SARA HERNÁNDEZ
sara_hdz@mit.edu
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
OFFICE CONTACT INFORMATION
MIT Department of Economics
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E19-750
Cambridge, MA 02139
Mobile: 617-251-9986
sara_hdz@mit.edu
HOME CONTACT INFORMATION
440 Mass Ave, apt. 4
Cambridge, MA 02139
Mobile: 617-251-9986
http://economics.mit.edu/grad/sara_hdz
MIT PLACEMENT OFFICER
Professor Benjamin Olken
617-253-6833
DOCTORAL
STUDIES
MIT PLACEMENT ADMINISTRATOR
Ms. Beata Shuster
bshuster@mit.edu
617-324-5857
bolken@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
PhD, Economics, Expected completion June 2015
DISSERTATION: “Essays in Development Economics”
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE AND REFERENCES
Professor Esther Duflo
MIT Department of Economics
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E17-201B
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-258-7013
eduflo@mit.edu
Professor Dave Donaldson
Stanford Department of Economics
579 Serra Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6072
650 -725- 3995
ddonald@mit.edu
Professor Abhijit Banerjee
MIT Department of Economics
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E17-201A
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-253-8855
banerjee@mit.edu
PRIOR
EDUCATION
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
B.A. summa cum laude, Economics
CITIZENSHIP Spain
GENDER:
LANGUAGES
English, Spanish (native), French (intermediate)
FIELDS
Primary Fields: Development Economics
Secondary Fields: Labor Economics
2009
Female
SARA HERNÁNDEZ
OCTOBER 2014 -- PAGE 2
TEACHING
EXPERIENCE
RELEVANT
POSITIONS
FELLOWSHIPS,
HONORS, AND
AWARDS
PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES
14.03/14.003 Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy
(Undergraduate and Graduate). Teaching Assistant to
Professor Nikhil Agarwal
MIT Sloan Introductory Economics (MBA)
Lecturer
14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Undergraduate)
Teaching Assistant to Professor Jonathan Gruber
14.33 Research and Communication in Economics
(Undergraduate). Teaching Assistant to Professor Sara
Ellison
14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Undergraduate)
Lecturer
14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Undergraduate).
Teaching Assistant to Professor Jonathan Gruber
Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) Executive Course on
Evaluating Social Programs. Teaching Assistant
Research Assistant to Professor Esther Duflo
J-PAL South Asia Office
Research Assistant to Professors Esther Duflo, Pascaline
Dupas and Jon Robinson.
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Kenya. Projects:
-Nudging Farmers to Use Fertilizer: Theory and
Experimental Evidence from Kenya
-Education, HIV and Early Fertility: Experimental
Evidence from Kenya
Rafael del Pino Fellowship
Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI) for
“Contract Farming in India”
Graduate Resident Tutor for Simmons Hall (MIT
Undergraduate dorm)
La Caixa Fellowship
MISTI India Award – Institute for Financial Management
and Research (IFMR) Chennai
Exceptional Achievement in Economics Award,
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Spanish National Award in Economics (3rd Prize)
Mahindra United World College of India (UWC)
Spring 2015
Summer 2014
Fall 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2013
Fall 2012
Summer 2012
2010
2009-2010
2012 - 2014
2012 - 2013
2012 - 2013
2010 - 2012
2010
2009
2009
2003 - 2005
Northeast Universities Development Consortium Conference
(NEUDC, Boston University)
2014
Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI) Partnership Development Conference
2013
SARA HERNÁNDEZ
OCTOBER 2014 -- PAGE 3
RESEARCH
PAPERS
“Guns n’ Roses: The Impact of Female Employment on Violence in
Colombia” (Job Market Paper)
This paper investigates the impact of the dramatic growth of the fresh-cut
flower sector in Colombia, on different forms of violence, measured at the
municipality level. The empirical strategy exploits municipal variation in the
geoclimatic suitability for floriculture, together with time variation from the
sector’s growth. I show that the expansion of the sector was associated with a
reduction in unorganized violent crime (in particular homicide rate) in the
suitable municipalities, but not in any changes in participation in guerilla
warfare. In contrast, increases in coffee price are associated with a decrease in
guerilla warfare (Dube and Vargas, 2013) but, as I show in this paper, an
increase in homicide. I propose a household model where households both
participate in and indirectly consume criminal activities (organized and
unorganized) and women have different preferences than men, which can help
explaining those results.
RESEARCH IN
PROGRESS
“Street Harassment and Social Cohesion in Mexico City” with Paola Abril
Campos (Innovations for Poverty Action, Mexico), Claudia Díaz (Innovations
for Poverty Action, Mexico), Kate Falb (Yale School of Public Health), and
Jumkha Gupta (Yale School of Public Health)
This study seeks to document the frequency of street harassment and
preventive measures women take to avoid it. It explores the association
between experiences of street harassment and perceptions of social cohesion
among women currently presenting for health care at public health clinics. The
study was conducted in Mexico City, the most populous city in North
America, which has a high documented prevalence of gender-based violence
against women, ranging from 20-30% in a woman’s lifetime. Despite the
pervasiveness of gender-based violence in the city, little is known about
experiences related to street harassment. Data were drawn from a baseline
survey among women currently participating in a randomized controlled trial
in Mexico City (N=952). Current findings underscore the needs for programs
and policies to promote the safety and well being of women and addressing
community and structural-level forms of gender discrimination and violence.
“Pass Through of Quality Premiums to Small-Holder Farmers in Gujarat,
India” (with Nilesh Fernando, Reshmaan Hussam and Natalia Rigol)
This project is a randomized control trial funded by the Agricultural
Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI) that seeks to systematically identify
the barriers that small and marginal farmers, often females, face in the
production of high quality crops in India, and in turn understand what forms of
contracts can best incentivize such high quality production. Knowing how to
incorporate these farmers into the high value-added segments becomes
increasingly relevant as organized retailers replace traditional food sellers.
SARA HERNÁNDEZ
OCTOBER 2014 -- PAGE 4
This is of special relevance presently in India as the country is rapidly opening
up to massive retail supermarkets which interact primarily with large farmers,
arguably pushing out many small and marginal farmers in the process.
Understanding how to construct optimal contracts with these small farmers
that streamline the production of high quality crops can thus facilitate their
reintegration into the quickly changing landscape of Indian agricultural
economy. We finished a baseline survey across our sample of 2,200 farmers in
the Surendranagar district of Gujarat and we are currently in the process of
cleaning and analyzing the data collected.