Working Papers
We Don't Talk About Boys: Masculinity Norms Among Adolescents in Brazil [pdf]
Masculinity norms are socially constructed expectations around men’s behaviors. These norms include expectations that men should suppress their emotions or use violence to get respect. I measure agreement with masculinity norms among adolescent boys and girls and document that adolescents systematically overestimate their peers’ agreement with these norms. Using two field experiments in 25 schools in Rio de Janeiro, I show that a lack of communication with peers sustains the existence of these misperceptions. I provide evidence that miscalibrated expectations about interest and comfort in these discussions are a driver of the lack of communication, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.
Media: Folha de São Paulo, EconomistAs podcast, World Bank Development Impact
Masculinity Around the World, [pdf] [video summary] with Victoria Baranov, Ralph de Haas, and Pauline Grosjean
Previous version LiTS only (43 countries)
We explore how masculinity norms---attitudes and behaviors considered socially appropriate for men---shape economic behavior, health outcomes, and political preferences. To do so, we collect new evidence from nationally representative face-to-face interviews and online surveys among 87,000 individuals in 70 countries. In economics, men's adherence to dominance masculinity norms fosters greater labor supply and competitiveness, but constrains occupational choices to traditionally masculine sectors. In health, dominance masculinity norms predict greater risk taking and poorer mental health. In politics, adherence to masculinity norms predicts support for antidemocratic and antimarket strongman leadership. These patterns have sizeable implications for gender inequality. Differences in adherence to masculinity norms between men and women explain between 16% and 51% of the gender gaps in competitiveness, willingness to work longer hours, risk aversion, and support for liberal democracy.
Media: Vox CEPR Podcast
Expected Discrimination and Job Search, [pdf] with Deivis Angeli and Fernando Secco
We study how expected discrimination affects job applications and interview performance in three field experiments with 2,167 jobseekers living in favelas (urban slums) in Brazil. We focus on antifavela discrimination, which is overestimated by 87% of the jobseekers. Not asking for a home address only encourages white jobseekers to apply more often, likely because they can pass as nonfavela residents. Merely expecting interviewers to know one’s favela address (when they actually do not) reduces average job interview performance by 0.13SD (0.3SD among white jobseekers). Hence, expected discrimination can create selfreinforcing loops and change applicant pool composition.
Media: World Bank Development Impact, Nexo Políticas Públicas, Le Monde
Ayahuasca Durably Improves Wellbeing, [draft available upon request] with Patrick Francois and Matt Lowe
We partner with an ayahuasca center in Brazil to study the well-being effects of a one-evening ayahuasca treatment within a ritualized group setting. We report results from an experiment that enrolled over four hundred participants, none of whom had previous experience of ayahuasca. Relative to placebo, ayahuasca increases happiness and reduces psychological distress six months later by roughly 0.4 standard deviations. These effects are driven by participants that were distressed at baseline. Improvements in well-being are strongly positively correlated with participants' reports of the mystical nature of their trips. Participants that reported having had challenging trips still have improvements in well-being compared with placebo participants. We estimate the mental health benefits of participating in an ayahuasca ceremony to be roughly 200 times the cost of 24 USD.
Work in Progress
Masculinity Norms and their Economic Consequences, with Victoria Baranov, Ralph de Haas, and Pauline Grosjean -- in preparation for the Annual Review of Economics
Women's Cognitive Load and Labor Market Outcomes in Brazil, with Jamie McCasland (Design stage -- in partnership with the Secretariat of Planning of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro) [Project Summary]
Wage Transparency Within and Across Firms: Experimental Evidence From Brazil, with Mayara Felix and Bobby Pakzad-Hurson (Design stage -- in partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Planning) [Project Summary]
What Do People Value at Work? with Mayara Felix (Design stage) [Project Summary]
Masculinity Norms and Social Learning: Theory and Evidence, with Marcos Ross
Pre-PhD Publications (in Portuguese)
Efeitos de Tamanho da Sala no Desempenho dos Alunos: Evidências Usando Regressões Descontínuas no Brasil (with Naercio Menezes Filho). Revista Brasileira de Economia 74 (2020): 352-401.
Determinantes da Distribuição da (Des) igualdade de Gênero entre os Estados Brasileiros (with Regina Madalozzo and Adriana Bruscato). Estudos Econômicos (São Paulo) 46 (2016): 161-188.
Reports
It's Not Gender as Usual: Guiding Questions for Transformative Intersectional Gender+ Research (with Hannah Sullivan Facknitz, Isha Mathur, Elaina Nguyen, and Claire Okatch)