Carlos Schmidt-Padilla

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at both the Penn Development Research Initiative and Data Driven Discovery Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. Using applied data science methods, my primary research agenda centers on the influence of organized crime on development and institutional stability in fragile democracies, primarily in Latin America.

A second research delves into the implications of migration patterns on political and economic development, as well as the state's capability to tackle emerging challenges, including the consequences of a changing climate and healthcare inequalities. My research emphasizes the deep interconnectedness of these issues and the resulting challenges they pose for human capital development and governance.

I earned my doctorate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2021.

Here is my CV.

Publications and Forthcoming


  1. The Unintended Consequences of Deportations: Evidence from Firm Behavior in El Salvador
  2. Market Structure and Extortion: Evidence from 50,000 Extortion Payments

Working Papers


  1. Gangs, Labor Mobility, and Development
  2. Missionary Competition, Education, and Long-run Political Development: Evidence from Africa
  3. Opportunities and Entrepreneurship: Evidence on Advanced Labor Market Experience
  4. Unintended Effects of Public Infrastructure: Labor, Education, and Crime in El Salvador

Research in Progress


  1. A Safe Passage: School Patrolling, Gang Recruitment, and Education in El Salvador
  2. Mass Deportations, Economic Networks, and Firm Productivity in Guatemala
  3. Mass Incarceration and the Expansion of Gangs: Evidence from El Salvador
  4. Do Rehabilitative Prison Policies Work? Evidence from El Salvador
  5. Ni una menos: Sexual Violence in Latin America
  6. Paying Not to Kill: How Monetary Incentives Shape Police Violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  7. Reducing Human Trafficking Vulnerabilities Caused by Climate Change-Induced Migration in Bangladesh
  8. The Returned: Repatriations, Elections, and Policy Polarization in El Salvador
  9. Violence and Mental Health in Northern Central America

Teaching


As Instructor of Record:

As Teaching Assistant: