Danila Serra
Associate Professor of Economics at Texas A&M University. Experiments on corruption, gender, education. #firstgen
people.tamu.edu/~dserra/
- Our findings 20 years post conflict: Childhood trauma from conflict has lasting psychological and social effects that may be missed by standard economic measures. 📣 Child abductions are still tragically commonplace in conflicts around the worldtoday. cgdev.org/publication/ch…
- 📣What does life look like for the Ugandan women who were taken as children by the Lord Resistance Army in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, & are now adults raising families of their own? 📣 ➡️ New @CGDev blog post, on our study @alessandracassar.bsky.social @eeshani.bsky.social @mirandainez.bsky.social
- 📣What does life look like for the Ugandan women who were taken as children by the Lord Resistance Army in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, & are now adults raising families of their own? 📣 ➡️ New @CGDev blog post, on our study @alessandracassar.bsky.social @eeshani.bsky.social @mirandainez.bsky.social
- 📢 In a new paper with @alessandracassar.bsky.social @mirandainez.bsky.social Christine Mbabaze Mpyangu @danilaserra-eco.bsky.social, we study how childhood abductions cast a long shadow into adulthood among women in northern Uganda. Blog: www.cgdev.org/blog/childho... #gender #conflict #mentalhealth
- Reposted by Danila SerraApplications are OPEN for CSWEP’s 2026 CeMENT Mentoring Workshop! 🎉 Come get feedback on your research, practical advice for navigating the tenure track, and a community that will lift you up. Details & application here 👉 www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co... @aeacswep.bsky.social #EconSky
- As my sabbatical visit to BU ends, I say goodbye to all the wonderful Boston-based people who have welcome me. Ending the semester with a classic: #selfiewithsue @dynarski.bsky.social
- Reposted by Danila SerraCommunity college enrollment has been declining since 2009/10. The optimal policy response to this depends on the root of this decline. I'm thrilled @nber.org today released my working paper with Harvard PhD Joe Winkelmann titled: "Labor Market Strength and Declining Community College Enrollment"
- Reposted by Danila SerraTight labor markets in the last decade reduced US community college enrollment. Super interesting pic here showing just how countercyclical community college enrollment is (as compared to basically non-cyclical 4 year college enrollment) From @joshua-goodman.com & Winkelman new NBER WP
- Reposted by Danila SerraY’all, this CSWEP newsletter is a banger. Five women economists generously share their stories about navigating family and career. 🔥 @jialanw.bsky.social @kmpjones.bsky.social Sarah Hamersma, Kosali Simon, and Sarah Baird. It was an honor to "edit" (which mostly involved sitting back for good reads)
- CSWEP News Issue IV, "Focus on Fertility" by @caitlinmyers.bsky.social is out now. www.aeaweb.org/content/file...
- Stay tuned for follow-up, where we conduct an RCT involving vulnerable women in this area - half abducted as children - to assess the impact of: 1) cash only 2) cash+group life-skill training 3) cash+group mental health counseling W/ @eeshani.bsky.social & @mirandainez.bsky.social
- What's the long-term impact of being abducted during an armed conflict? editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conf... In Uganda, 20 years after the conflict: "Formerly abducted women still exhibit significantly higher rates of depression and perceived stress, heightened stress responses..."
- Thanks @daveevansphd.bsky.social ! The most challenging fieldwork, but such important (and sad) findings. Plugging @mirandainez.bsky.social who has done more work on men & women who were abducted as children. She studies how this childhood trauma impacts IPV later in life #econjobmarket
- What's the long-term impact of being abducted during an armed conflict? editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conf... In Uganda, 20 years after the conflict: "Formerly abducted women still exhibit significantly higher rates of depression and perceived stress, heightened stress responses..."
- Reposted by Danila SerraWhat's the long-term impact of being abducted during an armed conflict? editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conf... In Uganda, 20 years after the conflict: "Formerly abducted women still exhibit significantly higher rates of depression and perceived stress, heightened stress responses..."
