Experience

Analysis Group, Associate, 2022-2025

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Instructor / Teaching Assistant, 2016-2022.

Fondo Latino Americano de Reservas, Senior Economist / Junior Economist, 2011-2015.

Universidad del Rosario, Lecturer / Research Assistant, 2009-2015.

Banco de la República, Intern,  2008-2009.

Research

Parking's Irritating Externality: The Congestion Cost of Cruising

Abstract: This paper uses a novel block-by-block panel data set of the price and location of garages and curbside parking to map and assess the congestion cost of on-street parking in New York City. For the average 9-to-5 car commuter, the difference-in-differences estimates show a 10% increase in travel time due to delays caused by other drivers parking on-street. Simulations based on the theoretical model show that: (i) 43% of the free on-street parking consumer surplus is eroded by self-generated congestion externalities, (ii) most drivers have a significant incentive to cruise for parking, especially in congested locations (Manhattan south of 96th street).

Assessing Walkability Through Parking Prices

Abstract: This paper uses data on the price and location of garages to build a market-driven measure of walkability for New York City and Chicago. The measurement is based on the idea that the cost of walking is embedded in parking prices—drivers park close to their destination to minimize their walk. The paper lays out and estimates a theoretical model of price competition between garage operators that explains the dynamic between parking prices and walking costs. I use the model and estimated parameters to isolate the cost of walking from garage prices. Based on the estimated cost of walking, I calculate a Walkability Index that uses data on the location characteristics of all census tracts in New York City and Chicago. The Index combines several elements that affect people's willingness to walk according to the existing literature. The final output shows a strong correlation with the proportion of non-car commuters and other measures of walkability.

Crowning the Metropolis: Skylines, Land Values, and Urban Population  (with  David Albouy and Minchul Shin)

Abstract:  In the U.S., the height of cities' tallest buildings is strongly correlated with their greater metropolitan area's population. This is explained through land prices, which rise proportionally with population and income in a monocentric city model while decreasing proportionally with the arc a city can expand. These prices, in turn, raise building heights less than proportionally through a production function for skyscrapers, mitigated by construction costs and land-use regulations. Using a system of recursive simultaneous equations, we endogenize income with agglomeration economies and test these economic relationships, providing a novel and intrinsically interesting instrumental variables framework for skyscraper heights.

Other Work

A General Equilibrium Analysis of Bank Debit Taxes

Collateralized assets prices and monetary policy

El sistema crediticio, la política monetaria y un posible origen de ciclos y crisis financieras (with Carlos E. Posada y Jorge Tamayo)

Una caja de herramientas para incluirla política fiscal en los modelosde DSGE

Interactive Data Visualizations

Teaching

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• International Economics, Undergraduate  (Instructor)  Syllabus

• Economic Statistics II, Undergraduate  (Teaching Assistant)

Universidad del Rosario

• Macroeconomía I (lecturer)

• Macroeconomía II (lecturer)

• Macroeconomía III (lecturer)