Faculty - Silvia Prina

Assistant Professor, Economics

Ph.D., Boston University, 2007
M.A., Boston University, 2005
B.A., Universita degli Studi Milano-Bicocca, 2002

Silvia Prina received her Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University in 2007.
Prina is interested in applied microeconomics, development economics, and quantitative research methods. Her research uses both microeconomics and field experiments to study economic problems. Currently, she is working on several field experiments in Nepal, Mexico, and the U.S. In Nepal, she is studying whether participation in a simple savings account affects households’ monetary and non-monetary assets and other socio-economic characteristics. Prina is also interested in analyzing whether the introduction of a formal savings device changes the informal insurance arrangements of the poor as well as their ability to cope with unexpected shocks. In Mexico, the country with the highest obesity rates in the world after the U.S., she assesses how parents’ interest in obesity prevention/treatment and perceptions of their children’s body mass index can be influenced by the receipt of report cards with varying levels of information on their children’s weight and health.
Prina studied the impact of trade liberalization related to the agricultural products exchanged between Mexico and the U.S. due to NAFTA: specifically, on the distribution of Mexican farm incomes during the 1990s. She also examined the impact of fertility choices on income inequality and long-run mobility.

Her latest efforts focus on the impact of social programs and exposure to highly educated professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor as well as on the links between aspirations and educational attainment.

Interests

Research

Development Economics, Applied Microeconomics

Selected Publications

• Prina, S. (2013). In Hazel Johnson and Paul Mosley (Ed.), Effects of Border Price Changes on Agricultural Wages and Employment in Mexico Sheffield: Journal of International Development.
• Prina, S., Mookherjee, D., Ray, D. (2012). In Andrew Postlewaite (Ed.), A Theory of Endogenous Fertility with Occupational Choice (vol. 4, issue 4, pp. 1-34). Pittsburgh, PA : American Economic Journal - Microeconomics.
• Prina, S., Chiapa, C., Garrido, J. L. (2012). In Elchanan Cohn (Ed.), The Effect of Social Programs and Exposure to Professionals on the Educational Aspirations of the Poor (vol. 31, issue 5, pp. 778-798). Columbia, SC : Economics of Education Review.
• Prina, S. In E. Kwan Choi (Ed.), Who Benefited More from NAFTA: Small or Large Farmers? Evidence from Mexico Review of Development Economics.

Presentations

• Prina, S. (Presenter & Author) Economics Department Seminar, "Banking the Poor via Savings Accounts: Evidence from a Field Experiment", Yale University, Yale University, New Haven CT. (2013).
• Prina, S. Annual Bank Conference in Development Economics, "The Effect of Social Programs and Exposure to Professionals on the Educational Aspirations of the Poor", World Bank, Stockholm. (2010).
• Prina, S. Children and Education Spring Meeting , "The Effect of Social Programs and Exposure to Professionals on the Educational Aspirations of the Poor", NBER, Boston. (2010).

Academic and Professional Activities

• European Association of Labor Economists. 2012 - Present
• Midwest Economics Association. 2011 - Present
• Population and Poverty Research Network. 2011 - Present
• Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association. 2008 - Present
• American Economic Association. 2007 - Present
• Member, Econometric Society. 2007 - 2010

Awards

• Banamex Economic Prize, Banamex. (2011).