- 📣Job Candidate Alert🚨 I am @mirandainez.bsky.social’s co-chair at TAMU Econ w/ @eckelc.bsky.social Her JMP is a super interesting analysis of the impacts of childhood victimization on domestic violence in adulthood, leveraging the quasi-randomness of child abductions in Uganda in 80s & 90s [1/n]
- I'm on the #EconJobMarket!🥳 My research examines how childhood trauma from violence shapes household violence in adulthood. My #EconJMP asks: How do trauma histories interact with their partners' experiences to shape intimate partner violence and violence against children? 🧵
- As many boys & girls were abducted in Uganda in the 80s and 90s but later returned, @mirandainez is able to look at how own & partner’s trauma interact in determining IPV. Through fieldwork in a very difficult setting she studies married abducted/not-abducted men & women.[2/n]
- 🚨Some of @mirandainez’s most striking findings are: 1) Women who were abducted as children are between 50 and 100% more likely to be victims of severe violence 2) Having a spouse who shares the abduction trauma mitigates the risk of severe violence Why? [3/n]
- Mechanisms? @mirandainez collected original data & conducted lab-in-the-field experiments: ‼️Poor mental health of abducted women ⬆️ victimization ‼️Low social status associated w/ abduction ⬆️ ‼️Shared history of trauma ⬆️ empathy & ⬇️ violence Interested? Interview her! (Fin)
- Reposted by Danila SerraI am excited to announce I am on the #EconJobMarket this year! 🎉 My research explores economic barriers for people with disabilities at the intersection of labor, public, and health economics. My #EconJMP examines how reliable transportation transforms outcomes for this population. 🧵1/6
- Reposted by Danila Serra📣 BUT IS IT ECONOMICS? *New at EJ* “Research Similarity and Women in Academia,” Piera Bello, Alessandra Casarico & @deboranozza.bsky.social, on role of research similarity btw applicants & selection committees for academic promotions, and the implications for gender diversity: tinyurl.com/mrd8cpkf
- Congratulations to my former student Daniel Gomez-Vasquez! Very proud advisor over here🎉🎉🎉 #econsky
- The American Society of Hispanic Economists (ASHE) is pleased to recognize Dr. Daniel Gómez-Vásquez, Assistant Professor of Economics at the College of the Holy Cross, as the recipient of the 2025 ASHE Dissertation Award. #Econsky
- Reposted by Danila SerraDo you want to learn more about @NovaSBE #PhD in #Economics and how you can pursue your doctoral studies in #DevelopmentEconomics? Do you have questions to ask? Join us online Wednesday Oct 29 | 4pm: lnkd.in/dh_XMcKX Apply here: lnkd.in/dCkjAdGc
- This was a fantastic conference that I was lucky to participate in. Thanks to @alexeble.bsky.social @ashleyywong.bsky.social and the other organizers. I learned a lot!
- Happening now here at @barnardcollege.bsky.social: the second incarnation of the Gender in the Global Economy Conference. Program attached - more updates to come!
- It’s always great when you go to a conference and find one of your “no club” members and @aeacswep.bsky.social peer mentors in the program! @tderyugina.bsky.social
- Looking forward to participating in the BIG Forum event at @biglabnd.bsky.social next month!
- The Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Forum is September 25-26 at Notre Dame. We'll have talks by @danilaserra-eco.bsky.social @deankarlan.bsky.social @tedmiguel.bsky.social @novosad.bsky.social and @taryndinkelman.bsky.social. #econsky Register now! 👇 biglab.nd.edu/news-events/...
- Reposted by Danila SerraSeeing co-authors (@amandayagan.bsky.social Bo Cowgill Jonathan Meer) IN PERSON, seeing my @aeacswep.bsky.social Mid-Career mentoring buddy (@danilaserra-eco.bsky.social) and CeMent mentee (Amanda Chuan), and all sorts of other shenanigans that won't be posted here
- Reposted by Danila SerraAnother great @nber.org summer institute has come and gone. Highlights were a great dinner with the crowd from Children/Families
- Thank you to all who replied. I got the data I needed!
