Sergio Urzua

Sergio Urzúa is a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on labor economics, particularly the role of abilities, skills, and uncertainty in schooling, labor market outcomes, and social behavior. He also evaluates social programs in developing and developed countries, with expertise in econometric methods addressing unobserved heterogeneity.

Education: PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago (2007), BA in Economics from the University of Chile (2000). He has held academic positions at institutions including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the Catholic University of Chile.

Key roles: Director of the Lacea Labor Network, Research Director at RIDGE, Research Associate at NBER, Research Fellow at IZA, and International Research Fellow at Clapes-UC.

Research Interests: Applied microeconomics, development economics, education policy, and labor markets. His work explores topics like cognitive/non-cognitive skills, education expansion impacts, and the evaluation of social programs.

Recent publications examine commodity price cycles, centralized education reforms, and the economic returns to higher education. He has advised governments and international organizations like the World Bank and OECD on policy issues.