Fellows

Valentina Rutigliano is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Vancouver School of Economics. Her research uses administrative data to answer questions at the intersection of labor economics and corporate finance. Her recent work studies the effect of childbirth on the gender gap in entrepreneurship, investigating how family formation contributes to wealth inequality through differences in business ownership. Valentina seeks to understand how family policies can be designed to support women’s career development and address barriers in entrepreneurship.

Daniel Araujo is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on income inequality and intergenerational mobility, particularly emphasizing the dynamics of modern slavery and the long-term impacts of economic policies. Daniel has published in leading journals such as The Journal of Health Economics and The Journal of Development Economics. His work aims to understand the causes of economic disparities and inform policies promoting economic equity.

Pierre-Loup Beauregard is a PhD candidate at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia. His research centers on the complex relationship between spatial and wealth inequality. In his current work, he explores the long-term effects of childhood neighbourhoods on economic outcomes, focusing on the underlying mechanisms that drive these effects. His work relies heavily on large administrative datasets and causal inference methods. The rest of his research agenda spans topics in labour and urban economics. Before joining UBC, he studied at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Queen’s University.

Francisco Eslava is a PhD student in Economics at UBC. His research studies wealth inequality among indigenous communities, with a particular focus on the interplay between indigenous governance systems and household inequality. His dissertation investigates the critical role of land access and agricultural productivity in shaping these inequalities. Francisco’s passion for studying inequality is rooted in his upbringing in Colombia

Angel Espinoza is a PhD student in Economics at the University of British Columbia. His research interests lie at the intersection of labor economics and international trade, with a particular focus on how these fields relate to income and wealth disparities. Angel is particularly interested in conducting research with clear implications for policy making. His current research agenda includes examining the distributional effects of minimum wages and rules of origin in trade agreements, analyzing the impact of union democratization in Mexico, and exploring the effects of trade-driven robot adoption on labor markets. He is also actively engaged in volunteer work, having founded ITAM Construye, an organization in Mexico dedicated to strengthening social cohesion through community service.

Mila Markevych is a PhD candidate in Economics at UBC. Her research focuses on income inequality in the context of structural transformation. In her recent work, she examines how shifts in consumer demand influence income inequality in the era of technical change. In addition to her work on income inequality, Mila also examines gender pay gaps in the U.S. Federal Civil Service. Her work highlights the importance of female managers in shaping pay trajectories of female employees, particularly those in less routine occupations, further emphasizing the crucial role of the nature of work in pay disparities.

Diana Ricciulli is a PhD candidate in Economics at UBC. Her research examines how wealth inequality shapes tax systems and the effects of taxation on firms, workers, and housing markets. She aims to contribute to the design of tax policies that address inequality without hindering productive activity and economic growth. Diana’s interest in inequality and taxation began with her earlier work on income and regional disparities in Latin America, which continues to inform her current research.

Ratzanyel Rincón is a PhD Candidate in Economics at UBC. His research focuses on studying how labour regulations and public policy affect inequality in the labour market. His current work examines the effects of union democratization, the interaction between wage subsidies and minimum wage policies, and immigrant entrepreneurship. He is also interested in causal inference methods. Before joining the Ph.D. program at UBC, Ratzanyel worked as an economist at Banco de México. He holds a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Instituto Politécnico Nacional and an M.A. in Economics from El Colegio de México.

Doğa Aleyna Kirilmis is currently an MA student in economics at UBC. Her interests lie in understanding the differences in labour market outcomes between genders and how public policy can be utilized to achieve equality in the labour market for all. Her latest research aims to unveil the factors contributing to the gender wage gap, focusing mostly on the motherhood penalty in Canada. Doğa’s interest in achieving economic equality has been sparked mostly by her personal experiences in seeing how institutional decisions affected her loved ones. It is her hope to one day be able to contribute to policies which better the lives of those who are disadvantaged by current institutions.

Paige Cooke-Hughes is a Master’s student in Economics at UBC. She recently graduated with her Honours Bachelor of International Economics and Development from the University of Ottawa. She has gained experience conducting economic research through her studies, as well as while working at Global Affairs Canada in the Office of the Chief Economist and interning with the Centre for International Studies and Cooperation. Through these experiences, Paige has grown particularly interested in the impact of economic globalization on low-income populations around the world, and more specifically, how global agri-food supply chains can exacerbate existing inequalities.

Jerry Eiswerth is an economics Masters student at UBC. His research interests broadly include racial inequality and welfare policy. Most recently, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council funded his proposal to explore the impacts and predictors of the homelessness crisis in the Lower Mainland. Specifically, Jerry would like to understand if current government supports are addressing entry into and duration of housing instability. His other projects have included work on interethnic marriage markets in Canada with Dr. Krishna Pendakur at Simon Fraser University. Jerry is excited to explore other inequality issues in the future, and to contribute towards creating a more equitable and just world.

Vincenzo Trunfio is a Master’s student in Economics at UBC. He intends to conduct research at the intersection of inequality and political economy, focusing on modern Latin America. He has also worked on projects in the fields of trade, FDI, and development. Vincenzo’s interest in inequality is rooted in his experience growing up in Venezuela, where he witnessed how economic disparities shaped political institutions. Vincenzo aspires to contribute to our understanding of the interplay between inequality and political stability.

Ashna Zaman is an MA student in Economics at UBC. Her research focuses on addressing wealth inequality within various fields of interest including political and health economics, and more recently, within the realm of monetary policy. Her previous experience at the Bank of Canada has motivated her to investigate whether monetary policy can play a larger role in improving existing wealth inequalities and in particular, addressing the potential for unequal wealth allocations from central bank efforts to mitigate economic shocks through interest rate decisions.