Paula Lopez-Pena

Paula Lopez-Pena is an Assistant Professor of Business Economics at the Smith School of Business, Queen's University. Her research focuses on applied microeconomics and development economics, examining how noncognitive skills and adverse life events impact health and labor market outcomes. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Warwick (2018), an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics (2012), and prior degrees from Universidad de Oviedo. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Associate/Lecturer at Yale University and a research fellow at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Her research interests span entrepreneurship, firm productivity, violence consequences, and labor demographics. Notable projects include the Cox’s Bazar Panel Survey (CBPS), a collaborative longitudinal study with Y-RISE, GAGE, and the World Bank analyzing Rohingya refugees' living standards and host community dynamics. Her work emphasizes field experiments and panel data analysis.

Key contributions include studies on state violence in Myanmar, refugee-host community resilience during crises, and female entrepreneurs' mental health. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges economics with public health, conflict analysis, and policy evaluation.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Economics, University of Warwick (2018)
  • M.Sc. Economics, London School of Economics (2012)
  • M.A. Applied Economics, Universidad de Oviedo (2008)
  • B.A. Business Admin, Universidad de Oviedo (2006)
• Awards: None explicitly stated.
• Grants/Projects:
  • Principal Investigator, Cox’s Bazar Panel Survey (CBPS)
  • World Bank/Y-RISE/GAGE collaborations
• Labs/Teams: Yale Research Initiative for Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), Gender & Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE).