Danila Serra

 

Associate Professor

Texas A&M University

Department of Economics

& Bush School of Government and Public Service

Email: dserra@tamu.edu

Phone: (+1) 979-862-4412

Office: LASB 242

 

CV

Research Summary

Students

Teaching

Adopt a Paper

About Me

 

 

Research fields: Experimental and Behavioral Economics; Development Economics; Political Economy; Gender Economics; Economics of Education.

 

Education:

·       PhD in Economics, University of Oxford;

·       MSc in Economics, London School of Economics;

·       BS (laurea) in Economics and Social Sciences (DES), Bocconi University, Milan.

 

Affiliations

·       J-PAL: Faculty Affiliate.

·       EGAP: Research Member.

·       Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy: Research Fellow.

 

 

Editorial Boards:

·       2021 -         Co-editor, Economic Inquiry.

·       2020 - 2023   Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

 

 

 

WORKING PAPERS

 

 

*NEW* “Activating change: The role of information and beliefs in social activism” with F. Afridi (Indian Statistical Institute), A. Basistha (Indian Statistical Institute) and A. Dhillon (King’s College). Links to IZA wp and CAGE wp.

·       Pre-registration: AsPredicted.

 

 

“Role Models in Developing Countries.” forthcoming in for the Handbook of Experimental Development Economics, edited by Utteeyo Dasgupta and Pushkar Maitra. Edward Elgar. August 2022. Link.

 

 

Proud to belong: The impact of ethics training on police officers in Ghana” with D. Harris (University of Oxford), O. Borcan (U of East Anglia), H. Telli (International Growth Center), Bruno Schettini (Brazil Ministry of the Economy), and S. Dercon (University of Oxford). CSAE working paper. Link to paper, June 2022.

 

·        Probable Causation podcast Episode 73 (June 7, 2022)

·        Center for the Studies of African Economies (CSAE) podcast

·        The Takeaway Policy Brief, Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy.

 

 

“Influencing youths’ educational aspirations and gender attitudes through role models: Evidence from Somali schools” with E. K. Kipchumba (BRAC), C. Porter (Lancaster University) and M. Sulaiman (BRAC). February 2021. Link to paper. New draft coming soon.

 

·        VoxDev Talk with Munshi Sulaiman

·        The Takeaway Policy Brief, Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy.

·       Supported by the Spencer Foundation.

 

 

 

*NEW* “Do Crises Affect Citizen Activism? Evidence from a Pandemic” with F. Afridi (Indian Statistical Institute), A. Basistha (Indian Statistical Institute) and A. Dhillon (King’s College). Link to CAGE Working paper, November 2023.

 

 

 

PUBLISHED AND FORTHCOMING PAPERS

 

 

Gender and leadership in organizations: The threat of backlash” with P. Chakraborty (Centenary College). First draft: 2018. Accepted, Economic Journal. Link to paper.

·        Online Appendix with the instructions of the lab and online experiments.

·        Previous drafts circulated under the titles “Gender differences in top leadership roles: Does worker backlash matter?” and “Gender and leadership in organizations: Promotions, demotions and angry workers”]

 

 

 

“Can high school counselors help the economics pipeline?” with Melissa Gentry (Texas A&M) and Jonathan Meer (Texas A&M). American Economic Association P&P 113: 462-66.  Link to paper.

·        Presented at ASSA 2023: slides

·        Video recording of the presentation, as part of the CSWEP session on “Gender in the Economics Profession”

 

 

Mobilizing parents at home and at school: An experiment on primary education in Angolawith V. Di Maio (World Bank), S. Leeffers (Nova University of Lisbon) and P. Vicente (Nova University of Lisbon). Novafrica working paper 2002, February 2020. Accepted. Economic Development and Cultural Change. PDF.

·        Project website; GlobaDev Blog post

 

 

Health Workers’ Behavior, Patient Reporting and Reputational Concerns: Lab-in-the-Field Experimental Evidence from Kenya with I. Mbiti (U of Virginia). Experimental Economics, 25.2 (2022): 514-556. Ungated: PDF.

·        Instructions of the lab-in-the-field experiment here.

 

 

Corrupt Police” with K. Abbink (Monash University) and D. Ryvkin (FSU). Games and Economic Behavior, 123: 101-119, September 2020. Ungated PDF.

 

 

“Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Models” with C. Porter (Lancaster University). American Economic Journal: Applied, 12(3): 226–254. PDF. Ungated here.

·        Media Coverage: Dow Jones Moneyish, Pacific Standard, The University Network, Forbes.

·        Read about the study in the new CEPR eBook on Women and Economics.

·        Read an early summary of the study: SMU Press release.

·        Watch a short video of me talking about the study.

 

 

Motivating Whistleblowers” with J. Butler (UC Merced) and G. Spagnolo (SITE, Stockholm School of Economics). Management Science 66.2: 605-621, 2020. Available here. Ungated here: PDF.

 

 

Corruption and competition among bureaucrats: An experimental study”, with D. Ryvkin (FSU).  Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 175, July 2020, pp 439-451. PDF. Experimental instructions here.

 

 

Is more competition always better? An experimental study of extortionary corruption”, with D. Ryvkin (FSU). Economic Inquiry, 57 (1), January 2019: 50-72. PDF.

