Felipe Barrera-Osorio is a Colombian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and Associate Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. Barrera-Osorio's work on the economics of education earned him the Juan Luis Londono Medal, Colombia's equivalent to the

John Bates Clark Medal The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." The award is named after the ...

in 2008.

Biography

Felipe Barrera-Osorio earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

and master's degree in economics from the

Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) The University of The Andes ( es, Universidad de los Andes), also commonly self-styled as Uniandes, is a private research university located in the city centre of Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1948 by a group of Colombian intellectuals led by Mar ...

in 1992, followed by a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in economics from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

in 2003. During his graduate studies, Barrera-Osorio specialized on

public economics Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve s ...

, labour economics and

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

and published a thesis on the relationship between

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

under Jonas Gelbach, Robert Schwab, Wallace Oates, Jennifer Rice and Seth Sanders. After his graduation, Barrera-Osorio became deputy director of the Higher Education and Development Foundation (Fedesarrollo) (2004–06) before accepting a position as Senior Economist in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

's Human Development Network on Education (2006–11). During his work for the World Bank, Barrera-Osorio led

impact evaluation Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention, such as a project, program or policy, both the intended ones, as well as ideally the unintended ones. In contrast to outcome monitoring, which examines whe ...

s of educational programmes in e.g.

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. In 2011, he left the World Bank to accept a position as assistant professor of education and economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he was promoted to associate professor in 2015. Besides his academic work, Barrera-Osorio also serves as Head of the

Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) is an international association of economists with common research interests in Latin America. It was founded in July 1992, to encourage professional interaction and foster increased dial ...

's Impact Evaluation Network.

Research

Felipe Barrera-Osorio's current research focuses on the impact of educational incentives on the learning of children in primary and secondary school. In the past, his research has included the role and impact of public-private partnerships in education (with Harry Anthony Patrinos and Juliana Guáqueta), the computerization of education (with Leigh Linden), the design of conditional cash transfer programmes (with

Marianne Bertrand Marianne Bertrand (born c. 1970) is a Belgian economist who currently works as Chris P. Dialynas Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Bertrand belongs to the world's most prominent labour economists in ...

, Linden and Francisco Perez-Calle), and the theory and empirics of school-based management (with Patrinos, Tazeen Fasih, and Lucrecia Santibánez).Barrera-Osorio, F. et al. (2009). ''Decentralized Decision-Making in Schools: The Theory and Evidence on School-Based Management''. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Publications.

References

External links

Profile of Felipe Barrera-Osorio on the website of Vanderbilt University's Peabody College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrera-Osorio, Felipe Living people 20th-century Colombian economists Education economists University of Los Andes (Colombia) alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Colombian economists