Thursday, May 30th

8:45 - 9:00

Opening remarks. Marcela Eslava (Universidad de Los Andes)

Morning Session: Elections and the public budget

9:00 - 9:45

“Strategic spending in voting competitions with social networks”
Carlos Lever (Bank of Mexico)

Discussant: Juan Dubra (Universidad de Montevideo)

9:45 - 10:30

“Natural Disasters and Clientelism: the Case of Floods and Landslides in Colombia”
Jorge Gallego (New York University)

Discussant: Roberto Steiner (Fedesarrollo)

10:30 - 10:50

Coffee break

10:50 - 11:35

“Chasing votes with the public budget”
Ana María Tribín (Brown)

Discussant: Marcela Eslava (Universidad de Los Andes)

11:35 - 12:20

“Tenure in office and public procurement”
Decio Coviello (Institute of Applied Economics, HEC Montréal), Stefano Gagliarducci

Discussant: Ernesto Dal Bó (UC Berkeley Haas School of Business)

12:20 - 2:00

Lunch

Afternoon session: Media and information

2:00 - 2:45

“Sunlight Disinfects? Free Media in Weak Democracies”
Leopoldo Fergusson (Universidad de Los Andes), Juan Fernando Vargas, Mauricio Vela

Discussant: Joana Monteiro

2:45 - 3:30

“The role of media networks in compensating political disadvantages: evidence from radio networks in Brazil”
Joana C. M. Monteiro (IBRE / FGV), Horacio A. Larreguy A

Discussant: Leopoldo Fergusson (Universidad de Los Andes)

3:30 - 3:50

Coffee break

3:50 - 4:35

“How Do Voters Respond to Information? Evidence from a Randomized Campaign”
Tommaso Nannicini (Bocconi University), Chad Kendall, Francesco Trebbi

Discussant: Claudio Ferraz (PUC)

4:35 - 5:30

Keynote Presentation
“The demand for bad policy when voters under appreciate equilibrium effects”
Ernesto Dal Bó (UC Berkeley Haas School of Business)

Friday, May 31st

Morning Session 1: Institutions

9:00 - 9:45

Institutional Change and Elite Persistence: The 19th Century Caribbean Colonies
Christian Dippel (UCLA Anderson School of Management)

Discussant: Frederico Finan (UC Berkeley)

9:45 - 10:30

“The relationship between federal budget amendments and local electoral performance”
Sergio Pinheiro Firpo (Sao Paulo School of Economics), Vladimir Ponczek, Viviane Sanfelice

Discussant: Carlos Scartascini (IADB)

10:30 - 10:50

Coffee break

Morning session 2: Taxation

10:50 - 11:35

“Ideology and Taxation in Latin America”
Ernesto Stein (IDB), Lorena Caro

Discussant: Mónica Pachón (Universidad de Los Andes)

11:35 - 12:20

“Tax Compliance and Enforcement in the Pampas. Evidence from a Field Experiment”
Carlos Scartascini (IDB), Lucio Castro

Discussant: Adriana Camacho (Universidad de Los Andes)

12:20 - 12:30

Closing remarks

12:30 - 2:00

Lunch