Welcome to my website!

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, and I will be on the academic job market in the Fall of 2024.

My dissertation studies how economic sanctions placed on authoritarian regimes can not only be ineffective, but also counterproductive, by producing an economic decline that incentivizes political opponents to emigrate, making the regime politically stronger in the end.

I also study questions in political economy and methodology, with a regional focus on Latin America. My work has been published in the Journal of Politics and Cambridge Elements.

Contact information:

idrobo@sas.upenn.edu
+1 (734) 353-7093
133 S 36th St
Office 350
Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Job market paper

• Why Economic Sanctions Backfire
  Draft coming soon

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Main publications

1. Do Shifts in Late-Counted Votes Signal Fraud? Evidence from Bolivia, with Dorothy Kronick and Francisco Rodríguez
   The Journal of Politics, 2022.
   Final draft | Replication | Publication | Media coverage: NYT (English, Spanish), Crisis Group
   OAS Response | Nooruddin’s Response | Our Response to Nooruddin

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Elements

1. A Practical Introduction to Regression Discontinuity Designs: Foundations, with Matias Cattaneo and Rocío Titiunik
   Cambridge Elements: Quantitative and Computational Methods for Social Science, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
   Final draft | Replication | Publication | Erratum

2. A Practical Introduction to Regression Discontinuity Designs: Extensions, with Matias Cattaneo and Rocío Titiunik
   Cambridge Elements: Quantitative and Computational Methods for Social Science, Cambridge University Press, 2024.
   Final draft | Replication | Publication

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Working papers

1. On Unfounded Claims of Electoral Fraud, with Dorothy Kronick and Francisco Rodríguez
   Under review.
   Latest draft

2. Oversight, Depolicing, and Violence: Evidence from Colombia, with Dorothy Kronick
   Latest draft

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Work in progress

1. The Advent of the Inference Era: Science Production in Economics and Political Science since 1970, with Arthur Lupia, Hwayong Shin and Rocío Titiunik

2. The Holy Roman Empire as an International Organization, with Jason Hartwig

3. The Hidden Power of Money: How Campaign Contributions to Legislators Buy Legislative Influence, with Miguel Rueda and Nelson Ruiz

4. Covariate Distributions and Feasible Questions in Comparative Politics and Political Economy, with Rocío Titiunik

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Pre-doctoral publications

1. Illegal Gold Mining and Violence in Colombia, with Daniel Mejía and Ana María Tribín
   Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 2014.
   Publication

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