Research

Working in Progress (both papers are in my PhD thesis)

• Slum Upgrading, Employment and Entrepreneurship

This paper studies the effects of a slum upgrading program on formal employment and entrepreneurship outcomes. Particularly, it analyzes the program implemented by São Paulo city, consisting of infrastructure work, land regularization, social work, and construction of new houses. Using a staggered difference-in-differences strategy, two types of treatment are evaluated: (i) Residents who received infrastructure work; (ii) Renewed who received a brand new house within the original land. Evidence suggests that the chance of formalizing small businesses for Renewed increases, regardless of gender, for individuals aged up to 40 years old and those with high school completed. There is also a reduction in sick leave for Renewed people.

• Slum Upgrading and Educational Outcomes

This study analyzes how the slum upgrading program impacts students’ test scores. Taking advantage of the distance rule for allocating students from public schools in São Paulo, I compare the performance of students from schools close to slums that have been upgraded with those of students from schools close to slums that have not yet received urbanization work. Using a staggered DID estimator, the results indicate that urbanization has increased the average scores of 5th-grade students in the SAEB Portuguese and Mathematics tests by 6% and 5%, respectively. Some of the possible mechanisms that explain these results were investigated. Evidence suggests that urbanization reduces teacher turnover in schools close to upgraded slums.