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Senior Economist · World Bank

Sandra V.Rozo

I am a Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Development Research Group. My research examines how institutions, demographic change, technology, and conflict shape development and human welfare. A central theme of my work is understanding how societies can design institutions that expand opportunity and improve well-being, particularly for populations facing exclusion, displacement, or rapid structural change. My aim is to generate evidence that improves people’s lives.

Research

  1. Institutions, Inclusion, and Human Mobility

    How legal status, access to public services, markets, and shared institutions shape the lives of displaced populations and the communities that receive them.

  2. Demographic Change

    Why fertility, migration, and population patterns are changing so rapidly, and what these transformations mean for individuals, families, and societies.

  3. Technology and Human Development

    Whether digital technologies and AI can expand access to education, socioemotional support, and other scarce human-development services.

I work with randomized trials, longitudinal panels, and quasi-experimental methods, with work on Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Jordan, Peru, Venezuela, and Uganda. I co-founded the VenRePs panels of Venezuelan forced migrants in Colombia for adults and children and the Syrian Refugee Life Study (SRLS) in Jordan. I received the 2024 Juan Luis Londoño Award, given biennially to a Colombian under 40 whose research and policy work have made a substantial contribution to welfare in Colombia. I also contributed to the World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies.

Apart from my academic work, I am the author of the book SuperMom: A No-Guilt Guide to Raising Happy Kids and Loving Your Life. También está disponible en español: Supermamá: Una guía para continuar siendo una madre extraordinaria y vivir una vida plena.

Sandra V. Rozo

World Bank · Washington D.C.

Affiliations
World Bank Senior Economist, DERG UC Berkeley · CEGA Faculty Affiliate IZA Research Fellow EGAP Academic Affiliate USC · CESR & Schaeffer Faculty Affiliate AMIE Mentor HiCN Collaborator Humans LACEA Founding Member Journal of Development Economics Associate Editor
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Recipient of the 2025 Juan Luis Londoño Award — awarded biennially to Colombians under 40 whose work has significantly improved welfare in Colombia

Research Areas

01

Forced Displacement

How we can effectively support displaced populations and their host communities.

02

Crime & Conflict

The role of violence in economic and social trajectories, and the role of policy in addressing it.

03

Labor Markets

How do external shocks affect workers and firms, and the role of policy in smoothing these shocks.

04

Political Economy

How does human mobility affect social cohesion, electoral outcomes, and public policy design.

05

Health & Education

How do external shocks affect health and education outcomes, and what policies can improve them.

06

Anti-Poverty Programs

Evaluating the effectiveness of social protection and anti-poverty interventions.

SuperMom — A No-Guilt Guide to Raising Happy Kids and Loving Your Life

New Book

SuperMom

A practical, evidence-informed guide for parents who want to raise happy, thriving children without sacrificing their own ambitions or wellbeing. Drawing on behavioral economics, developmental psychology, and lived experience.

También soy autora de Supermamá, la edición en español: una guía para mamás abrumadas que quieren soltar la culpa y volver a tener una vida propia.