- #EconSky Does anybody have DHS data for Bangladesh? Or is there a webpage where somebody managed to save previously available DHS data? Thank you for your help!
- #EconSky Does anybody have DHS data for Bangladesh? Or is there a webpage where somebody managed to save previously available DHS data? Thank you for your help!
- Reposted by Danila SerraRe-upping my advice about how to write a good title and abstract for an academic paper, appropriately called: "How to Write a Title and Abstract" Feel free to share this thread, which will focus on titles. #EconSky #AcademicSky
- Reposted by Danila SerraGreat overview by @um-psc.bsky.social of our new review in @science.org about brain gain! #EconSky #Migration
- I gave a keynote address today at the AEA CTREE conference and I used my hands A LOT! (My husband was in the audience for the first time ever, and took photographic evidence of my insane use of Italian hands!🤷♀️)
- In Palo Alto for a talk and so glad I was able to see Kalena last night (despite flight cancellations and rescheduling)
- Reposted by Danila SerraThrilled to share the cover of my upcoming book, Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women's Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours. @flatironbooks.bsky.social, Sept 23! Containing 15 years of research & my personal story. Preorder links, book talks, & newsletter here! corinnelow.com/book
- Reposted by Danila SerraThis is a great paper on a timely topic! Congrats @danielfiroozi.bsky.social!
- The one good news of the week is that @econcath.bsky.social & I were together in Lancaster as our paper “Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Models” (AEJ: Applied, 2020) reached 600 citations while we work on the follow-up study🎊 www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
- Very happy to be in London for the @GLMLIC research conference at @LSEnews, learning about ongoing projects on gender and labor markets in low income countries. @g2lmlic.bsky.social @iza.org
- Reposted by Danila SerraMississippi State Univ. is hiring a tenure-track Econ Assistant Prof w/ August start! Open field; pref. for applied micro & teaching PhD Micro I & II (Micro II this fall). Apply: MSU site & www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.php?JOE_ID=2025-01_111475768 Please repost—it's an off-cycle search. Thanks!
- Reposted by Danila SerraThis is terrible, terrible news. My heart goes out to the staff at @wilsoncenter.org and my head is spinning at how this destroys a load-bearing element of the US foreign policy ecosystem.
- Reposted by Danila SerraA new blog with Justin Sadefur on the USAID cuts. Based on a leaked list of cancelled contracts and data from foreignassistancedotgov we try to calculate how deep the cuts by country and sector. www.cgdev.org/blog/usaid-c...
- Reposted by Danila SerraAERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...
- I will be in Lancaster visiting my friend and coauthor @econcath.bsky.social on April 1-11, with a short stay in London for the @iza.org @g2lmlic.bsky.social research conference on April 7-8. I really need a break from this country.
- Reposted by Danila Serra“The world must now affirm that human lives matter, no matter where they are.” In a new op-ed, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo call for governments, multilaterals, and philanthropists to double down on investing in evidence-backed programs that improve people’s lives. www.ft.com/content/43e9...
- Looking forward!
- The spring NBER Gender meeting (theme: Women in the Digital World) is tomorrow! Program here: www.nber.org/conferences/... The conference will be live-streamed on YouTube (www.youtube.com/nbervideos)
- I really enjoyed listening to @elizabethlinos.bsky.social on Fresh Air. Highly recommended! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
- Reposted by Danila SerraDean Karlan's job at USAID was LITERALLY to improve the efficiency of its programs. DOGE is clearly not actually after cutting fraud and waste. And its actions will clearly make the US weaker while also making the world a worse place. www.npr.org/sections/goa...
- Today is a special day. My student Daniel Gomez-Vasquez defended his dissertation, and what a beautiful job he did today & in the past 4 years. He will join Holy Cross as an AP in a few months! @asheassa.bsky.social @aeacsmgep.bsky.social We will miss him @TAMUECON I’m so very proud.
