Read about Claude's work experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and interest in the economics of education

Claude Raisaro, Misum's Postdoc Fellow at the Department of Economics, joined us in the Fall 2023. Claude's research focuses on how social norms influence the functioning of markets. He is also interested in the economics of education and the redistribution effects of early childhood interventions.

 

I completed both my Bachelor's and Master's in Economics at Bocconi University. During my Master's I became interested in development economics, and looked at topics such as the economics of agriculture and sustainability, and my thesis looked at the effects of cold temperature anomalies on food security, within the context of Tajikistan. 

After graduating, I worked for a few years with the FAO as an Econometrician, within the Statistics Division. During this time I spent alot of time in the field helping with software training for improving agricultural production, within the Sub-Saharan Africa region. At this point the sustainability angle was coming up more and more in the UN Agenda, and through working in the field I experienced climate variability, and its effects first hand, giving my a solid understanding of some of the issues which need to be addressed. I then furthered my experience, through a Field Research Asssistant role in Kampala, Uganda funded jointly by Columbia University and Warwick University. Here, I focused on topics related to public economics, particularly tax authorities, with the aim of understanding who is paying and who is not, and why this is. 

I then moved to Zurich for my PhD, where I became more focused on questions at the intersection between development and behavioral economics. In particular, I used field experiments to answer questions related to social norms and sustainability topics such as transportation markets, gender discrimination, as well as, education policies. More specifically, I looked at education and equality, in the context of Peru. Having completed the PhD this last summer, I then moved here to Stockholm to start the Postdoc position with Misum.

 

I was recently on the 2023/2024 academic job market. My job market paper "Incentives Justifying Nonconformity: Experimental Evidence from Motortaxi Organizations in Uganda" focuses on whether financial incentives can be more powerful when they help justify choices that have social image costs among peers. I first show how social norms can affect the functioning of markets: pressure from peer to drive fast is strong and at odds with customers’ preferences. I then design an economic incentive for the suppliers in the transportation market that helps diminish the harmful consequences of the social norm. In particular, I show that when financial incentives offer a credible justification to defy peer norms, drivers demand the incentives much more and they driving behavior becomes safer.

I also have several other ongoing research projects:

• “The Effect of a Preschool Expansion on Early Learning Outcomes in Peru” (with S. Majerowicz)
• “Would you hire a female mechanic? Experimental evidence from motor-mechanics managers in Uganda” (with E. Macchi)
• “Fair Trade, Unfair Competition: The Effect of Reducing Sales Uncertainty on Farmers’ Production” (with F. Loiacono)
• “Rental Markets and Monitoring: Evidence from the Motortaxi Industry in Uganda”

 

Misum provides the opportunity for research freedom, as well as access to an interdisplinary environment. As academics, we tend to often only speak to those within our own disciplines, and so I welcome the opportunity to learn from others. 

 

I'm looking forward to the next two years with Misum, where I will further develop my research, and then through the job market I hope to find an Assistant Professor position, with the aim of working towards a Professorship. 

 

    

I'd also like to recommend a few podcasts...

• The “NPR” podcast, and particularly NPR's list of books and podcasts about racism
• “The visible hand“ podcast by Jordi Blanes i Vidal

The access to nature, of course, and the work-life balance that is apart of life here in Sweden.