Publications
On the Short-term Impact of Pollution: The Effect of PM 2.5 on ER Visits
with Evangelina Dardati and Eugenio Giolito
Health Economics, 2024
Abstract
Publication
Working paper
In this paper, we study the short-term effect of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) exposure on respiratory emergency room (ER) visits in Chile, a middle-income country with high levels of air pollution. To instrument for PM 2.5, we use wind speed at different altitudes (pressure levels). Unlike previous papers, our data allow us to study the impact of high pollution levels across all age groups. We find that a 1 μg per cubic meter (μg/m3) increase in PM 2.5 exposure for 1 day increases ER visits for respiratory illness by 0.36 percent. The effect is positive and significant for all age groups. Furthermore, the coefficients on government environmental alerts suggest that avoidance behavior becomes increasingly significant across all age groups as restrictions become more severe.
Multidimensional Innovation Responses and Foreign Competition
with Carlos J. Ponce and Flavia Roldán
Industrial and Corporate Change, 2022
Abstract
Publication
Working paper
Supplement
The dramatic increase in China's exports after its accession to the World Trade Organization offers a window of opportunity for learning the innovative behavior of firms under competitive distress. Using manufacturing firm-level data, we quantify the effects of foreign competition on innovation in Uruguay. Our estimates show that a higher level of foreign competition reduces innovation inputs (acquisition of new machines, equipment, and software) and outputs (process and product innovations). These adverse effects are larger for firms in business groups and smaller for more productive firms and firms with more skilled labor.
A Demand-Smoothing Incentive for Cesarean Deliveries
with Eugenio Giolito
Journal of Health Economics, 2021
Abstract
Publication
Working paper
Supplement
We study the demand-smoothing incentives for private hospitals to perform c-sections. First, we show that a policy change in Chile that increased delivery at private hospitals by reducing the out-of-pocket cost for women with public insurance increased the probability of a c-section by 8.6 percentage points despite private hospitals receiving the same price for a vaginal or cesarean delivery. Second, to understand hospitals’ incentives to perform c-sections, we present a model of hospital decisions about the mode of delivery without price incentives. The model predicts that, because c-sections can be scheduled, a higher c-section rate increases total deliveries, compensating the forgone higher margin of vaginal deliveries. Finally, we provide evidence consistent with the demand-smoothing mechanism: hospitals with higher c-section rates are more likely to reschedule deliveries when they expect a high-demand week.
Employment and Innovation: Firm Level Evidence from Argentina
with David Giuliodori and Rodolfo Stucchi
Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 2015
Abstract
Publication
Working paper
This article provides evidence about the effect of innovation on employment in Argentina in the period 1998–2001. In particular, we quantify the effect of process and product innovations on employment growth and the skill composition. Our results show that: (1) Product innovations have a positive effect on employment growth biased toward skill labor; (2) Process innovations do not affect employment growth or composition; (3) There are no heterogeneous effects in technology intensity and size; (4) Most of the contraction in employment in this period was explained by noninnovators.
Industry Equilibrium with Open Source and Proprietary Firms
with Gastón Llanes
International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2013
Abstract
Publication
Working paper
We present a model of industry equilibrium to study the coexistence of open-source and proprietary firms. Two novel aspects of the model are (i) participation in open source arises as the optimal decision of profit-maximizing firms, and (ii) open-source and proprietary firms may (or may not) coexist in equilibrium. Firms decide their type and investment in R&D, and sell packages composed of a primary good and a complementary private good. Open-source firms share their technological advances on the primary good, whereas proprietary firms keep their innovations private. The main contribution of the paper is to determine conditions under which open-source and proprietary firms coexist in equilibrium. Interestingly, this equilibrium is characterized by an asymmetric market structure, with few large proprietary firms and many small open-source firms. We also study the limiting economy and present conditions under which large numbers favor cooperation in R&D.
Working papers
Hospital Choice, C-Sections, and Long-Term Maternal Health
with Eugenio Giolito
Revise and resubmit, Journal of Health Economics
Abstract
Working paper
We study the causal effect of delivering in a private rather than a public hospital on maternal outcomes in Chile. We exploit a 2003 copayment reduction that expanded access to private hospitals for women insured by the public system as an instrument for private delivery. Combining administrative birth records with hospital discharge data, we estimate an IV difference-in-differences model that follows mothers for up to fifteen years after the first birth. Private hospital delivery improves short-term outcomes, reducing prolonged hospitalizations and 30-day readmissions. These gains are offset by worse long-term outcomes: women induced to deliver in private hospitals face higher risks of repeat C-sections, cesarean-scar complications, and hysterectomy, with no effects on subsequent fertility. The results highlight a trade-off between short-run improvements in observable outcomes and long-run maternal health risks generated by organizational practices that encourage planned cesarean delivery.
Work in progress
Bank Lending and Unconventional Policies in Emerging Markets
with Miguel Acosta-Henao and Andrés Martínez-Arancibia
Risk-Shifting Incentives Under Government Credit Guarantees
with Cristián Sánchez
Policy work
Effect of Credit on Firms' Performance
with Brian Pustilnik and Cristián Sánchez
Discussion Notes N°7, Central Bank of Chile, 2025
Publication
Estimating the Determinants of Commercial Credit Growth: Evidence for Chile (in Spanish)
with Sofía Bauducco, Juan Guerra-Salas, and Valeria Ulloa
Minuta cited in Box I.3, Monetary Policy Report, Central Bank of Chile, 2024
Resting papers
Competition Between Single-Market and Multimarket Banks: Evidence from the U.S. Banking Industry
Abstract
Working paper
This paper estimates a dynamic model of local entry for the U.S. banking industry which considers two types of competitors: Single-market and Multimarket banks. Banking deregulation started a process were Single-market banks, once a majority heavily protected by both intrastate and interstate laws are being continuously replaced by multimarket banks. The econometric model allows for differences between single-market and multimarket banks in competitive effects, sell-off values, and sunk costs of entry. The contribution of the paper is twofold. First, it discusses the coexistence of firms with such a different geographic scope in an industry. Second, it provides evidence of the viability of single-market banks in the U.S. banking industry. Results suggest that single-market banks have profit advantages over multimarket banks, but single-market banks pay a sunk cost of entry which is 25 percent higher. These higher barriers to entry can be linked to start-up costs, advertisement, and hiring costs for management positions.