Tessera

Raissa Fabregas

@raissafabregas.bsky.social

Development Economist. Working on human capital and making services in LMICS work at scale. Assistant Professor at UT Austin. Mexicana 🇲🇽. raissafabregas.com

4 Posts248 Follower 436 Folgt

VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 4w ago

Evidence from a randomised evaluation in Mexico shows that an AI-powered mental health app can improve mental health, daily functioning, and labour market outcomes, while also helping users experiencing more severe psychological distress engage with formal care.

Effects of access to the app on selected wellness and functioning behaviours

VoxDev@voxdev.bsky.social · 4w ago

🆕Can AI-powered mental health apps meaningfully improve wellbeing? Today on VoxDev, Manuela Angelucci (UT-Austin Economics), Raissa Fabregas & Antonia Vazquez (Annenberg Institute) discuss evidence on an AI-powered mental health app in Mexico: https://ow.ly/MUwA50ZlqIZ

Dean Yang @deanyang.bsky.social · last mo.

Development economics finally has a global professional home. Today we launch @ideadevecon.bsky.social ... Open to every development economist, everywhere. Join the community: idea.devecon.org Please share 🌍

NOVAFRICA @novafrica.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🌍 #NOVAFRICA2026 Conference in Economic: Cash Transfer Programs Session! @raissafabregas.bsky.social from #UniversityofTexaxatAustin presenting “Does Impact Evidence Affect Policy Preferences? Evidence from Mexico's Landmark CCT Program". #NOVAFRICA2026 #DevelopmentEconomics #NovaSBE

Dean Yang @deanyang.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Submit your development economics papers to the BREAD Mexico conference! Submission deadline is Jun 19. Conference is Oct 23-24 at ITAM in Mexico City. bread-mexico-2026.github.io

BREAD Mexico 2026 — Conference on Development Economics

ITAM, Mexico City · October 23–24, 2026. Submission deadline: June 19, 2026.

bread-mexico-2026.github.io

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 3mo ago

AI-powered mental health apps are all the rage. But do they work? This new experiment on women in Mexico says they do!

Marginal Revolution @marginalrev.blogsky.venki.dev · 3mo ago

New results on AI mental health therapists - Marginal REVOLUTION

AI-powered mental health apps have attracted growing interest as a low-cost way to expand care. Yet questions remain about their effectiveness, safety, and whether they may crowd out psychotherapy. We evaluate one such app in a randomized controlled trial among 1,964 Mexican women with mild to severe psychological distress. Over six months, app access improved […]

marginalrevolution.com

Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"comments that criticize or correct a published study are 20% to 40% less likely than regular papers to have a female author" doi.org/10.1162/rest...

Voicing Disagreement in Science: Missing Women

Abstract. This paper examines the authorship of postpublication criticisms in the scientific literature, with a focus on gender differences. Bibliometrics from journals in the natural and social scien...

doi.org

Sonia Laszlo 🇨🇦@slaszlo.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🚨 Call for Papers: LACEA - LAMES 2026 🚨 Submissions now open for the Latin American and Caribbean Economics Association annual meetings Nov 12–14, 2026 in Lima, 🇵🇪! 📅 Submission Due: May 31, 2026 🔗 : lacealames2026.org Share widely and see you there! #LACEA2026 #Econsky #EconConf

LACEA LAMES - 2026 Annual Meeting | Lima - Peru

Join LACEA LAMES 2026 in Lima, Peru, November 12-14. Submit abstracts. Leading economists, keynote speakers, and cutting-edge research.

lacealames2026.org

Manuela Angelucci @mangeluc.bsky.social · 4mo ago

@antoniavazquez.bsky.social @raissafabregas.bsky.social

Manuela Angelucci @mangeluc.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New WP w/ @raissafabregas @antoniaavazquez An AI-powered mental health app improves mental health (depression, anxiety, stress, wellbeing) by 0.3 SD at 6 months, with other positive impacts: tiny.cc/rz71101 1/

Review of Economics and Statistics (REStat)@restatjournal.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Additional household income reduces children's involvement in the child protection system. Just Accepted new paper by Katherine Rittenhouse zurl.co/ZvcCp

Income and Child Maltreatment: Evidence from a Discontinuity in Tax Benefits

Abstract. I provide new evidence of the effects of income on child maltreatment. I exploit a discontinuity in child-related tax benefits, which results in

zurl.co

Todd Pugatch @toddpugatch.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The @aefpweb.bsky.social EdDev group meets F Feb 13, 11am EST. Presenters: @isaacahimbisibwe.bsky.social: "Academic Outcomes of a Gender Quota Policy in University STEM Programs" @roohgulzari.bsky.social: "Improving Parental Engagement in Foundational Learning" Join us! Contact me for Zoom link.