- Reposted by Danila Serra
- How are the European and UK Econ job markets for a semi-senior economist (plus excellent semi-senior historian of Eastern Europe) these days? Just curious… Reading the news and witnessing what’s happening here in the US is becoming unbearable….😓
- Reposted by Danila Serra“ ‘Rule of law’ can only mean that everyone, government included, obeys it”
- Reposted by Danila Serra@harvardkennedy.bsky.social asked a few of us to comment on the first weeks of DOGE. Read the perspectives of a wide range of faculty: www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...
- Reposted by Danila SerraNEW: Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion, according to ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis, which found the sepsis rate for women hospitalized as they miscarried in the 2nd trimester shot up by more than 50%. propub.li/43487Tj
- Reposted by Danila Serra👋 Hi! J-PAL is now on Bluesky! 📊 We’re looking forward to bringing conversations on evidence-informed policy to this new space. Follow us for updates on the latest research, policy insights, and how rigorous evidence is helping shape a better world.
- Reposted by Danila SerraThread of my own work that has used data from Department of Education and columns that have focused on research funded by them 1/N Inequality in college graduation rates Uses data from Education Longitudinal Study, conducted by Department of Education www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/u...
- Reposted by Danila SerraToday!
- The @aefpweb.bsky.social #EdDev community group meets this Fri (02/14) at 11am ET! @danilaserra-eco.bsky.social & @eeemda.bsky.social will present their work. @wsandholtz.bsky.social & Ari Anisfeld will discuss. Join the community group @aefpweb.bsky.social, or contact me for the Zoom link.
- Reposted by Danila SerraLet’s learn from history! By repeating the worst of it. (Idi Amin’s expulsion of Indians also prominently featured here.) Just incredible work.
- Reposted by Danila Serra
- Reposted by Danila SerraNew org established to defend Department of Education coalition of public education advocates, educators, beneficiaries of federal education funding, and former employees of the U.S. Department of Education www.protectpubliced.org
- Reposted by Danila SerraThe @aefpweb.bsky.social #EdDev community group meets this Fri (02/14) at 11am ET! @danilaserra-eco.bsky.social & @eeemda.bsky.social will present their work. @wsandholtz.bsky.social & Ari Anisfeld will discuss. Join the community group @aefpweb.bsky.social, or contact me for the Zoom link.
- Happy #InternationalWomeninScienceDay! I’ll take over the @JPAL_Africa account on X at 10am CT to answer questions populating the AMA. Leave a question if interested in role model impacts, instagram interventions, women in leadership, role of high school counselors & More… x.com/jpal_africa/...
- 📣 I have been asked to host an AMA for JPAL on Feb 11 📣 On International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Spread the word, if of interest. Details: sites.google.com/povertyactio...
- Reposted by Danila SerraWe just released an enormous trove of US labor market data, all compiled from government surveys, now under threat The @epi.org State of Working America Data Library provides comprehensive data on the US jobs and wages, with detailed cuts by demographics, over time and across states data.epi.org
- Reposted by Danila SerraDATA RELEASE WHEN DATA FEELS SCARCE! Check out data.epi.org -a data repository with 78,000+ series on topics like employment, wages, poverty, and inequality. You can get many measures by gender, race and state! I've been working with our @epi.org team to build this and am so proud of the result
- Reposted by Danila SerraThis thread contains info on how to access Census data sets.
- Reposted by Danila SerraI’m amazed: On the foreign assistance freeze, I’m astonished not to see major State Dept and USAID recipients challenge the disruption in court. An injunction? Where is World Vision, SAVE, Red Cross, etc on this? Or the Beltway bandits (Chemonics etc) Is there activity happening?
- Reposted by Danila Serra🚨HRSA's Area Health Resources Files webpage is now down. Fortunately, I built an archive of data 2000-2023 for a previous project, which can be accessed without restriction here: data.mendeley.com/datasets/dwf...
