Cecilia Peluffo

Welcome

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Florida.

My research focuses on the fields of Economic Development and Labor Economics, with applications to Education, Health, and Intra-Household decisions.

I received my Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University.

Publications

Persistence of the Spillover Effects of Violence and Educational Trajectories

Journal of Development Economics

Working Papers

Persistent Effects of Early Academic Rank on Cognitive and Noncognitive Outcomes

NBER Working Paper 35267

Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of early academic rank in elementary school on later cognitive and noncognitive outcomes in the context of Mexico. We use linked administrative records to compare students with similar third-grade achievement but different ordinal positions. These rank differences arise from idiosyncratic variation in the achievement distributions of elementary-school cohorts. We find that a higher third-grade rank increases performance on a high-stakes high school admission exam. Both broader school-cohort rank and classroom rank contribute to this achievement gain when estimated jointly. Higher rank leads to more selective high school choices and improves self-reported measures of self-perception, academic aspirations, classroom responsibility, learning strategies, and teamwork attitudes by the end of ninth grade. We also provide evidence that higher elementary school rank improves students' high school placement outcomes.

Related VoxEU Column (August 22, 2026)

Moving for Good: Educational Gains from Leaving Violence Behind

NBER Working Paper 34270

Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of moving away from violent environments into safer areas on migrants' academic achievement in the context of the Mexican war on drugs. Using student location choices across space and over time, we recover individual-level migration paths for elementary school students across all municipalities in Mexico. We find that students who were induced to leave violent areas due to increased violence experience academic gains after relocating to safer areas. Students who migrated from municipalities in the 90th percentile of the violence distribution to municipalities in the 10th percentile experienced improvements of 5.3 percent of a standard deviation in their test scores two years after they migrated. These results appear to be explained by increases in school attendance and improvements in the learning environment after they moved.

Rent Control and Household Dynamics: Evidence on Domestic Violence and Marital Dissolution

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Abstract

Policies regulating rental markets can unintentionally affect family dynamics by limiting access to housing. This paper examines the effects of a rent regulation implemented in Argentina that significantly reduced rental housing supply. Using a difference-in-differences design, I show that the contraction in supply reduced the likelihood of divorce or separation and led to higher rates of domestic violence. The results suggest that policies aimed at protecting tenants should account for behavioral responses that operate through both market and household-level channels.

Kingpin Strategy, Violence, and Academic Performance

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Abstract

We examine the effects that the capture of high-ranked members of drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs) has on students' academic performance. Our identification strategy leverages the timing of the captures of the DTOs' leaders as a measure of exposure to community violence. Using an individual-level panel dataset, we find that these events harm students' performance in standardized tests. The decline in test scores is more pronounced in municipalities with more than one active DTO, suggesting that the increase in confrontations among DTOs after a leader's capture is a potential mechanism explaining the results.

Government Transfers to Elderly Women: Intra-household and Inter-household Effects

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Abstract

Many middle-income countries are transitioning toward a demographic phase in which traditional systems based on family care for the elderly are disintegrating. As a consequence, public transfers are frequently implemented to provide the elderly with access to funds. Considering a pension reform implemented in Argentina that extended pension coverage to previously uncovered populations and that mainly benefited women, I examine intra-household health effects of this policy and inter-household effects on private transfers. I find that increased access to a state-based pension for elderly women significantly reduces mortality among their husbands by a 22.2% (with respect to the baseline mortality). Consistent with the altruistic motive for inter-household transfers, the extension in access to pensions for the elderly crowds out private transfers from other households. The probability of receiving money (goods) from other households declines by 42.4% (24.3%).

Relaxing Barriers to Immigration: Effects on Earlier Immigrants

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Abstract

The costs and benefits of providing immigrants with residency permits are being debated around the world. However, the consequences of these policies are not well understood. I analyze the effects of the 2004 Argentinian immigration reform, which simplified access to residency permits for earlier immigrants and new immigrants. I find that relaxing barriers to immigration significantly reduced the earnings of earlier low-skilled immigrants (by 15%). The reform had significantly smaller effects on low-skilled native workers.

Work in Progress

Elderly Consumption Expenditure and Efficiency

Does Access to Insurance Savings Accounts Affect Duration of Unemployment and Job Match Quality?

Other Publications

Costos de movilidad intersectorial del empleo, shocks comerciales y tecnológicos: Resultados para Argentina en base a un modelo structural

Teaching

Microeconomic Analysis

Economic Developemt

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