I am an MIT Presidential Fellow studying a Ph.D. in Urban Economics & Policy at MIT.

My work explores dynamic relationships between housing, information, public policies, health, and environmental forces, and I use field experimental methods, quasi-experimental methods, and machine learning to understand human behavior and decision-making.

I am also interested in understanding how the materialization of common or rare intense risks — i.e., shocks — affects the well-being of people, communities, and cities. I am interested in exploring what makes certain countries, groups, and individuals more susceptible to shocks and how policies can help mitigate them.

In this link, you can find a short version of my CV.

About me

I began my studies at Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), where I earned a BA in Economics. I decided to get a more profound training in Economics, so I embarked on a journey to earn a Masters in Quantitative Economics at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and the École Normale Supérieure (ENS).

While pursuing my Master’s degree, I worked at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), analyzing the connections between public economics, policy, and health care. During these years, I also worked with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), learning how to design and conduct a Randomized Controlled Trial. During my Master’s degree, I got interested in income inequality and big data, and I decided to write my thesis about top incomes in Mexico. Afterward, I decided to work for the government of Mexico at the Treasury Department. Over there, I was the Director of Economic Policy, where I provided analyses and advice on international and national economic policies, economic and financial risks, and potential public policies to the Chief Economist.

While that was fun, I decided to start my Ph.D. at MIT. My applied and theoretical work lies at the intersection of housing, information, public policies, health, environmental forces, and inequality. Methodologically, I use field experimental methods, causal inference, bayesian techniques, and machine learning to understand human behavior and decision-making.

During the Summers of 2021 and 2022, I was fortunate to intern as an Economist at Redfin. Please browse the papers section to read the projects I was involved during my stay at Redfin.

Shoot me an email to sebastian.olascoaga@gmail.com or olascoag@mit.edu - I am always happy to meet new people! You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Linkedin.