- Reposted by Danila SerraTrump and @marcorubio 's actions to destroy the US foreign aid system is catastrophic, cruel and hurts Americans and those abroad. Foreign aid is a minuscule part of the federal budget. Each American pays about $120/year. The returns are enormous. Here's why: 1/
- Reposted by Danila SerraIncredibly important and timely work. Denial of a wanted abortion increases the likelihood of death by 2.5pp in the next nine months. Long run harms to health, educational attainment, labor force participation, and poverty, among others.
Recently accepted by #QJE, “The Impact of Being Denied a Wanted Abortion on Women and their Children,” by Londoño-Vélez (@jlondonovelez.bsky.social) and Saravia: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
- 📣Some exciting news📣 Next Fall (Sep-Dec '25) I will spend my sabbatical in Boston, visiting Boston University. I hope to connect w/ many of you in Boston of the Northeast more broadly. Happy to give a talk on topics in 1) education (mainly in US), 2) gender & devo, or 3) governance/corruption.
- Reposted by Danila SerraGeographic access to colleges shapes degree outcomes. Students in community college deserts face disparities while White students pivot to 4-year colleges and Black/Hispanic students often forgo college, from Acton, Cortes, Miller, and Morales nber.org/papers/w33337
- Reposted by Danila SerraWe've been working on this question as a behavioral research question itself: how can we make academic evidence more useful, usable, and used by policymakers? It's time to give this agenda the same rigorous attention we give to producing the evidence in the first place.
- Reposted by Danila SerraContinuing a series of Economics Nobel Laureates on @econofact.bsky.social podcast, EconoFact Chats. Claudia Goldin on women's journey to economic equality, citing I Love Lucy, Perry Mason, Father Knows Best, Mary Tyler Moore, and 50 Rock (and some statistics, too). econofact.org/podcast/care...
- Reposted by Danila SerraWow. What a fascinating new paper on women’s representation and why it matters.
- Reposted by Danila SerraPSA to job market candidates: if you didn't get a particular flyout, it may have had nothing to do with the quality of your interview. Departments have a myriad of internal constraints and goals that are unobservable to you, and the process is a lot more complex than you think.
- With my #noclub & @aeacswep.bsky.social peer mentoring group in SF #ASSA2025! These ladies are the best, always there to celebrate the wins & make the losses less painful. @laurakgee.bsky.social @olgastoddard.bsky.social @tderyugina.bsky.social Olga Shurchkov Subha Mani (not pictured)
- Reposted by Danila SerraThis month we're spotlighting EGAP work on the theme of institutions & governance. First up, Abigail Barr & @danilaserra-eco.bsky.social w/ Truman Packard investigate paths to citizen participation and accountability in Albania. Read more here: bit.ly/4iChQ8P
- Reposted by Danila SerraI just threw my keys in the garbage instead of my empty coffee cup…clearly not yet fully recovered from the fun/insanity of #ASSA2025 where I got to:
- Reposted by Danila Serra**New working paper** How does the under-representation of females in Economics affect the career trajectory of female Ph.D. students? Sahar Parsa and I look at this in a new working paper by exploring sabbatical leaves taken by female professors at top-50 US Econ departments.
- Reposted by Danila SerraWas thrilled to learn that @larsvil.bsky.social has a tutorial on reproducibility! Check it out, #EconSky. larsvilhuber.github.io/tutorial-rep...
- Reposted by Danila SerraCurious about Econ & Gender. Check out this session Sat 12:30pm at the Marker Hotel (location currently wrong in the #Assa2025 app) with work by @econprachi.bsky.social @bilgeerten.bsky.social and chaired by @olgashurchkov.bsky.social www.aeaweb.org/conference/2...,
- Reposted by Danila SerraFree Headshots - Photo Booth sponsored by the AEA available on Friday and Saturday 9 AM - 5 PM #econsky
- Reposted by Danila SerraThe AEA is having a panel for the *first time* on socoieconomic diversity in economics! w/ @johnlist.bsky.social @luciegschmidt.bsky.social @ronjarmin.bsky.social Chris Campos Jason Faberman & me & lots of time for audience discussion Please join us Saturday at (gulp) 8am