 

 

 Corruption, Social Judgment and Culture: An Experiment”, with T. Salmon (SMU). Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 142: 64-78, 2017. PDF.

 

 

I paid a bribe: An experiment on information sharing and extortionary corruption”, with D. Ryvkin (FSU) and James Tremewan (U of Vienna). European Economic Review, 94: 1-22, 2017. PDF

 

 

Participatory accountability and collective action: Experimental evidence from Albania”, with A. Barr (U of Nottingham) and T. Packard (The World Bank). European Economic Review, 68: 250–269, 2014. PDF

 

 

Intermediaries in corruption: An experiment”, with M. Drugov (Carlos III de Madrid) and J. Hamman (FSU). Experimental Economics, 17(1): 78-99, 2014. PDF.

·          Winner of the Editor’s prize for the best paper published in Experimental Economics in the year 2014.

 

 

Combining top-down and bottom-up accountability: Evidence from a bribery experiment”. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 28(3): 569-587, August 2012. Online advance access here.

 

 

Anti-corruption Policies: Lessons from the Lab”, with K. Abbink. In D. Serra and L. Wantchekon (eds.) New Advances in Experimental Research on Corruption, Research In Experimental Economics Volume 15, Bingly: Emerald Group Publishing, June 2012.

 

 

Intrinsic motivations and the non-profit health sector: Evidence from Ethiopia”, with P. Serneels (UEA) and A. Barr (U of Nottingham) Personality and Individual Differences, 51(3): 309-314. PDF.

 

 

How corruptible are you? Bribery under uncertainty”, with D. Ryvkin (FSU), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 81(2012): 466-477. PDF.

 

 

Corruption and Culture: An experimental Analysis, with A. Barr (U of Nottingham), Journal of Public Economics, 94, Issues 11-12, December 2010. PDF .

 

 

The effects of externalities and framing on bribery in a petty corruption experiment”, with A. Barr (U of Nottingham), Experimental Economics, 12 (4): 488-503, 2009. PDF.

 

 

Discovering the Real World –Health Workers’ Career Choices and Early Work Experience in Ethiopia, with P. Serneels (UEA) and M. Lindelow (World Bank), The World Bank, Washington DC.

 

 

Empirical Determinants of Corruption: A sensitivity Analysis,” Public Choice 126 (1-2), 225-256, 2006. PDF.

 

 

“The twin effects of globalization: Evidence from a sample of Indian manufacturing firms,” with F. Daveri and P. Manasse, Rivista di Politica Economica, 2010: 223-254.

 

 

 

 

EDITED VOLUME

 

 

New Advances in Experimental Research on Corruption, edited with Leonard Wantchekon (Princeton University), Emerald Group Publishing, June 2012.

 

 

WORK IN PROGRESS

 

 

The long term impact of childhood abduction trauma on women in Northern Uganda with A. Cassar (University of San Francisco), E. Kandpal (The World Bank), M. Lambert (Texas A&M University) and C. Mbabazi (Makerere University).

·       Supported by The World Bank and CDG.

·       Pre-registration: AER Registry.

 

 

“Recruiting Economics Majors: The Impact of an Information Campaign Targeted at High School Counselors” with J. Meer (Texas A&M University).

·       Supported by the CSWEP-SSRC Women in Economics and Mathematics Research Consortium.

·       Pre-registration: AER Registry.

 

 

 

“Improving the college experience: An encouragement experiment” with D. Gomez-Vasquez (Texas A&M University).

·       Pre-registration: AER Registry

 

 

 

“Women’s leadership in VSLAs” (working title), with K. Bjorvatn (Norwegian School of Economics), S. Chowdhury (University of Sydney), C. Franco (Norwegian School of Economics), and M. Sulaiman (BRAC).

·       Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

 

“Dismantling gender stereotypes in STEM careers among adolescents and their parents: Experimental evidence from Peruvian schools” with M. Agurto (Universidad de Piura) and S. Sudipta (Virginia Tech University).

·       Supported by the Consorcio de Investigation Economica y Social, Peru.

 

 

 

“From Jobs to Careers: Lifting Constraints to Women’s Career Advancement in South Asia” with R. Robertson (Texas A&M University), F. Afridi (ISI Delhi), Hamna Ahmed (Lahore School of Economics).

·       Supported by the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) G2LM program.

 

 

 

“The impact of high-quality research feedback on the academic success of junior scholars” with E. Kuka (George Washington University).

·       Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation.

·       Pre-registration: AsPredicted.

 

 

 

“Reaching for the stars? An experiment on discrimination in hiring” with D. Gomez-Vasquez (Texas A&M University) and T. Salmon (Southern Methodist University).

·       Pre-registration: AsPredicted.

 

 

 

 “Can different communication methods decrease gender bias in the workplace?” (working title), with D. Gomez-Vasquez (Texas A&M University), M. Lambert (Texas A&M University) and T. Salmon (Southern Methodist University).

·       Pre-registration: AsPredicted.

 

 

 

 

“Who self-selects into committees: The pro-social or the corrupt?” with A. Cao (TAMU) and D. Ryvkin (FSU). In the lab.

·       Pre-registration: AsPredicted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated October 2023

 

 

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