DIANA MOREIRA

Assistant Professor of Economics, University of California, Davis


Bio

Contact

Teaching and Advising

Publications

Working Papers

Work in Progress

Media Coverage and Policy Work

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Bio

I’m an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis, Department of Economics. I’m also a Faculty Affiliate at the NBER Political Economy Program and Development Economics Program, at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development BREAD and at the Center for Effective Global Action CEGA, an Invited Researcher for JPAL and Weiss Family Fund, and a Lemann Fellow.

My current research focus is in the field of Development Economics, in particular, its intersection with Public, Political and Organizational Economics. As a researcher, I’m interested in two topics, poor governance in governments and social mobility, both of which I study in the developing economies context. You can find here a short research statement. My research has been published in the American Economic Review, in the Journal of Public Economics and has been featured in leading Brazilian media outlets.

I earned a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University. In the past, I worked in the World Bank at Washington DC supporting countries in the Latin America and Caribbean Region and countries in the South Asia Region.

Curriculum Vitae link (Updated Aug 2024) Google Scholar link


Contact

Email: dsmoreira@ucdavis.edu
Tel: +1 (530) 754-1553
Address:
Department of Economics
1140 SSH building, University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
U.S.A.


Teaching and Advising

Teaching
ECN 290: Development As Effective Governments
ECN 102: Analysis of Economic Data

Office Hours
If you are a current undergraduate student, please check the syllabus for updated OH

If you are a PhD student please sign up here: https://koalendar.com/e/phdoh


Publications

Civil Service Exams and Organizational Performance: Evidence from the Pendleton Act

(with Santiago Pérez)

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics Vol. 16(3): 250–291, July 2024

Abstract (click to expand)

Ungated link

Bureaucracy

(with Erika Deserrano, Eduardo Teso and Guo Xu)

VoxDevLit, 8.1, September 2023

Abstract (click to expand)

Ungated link

Political Turnover, Bureaucratic Turnover and The Quality of Public Services

(with Mitra Akhtari and Laura Trucco)

American Economic Review, Vol. 112, no. 2: 442–93, February 2022

Abstract (click to expand)

Ungated link

Reply to Replication of AMT (2022)

How Research Affects Policy: Experimental Evidence from 2,150 Brazilian Municipalities

(with Jonas Hjort, Gautam Rao, and Juan Santini)

American Economic Review, Vol.111, No. 5, May 2021

Abstract (click to expand)

Ungated link

Corrupting Learning: Evidence from Missing Federal Education Funds in Brazil

(with Claudio Ferraz and Frederico Finan)

Journal of Public Economics, October 2012

Abstract (click to expand)

Ungated link

The Performance of Brazil in the WTO's Dispute Resolution System

(with Emanuel Ornelas)

EconomiA, Aug 2008

Abstract (click to expand)


Working Papers

Who Benefits from Meritocracy?

(with Santiago Pérez)

submitted

Abstract (click to expand)

Success Spills Over: How Awards Affect Winners and Peers Performance in Brazil

Previously circulated as: Recognizing Performance

Abstract (click to expand)


Work in Progress

State Paralysis: The Impacts of Compliance Uncertainty on Government Effectiveness

(with Gustavo Fernandes, Socorro Martinez, Joana Naritomi, and Blenda Leite)

Funding from TAXDEV Research Fund - IFS, UC Davis Global Affairs Seed Grant, UC Davis Public Impact Research Initiative

Strengthening State Capabilities and Missing Entrepreneurs: Evidence from Brazil

(with Thiago de Lucena)

Top Math Talent: Gaps and Barriers in Career Trajectories in Brazil

(with Fernanda Estevan)

Funding from USAid DIV

Top Math Talent: Tackling Underepresentation through a Motivational Video at Scale

(with Fernanda Estevan, Richard Sedlmayr and Patricia Fearon)

Funding from USAid DIV


Media Coverage and Policy Work

Policy Work

Connecting Research to Municipal Administrations: Introduction with Juan Santini. To be published December 2021. Full Chapter to be released in book “What Informs Federal Public Policies: The Use of Evidence by the Brazilian Federal Bureaucracy” organized by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA)

Caderno Vozes da Classe Média: Classe Média e Emprego Assalariado Published 2012.

Opinion, Interviews and Roundtable Discussion

In English: Podcast: The Visible Hand, 2022

In Portuguese: Podcast: das EconomistAs, 2024 ; Podcast: Esquina das Ideias, 2021 ; Roundtable moderated by Diana Coutinho ENAP at gLOCAL Evaluation Week

Media Coverage by Research Paper

“How Research Affects Policy: Experimental Evidence from 2,150 Brazilian Municipalities” Audio and Video: [VoxDev] In print: [NPR - Planet Money] [LiveMint] [El Comercio] [Folha de Sao Paulo] [Nexo Jornal] [Folha de Sao Paulo] Write-up: [JPAL-Global] [JPAL-LAC-Nexo] [Foco Economico]

“Success Spills Over: How Awards Affect Winners and Peers Performance in Brazil” Audio and Video: [UChicago - Social Interaction and Education Conference] In print: [O Globo]

“Political Turnover, Bureaucratic Turnover and The Quality of Public Services” In print: [O Globo]

“Corrupting Learning: Evidence from Missing Federal Education Funds in Brazil” In print: [World Development Report Governance and Law] [Estado de Sao Paulo] [Veja]