Bio
I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at Northwestern University.
My research interests are in Development, Public, and Environmental Economics.
Curriculum Vitae
Email: ddecet@u.northwestern.edu
Working Papers
World Bank Public Institutions Conference Best Paper Award, 2025
Abstract: Which tax administration reforms can improve fiscal capacity in developing countries? This paper evaluates a reform of the Brazilian tax authority that centralized the structure of local tax offices, closing some offices and expanding others. Leveraging regional variation in the reform, I employ a matched difference-in-differences strategy to document how a more centralized structure affects fiscal capacity. I obtain three main findings. First, tax revenues decline in areas previously served by an office that was shut down but increase in areas served by an expanded office; the net effect is an increase in revenues in centralized regions. Second, one reason for the decline in revenues is that increased distance between tax offices and the areas they oversee reduces tax agents' ability to visit these places and gather local information. Third, one reason for the rise in revenues is that the reform has improved the allocation of resources by enabling the tax authority to focus staff effort on high-revenue potential areas and to give talented managers a larger span of control. These findings suggest that centralization can increase overall revenues but exacerbate regional inequality in tax enforcement.
(with Andrea Marcucci )
Abstract : We study the relationship between access to water resources and local violence in Africa. Due to limited irrigation, rural communities rely on rainfall, rivers, and lakes for their economic needs. Rainfall scarcity can make access to water from rivers and lakes more valuable, thereby generating conflicts in rural settings. We explore this hypothesis by integrating granular data on the river network with high-resolution data on rainfall and violent conflict events in Africa from 1997 to 2021. We find that reduced rainfall in a location leads to more conflict in neighboring areas that are water-rich and located upstream along the river network. These are the sites that exert more control over the river flow. The effect is more pronounced in regions experiencing a long-term decline in water presence. Consistent with the proposed mechanism, conflicts concentrate in areas with higher returns to water access, as proxied by the presence of agricultural production. Additionally, the impact is more pronounced in regions with unequal water distribution among ethnic groups, highlighting how cooperation costs are an important friction preventing peaceful sharing of water resources. In terms of policy responses, we find that the effects tend to be mitigated in countries with stronger democratic institutions, better rule of law, higher state capacity and less corruption.
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Slides
(with Kaman Lyu )
Public Policy Research Network Best Paper Award, 2023
Abstract : In contexts where child labour is pervasive, household decisions about allocating children's time between school and work involve a trade-off: current returns from child labour versus future returns from education. This paper tests for the existence of a third factor: future returns from child labour, as parents view farm work as an investment in agricultural skills. We provide evidence on each component of this trade-off in the context of rural Ghana by leveraging four waves of survey data on 5,000 households, exogenous shocks to agricultural productivity, and a vignette survey design to elicit parental beliefs.
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Work in Progress
State Capacity and Environmental Protection
(with Marie-Louise Décamps )
Abstract : Policies against deforestation are crucial for fighting climate change. This paper examines how the governance of environmental agencies affects the effectiveness of these policies. In the context of Brazil, we compile a novel dataset that integrates satellite land use data, administrative data on the environmental agency organization and on agents' career, and enforcement activities. With the findings of this paper, we aim to uncover how governance reforms influence enforcement capacity and shape farmers' land use decisions, contributing to our understanding of how state capacity affects environmental conservation.
