Sergio Urzúa

Sergio Urzúa

I am a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. My research focuses on labor markets, human capital, skills, inequality, and applied microeconometrics. I also work extensively on education systems in Latin America and on the socioeconomic determinants of long-term outcomes.

Soy Profesor de Economía en la Universidad de Maryland. Mi investigación se centra en los mercados laborales, el capital humano, las habilidades, la desigualdad y la microeconometría aplicada. También trabajo en educación en América Latina y los determinantes socioeconómicos de los resultados de largo plazo.

Research

Investigación

My work examines labor markets, human capital formation, skills, inequality, and applied microeconometrics, with a strong focus on education systems and policy evaluation in Latin America.

Mi trabajo examina los mercados laborales, la formación de capital humano, las habilidades, la desigualdad y la microeconometría aplicada, con un fuerte énfasis en educación en América Latina.

Selected publications by topic

Publicaciones seleccionadas por tema

Labor Markets

Mercados laborales

• The Transmission of Commodity Price Super-Cycles (with F. Benguria and F. Saffie), The Review of Economic Studies, 2024.
• Does an Increasing Minimum Wage Reduce Formal Sector Employment? Evidence from Brazil (with F. Saltiel), Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2022.
• Should I Stay or Should I go? Career Choices for Young Workers in Latin America (with Saltiel & Rucci), Economic Inquiry, 2020.

Education & Human Capital

Educación y capital humano

• Teacher Quality and Learning Inequality (with Kutscher et al.), Estudios de Economía, 2024.
• Is Private Education Worth It? Evidence from School-to-Work Transitions (with Contreras & Rodríguez), Labour Economics, 2024.
• Centralized Admission Systems and School Segregation (with Kutscher & Nath), Journal of Public Economics, 2023.

Skills, Inequality & Social Mobility

Habilidades, desigualdad y movilidad social

• Toward an Understanding of the Economic Forces Behind Chile’s Estallido Social (with Fontaine), in The Law and Politics of Constitution Making Lessons from Chile, 2025.
• Voting for Democracy: Evidence from Chile’s Plebiscito (with Kaplan & Saltiel), AEJ: Economic Policy, 2023.
• Heterogeneous Economic Returns to Post-Secondary Degrees: Evidence from Chile (with Rodríguez & Reyes), Journal of Human Resources, 2016.
• The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior (with Heckman & Stixrud), Journal of Labor Economics, 2006.

Development & Policy Evaluation

Desarrollo y evaluación de políticas

• What Makes a Program Good? Evidence from Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs (with Dinarte et al.), World Development, 2023.
• Labor Market Effects of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs (with Galindo & Ferreyra), Journal of Human Capital, forthcoming.

Applied Microeconometrics / Methods

Microeconometría aplicada / Métodos

• Toward an Understanding of the Returns to Cognitive Skill Across Cohorts (with Hellerstein & Lou), JPE Microeconomics, forthcoming.
• Testing the Correlated Random Coefficient Model (with Heckman & Schmierer), Journal of Econometrics, 2010.

Google Scholar Full publication list (PDF)

Books

Libros

• La Economía de la Transición 1990–2019 (Editor), 2023.
  Amazon
• Constitución, Economía y Desarrollo (with F. Larraín), 2022.
  Barnes and Noble
• The Fast Track to New Skills (with M. Ferreyra et al.), World Bank, 2021.
  The World Bank
• Educación con Patines (with A. Fontaine), 2018.
  Amazon
• At a Crossroad: Higher Education in LAC (with M. Ferreyra et al.), 2017.
  The World Bank
• Disconnected: Skills, Education and Employment in LAC (with M. Bassi et al.), 2012.
  IADB

Working papers

Documentos de trabajo

• Economic Incentives and Organ Procurement: Evidence from a U.S. Reform (with Ozbay et al.), 2025.
  NBER WP 34140.
• Preference Estimation for Deferred Acceptance Algorithms (with Kuersteiner & Nath), 2025.
• Observed and Unobserved Variables in Educational Treatment Effects (with Montoya), 2025.
• From Protest to Performance: School Strikes (with Morales & Riquelme), 2025.
• Role of Private-Voucher Schools in Returns to Education (with Sanchez & Rau), 2025.

Google Scholar Full publication list (PDF)

Teaching & mentoring

Docencia y mentoría

I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in labor economics, inequality, human capital, and applied microeconometrics.

Imparto cursos de pregrado y postgrado en economía laboral, desigualdad, capital humano y microeconometría aplicada.

Courses

Cursos

• Advanced Labor Market (ECON 771) — PhD.
• Labor Economics II (ECON 772) — PhD.
• Poverty and Discrimination (ECON 375).
• Inequality: Determinants and Policy Remedies (ECON 175).
• Estimating Policy and Program Impact (ECON 417).
• Econometrics I & II (ECON 422–423).

Affiliations & leadership

Afiliaciones y liderazgo

• NBER — Research Associate (Children’s Program Steering Committee 2018–2020).
• IZA — Research Fellow.
• LACEA — Director, Labor Network; Executive Committee Member (2015–2019).
• RIDGE — Board Member; former Research Director (2019–2024).
• Clapes-UC — International Research Fellow (2014–present).

Media & Op-Eds

Medios y Columnas

Interviews, op-eds, and selected media appearances.

Entrevistas, columnas de opinión y apariciones en medios.

• El Mercurio (Chile) — Regular columnist.
  Recent op-eds
• Clapes-UC — Policy briefs and research dissemination.
  View contributions
• Educación con Patines — Book material.
  Go to webpage

Recent Op-Eds

Columnas Recientes

Latest opinion columns. Add images and links as they become available.

Últimas columnas de opinión. Agregue imágenes y enlaces cuando estén disponibles.

A middle class adrift Una clase media a la deriva
El Mercurio — Nov 30, 2025

Sopa didn’t speak like an idiot Sopa no hablaba como idiota
El Mercurio — Nov 16, 2025

Contact

Contacto

Email: surzua@umd.edu

Google Scholar UMD Profile CV (PDF)