His research focuses on the intersection of development economics and the economics of education. His current research investigates the importance of family networks and transit accessibility for high school choice in Mexico City and the importance of school quality for student outcomes. He is also working on two projects aimed at understanding whether low-powered incentives can improve the performance of educational civil servants in Peru. Prior to joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, where he teaches development economics at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he obtained a BA from the University of Oklahoma, MA from Miami University, and PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.