Welcome
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Economics Department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and I am also affiliated at the Barcelona GSE. I received my PhD in Economics from Universitat de Barcelona in October 2014, and I hold a MSc in Economics from University College of London.
My doctoral dissertation, Essays on the Political Economy of Local Corruption, analyses the effects of information on corruption on citizens’ electoral behaviour and the media coverage of those scandals. I examine if some elements that define advanced democratic institutions - free elections, an independent judiciary, and press freedom - act as the channels through which democracies accomplish lower levels of corruption. I find that citizens penalize corruption if they are aware about it. However media outlets give a biased coverage of scandals, responding to political motives rather than a watchdog role on politicians’ behaviour. Thus, media fails on providing citizens the information they need to keep politicians accountable.
My most recent research focuses on how media may bias coverage of scandals depending on the political party of the incumbent involved. To conduct this research, news reports on corruption are coded according to tone - hostile, neutral, or defensive - using automated text analysis.
I conducted other research projects between 2010 and 2013 when I worked as a Research Fellow at the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
My doctoral dissertation, Essays on the Political Economy of Local Corruption, analyses the effects of information on corruption on citizens’ electoral behaviour and the media coverage of those scandals. I examine if some elements that define advanced democratic institutions - free elections, an independent judiciary, and press freedom - act as the channels through which democracies accomplish lower levels of corruption. I find that citizens penalize corruption if they are aware about it. However media outlets give a biased coverage of scandals, responding to political motives rather than a watchdog role on politicians’ behaviour. Thus, media fails on providing citizens the information they need to keep politicians accountable.
My most recent research focuses on how media may bias coverage of scandals depending on the political party of the incumbent involved. To conduct this research, news reports on corruption are coded according to tone - hostile, neutral, or defensive - using automated text analysis.
I conducted other research projects between 2010 and 2013 when I worked as a Research Fellow at the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
