Jimena Rico-Straffon

I am an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My research lies at the intersection of environmental, labor, and development economics. I use quasi-experimental methods and geospatial analysis to study how environmental and infrastructure shocks shape economic behavior, labor markets, and inequality, drawing on granular panel data from household surveys, administrative records, and remote sensing.

One strand of my research examines how urban piped-water shortages affect labor markets, documenting heterogeneous impacts by gender and job formality. A complementary line of work evaluates the effects of forest management and land-use policies using satellite imagery and difference-in-differences methods, with findings published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Conservation Science and Practice, and Biological Conservation.

I hold a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and a B.A. in Economics from ITAM. Before pursuing my Ph.D., I worked as an economist at the Bank of Mexico, as a consultant for the World Wildlife Fund, and in the Environmental Economics and Policy Division of Mexico’s National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change.