Former UCLA Graduate Student Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero Wins the 2024 Dorothy Thomas Award

Former UCLA Graduate Student Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero, now a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin, won the Population Association of America’s highly competitive 2024 Dorothy Thomas Award for best graduate student paper. Her paper, entitled “Sent Away: The Long-Term Effects of Slum Clearance on Children and Families,” documents how Chile’s mandated slum-clearance programs between 1979-1985 had large, negative long-run effects on children and parents. Displaced children earned 14% less as adults, achieved 0.64 fewer years of education, and were more likely to work in informal jobs. Displaced parents had higher mortality rates and died at younger ages.  While at UCLA, Fernanda was a recipient of CCPR’s Treiman award, and received her Ph.D. in economics in 2022. Her dissertation was advised by Professors Dora Costa (chair), Adriana Lleras-Muney, and Michela Giorcelli.