examine the causal effect of cognitive load on rule-following propensity and social norms perception using a randomized laboratory experiment. Participants are assigned to either a low (0-back) or high (3-back) cognitive load condition via the N-back task, after which they complete a rule-following propensity task and two variants of the Krupka & Weber (2013) norm-elicitation protocol. High cognitive load reduces extreme rule-following behavior and alters the distribution of personal normative belief types, with fewer deontic subjects and a larger share of non-standard types emerging under cognitive constraint.
- High cognitive load significantly reduces extreme rule-following behavior — subjects are less likely to fully comply or fully violate the rule.
- A different composition of personal normative belief types emerges under cognitive load: fewer Deontists and more non-standard types (p = 0.042).
- No significant treatment effects on normative expectations — social norms perceived by others are stable under cognitive load.
Nothing Stops a Bullet like a Job? The Long-Term Impact of Summer Youth Employment Programs on Violent Crime
Northeastern University · 2025
Investigates the causal long-run effects of summer youth employment programs on violent crime outcomes. The paper leverages quasi-experimental variation to estimate whether short-term employment opportunities during adolescence produce durable reductions in violent crime, contributing evidence to the intersection of labor market policy and public safety.
Climate Shocks and Gender-Based Violence in Colombia
Northeastern University · Working paper · March 2026
This paper estimates the causal effect of climate shocks on gender-based violence in Colombia using a municipality-month panel for 2015–2022. Combining ERA5 climate anomalies with administrative records from the Policía Nacional and Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal, the analysis uses two-way fixed effects to study how temperature and precipitation shocks affect domestic violence reporting, sexual crimes, and homicides.
- Higher temperature anomalies significantly increase homicides, with a one-standard-deviation increase raising homicides by 0.039 per municipality-month.
- Precipitation surpluses reduce homicides, while heavy-rain days increase police-reported domestic violence complaints.
- No significant climate effect appears in INML medico-legal domestic violence records, suggesting reporting access and mobility channels matter.
Paying Teachers More, Improving Students: Evidence from Colombia's Salary Reforms
Northeastern University · First draft · March 2026
This project studies Colombia's 2022–2024 teacher salary reforms and their effects on student achievement. The paper reframes the design as a shift-share Difference-in-Differences approach, where school-level exposure depends on pre-reform teacher composition interacted with policy-driven changes in the national salary grid.
- The relevant identifying variation comes from predetermined school exposure to reform-induced salary changes, not idiosyncratic wage variation.
- The 2024 reform appears to provide the most informative non-uniform treatment intensity across schools.
- Current work focuses on rebuilding the replication pipeline and validating the exposure-based research design.
research_experience
The World Bank — Development Research Group
Research assistantship for the project Understanding Preferences for Childcare Attributes from Local Caregivers. Also served as data analyst for the SUNSET project in El Salvador — studying the causal effect of additional reading and writing training for teachers on teacher wellness and student academic outcomes.
InterAmerican Development Bank
Impact evaluation on the effect of the Venezuelan migration shock on fiscal spending in Colombian municipalities (data analysis & cleaning). Impact evaluation on electronic vouchers and their effect on tax reporting for Brazilian firms. Literature review on nudge interventions targeting civil servants in Argentina.
Princeton University
Research assistantship for the project Study of Preferences (Moral Wiggle Room) under the supervision of Mariana Blanco, Francesco Bogliacino, and Pietro Ortoleva.
International Organization for Migration
Supported the processing and analysis of digital files associated with the Comisión de la Verdad's primary sources of historical information.
Alliance for Formal and Inclusive Economy — Science Ministry
Research Coordinator, REBEL Lab.
Universidad del Rosario — Graduate School of Economics
Rosario Experimental and Behavioral Economics Lab (REBEL)
Provided research assistance on the following projects:
- · Aycinena, D., & Bogliacino, F. — "Measuring Social Norms" (Working Paper)
- · Aycinena, D., & Blanco, M. — "COVID-19 and Trust" (Working Paper)
- · Aycinena, D., & Renchtler, L. — "Social Norms and Dishonesty Across Societies" — PNAS
- · Aycinena, D., & Galarza, F. — "Social Interactions and Attitudes in a High Immigration Context" (Working Paper)
- · Aycinena, D., & Blanco, M. — "Preferencias Intertemporales y de Riesgo — Programa Hoy y Mañana BEPS" (Working Paper)
conference_presentations
"Risky Choice and Time Restrictions: An Eye-Tracker Study"
Bogotá Experimental Economics Conference (BEEC)
"Falacia de las tasas bases en una tarea no verbal"
Congreso Colombiano de Psicología
references
Diego Aycinena
Ph.D. in Economics, George Mason University
Associate Professor of Practice
University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, PA
Alicia Sasser Modestino
Ph.D. in Economics, Harvard University
Associate Professor, Department of Economics
Northeastern University — Boston, MA
Shantanu Khanna
Ph.D. in Economics, UC Irvine
Assistant Professor
Northeastern University — Boston, MA
Lelys Dinarte
Ph.D. Economics, PUC Chile
Research Economist, Human Development Team
The World Bank — Washington, DC