NBER @nber.org · 6mo ago

Surveying recent research on changing culture and social norms in developing countries and proposing a simple framework to interpret these changes, from Eliana La Ferrara and David H. Yanagizawa-Drott www.nber.org/papers/w34784

Johannes Haushofer @johanneshaushofer.com · 7mo ago

New cool fellowship from the Weiss Fund for junior researchers in LMICs: weissfund.uchicago.edu/weiss-fund-j...

Weiss Fellowship for Junior Researchers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries - Weiss Fund

The Weiss Fund Fellowship provides supplementary financial support for exceptional job market PhD candidates accepting positions in Weiss Fund-eligible countries and doing work aligned with the Weiss ...

weissfund.uchicago.edu

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 7mo ago

New NBER working paper with Alessandra Voena on women's power in the household in LMICs. I'd never found a review article on this topic that met my needs as a PhD class reading, so we sought to fill this gap. NBER : www.nber.org/papers/w34605 Ungated: seemajayachandran.com/womens_power_JEL.pdf

Abstract of "Women's Power in the Household": We examine women's household power in low- and middle-income countries, synthesizing theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence on its measurement, determinants, and consequences. We define women's household power as their influence over household choices, distinguishing it from broader empowerment concepts. We review economic models, including unitary, collective, and bargaining frameworks, and map these to empirical approaches. We then discuss measurement methods such as structural estimation of consumption allocation, survey measures, and laboratory experiments. On the determinants of women's power, we find that some approaches, such as transfers targeted to women, show mixed results, while others, such as increasing women's control over their earnings, show clearer positive impacts. On the effects of women's power, we pay special attention to children's human capital. Few studies provide strong evidence that mothers invest more in children than fathers do, but collectively the evidence suggests such an effect. We conclude by highlighting research and methodological gaps.

Todd Pugatch @toddpugatch.bsky.social · 12mo ago

The @aefpweb.bsky.social EdDev group is a community of researchers on education in low and middle income countries. We meet the second Friday of each month (virtually, 11am US eastern) to share work in progress. Presentation slots are open for this academic year! Msg me for link. #econsky #edusky

Social Science Prediction Platform (SSPP)@socscipredict.bsky.social · last yr.

New on the SSPP: what are the impacts of an AI-driven mental health smartphone app in Mexico? @mangeluc.bsky.social @raissafabregas.bsky.social, and Antonia Vazquez welcome your predictions! socialscienceprediction.org/predict/r/56... ⏱️Time: 5 min 📚Field: Econ 🗓️Closes: Aug 13

Raissa Fabregas @raissafabregas.bsky.social · last yr.

Happy to see this out!

Journal of Public Economics@jpube.bsky.social · last yr.

Just published in @jpube.bsky.social: "The Migrant Penalty in Latin America: Experimental Evidence from Job Recruiters" By @raissafabregas.bsky.social & Wladimir Zanoni www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #econsky #publiceconomics

Horacio Larreguy @hlarreguy.bsky.social · last yr.

Very happy to see this in press! It was a please to work with Bruno Calderón-Hernández John Marshall and José Luis Pérez-Castellanos www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Electoral precinct-level database for Mexican municipal elections - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - Electoral precinct-level database for Mexican municipal elections

nature.com

Raissa Fabregas @raissafabregas.bsky.social · 2y ago

Are text-message-based programs effective at influencing behavior? We ran 6 RCTS with 3 orgs to find out 👀👇

VoxDev@voxdev.bsky.social · 2y ago

🆕 Harnessing the benefits of digital agriculture for smallholder farmers in East Africa Today on VoxDev, Raissa Fabregas @TheLBJSchool & Michael Kremer @Harvard explore the effectiveness of agricultural extension programmes in Kenya & Rwanda: voxdev.org/topic/agricu...