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
Research
fields: Development Economics;
Gender Economics; Political Economy; Economics of Education; Behavioral Economics.
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
“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. New draft coming soon.
·
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.
*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). New draft
(March 2024).
·
Pre-registration: AsPredicted.
“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* “Can 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). CAGE Working paper, November
2023. Link to paper.
“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.
PUBLISHED AND FORTHCOMING PAPERS
“Gender and leadership
in organizations: The threat of backlash” with P. Chakraborty
(Centenary College). Forthcoming, the 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”]
“Mobilizing
parents at home and at school: An experiment on primary education in Angola”
with V. Di Maio (World Bank), S.
Leeffers (Nova University of Lisbon) and P. Vicente (Nova University of
Lisbon). Forthcoming, Economic
Development and Cultural Change. PDF.
Project website; GlobaDev
Blog post
“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”
“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.
“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.
“Corrupt Police” with K. Abbink (Monash University)
and D. Ryvkin (FSU). Games and Economic Behavior, 123: 101-119,
September 2020. Ungated 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
Gender & Development
“The long term impact of childhood abduction: Evidence
from women in Northern Uganda” with A.
Cassar (University of San Francisco), E. Kandpal (Center for Global
Development), M. Lambert (Texas A&M University) and C. Mbabazi (Makerere
University).
·
Supported by The World Bank.
·
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.
·
Pre-registration:
AER Registry.
“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.
“Healing Beyond Trauma: Assessing the Efficacy
of Cash, Coaching and Counseling Programs for victimized women in Northern
Uganda” (working title) with
A. Cassar (University of San Francisco), E. Kandpal (Center for Global
Development), M. Lambert (Texas A&M University) and C. Mbabazi (Makerere
University).
·
Supported by The World Bank and the center for Global Development (CGD).
“Inclusive
Growth in the Green Economy” with R. Robertson (TAMU Bush School) and H. Ahmad (Lahore School of
Economics).
· Supported by
the US State Department.
Economics of Education
“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.
“My department cares: Supporting college students through encouragement emails” with D. Gomez-Vasquez (Texas
A&M University).
·
Pre-registration:
AER Registry
“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.
·
Pre-registration:
AER Registry
“Unlocking
Opportunities: Facilitating Student Transfers from 2- to 4-Year Colleges
through Coaching” with Celeste
Carruthers (U Tennessee), Ishara Casellas Connors (Texas A&M) and Kalena
Cortes (Texas A&M).
· Currently
fundraising
Other Projects on Biases in
the Workplace (in the US)
“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 modes of
communication affect 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.
“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.
Political Economy
“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 December 2023