Alejandra V. Palma Riedel
Economist
EDUCATION
2001-2004 Fulfilled Ph.D. course requirements in Agricultural & Resource Economics,
University of Maryland, College Park. Worked towards dissertation related to Individual
Tradable Fishing Quotas in the Alaskan Pacific Halibut fishery.
2001 M.A. in Economics. University of Maryland, College Park. Field: Environmental Economics.
Thesis: "Price versus Quantity Instruments for Environmental Regulation under Stock Externalities: the Case of Greenhouse Gases".
1998 B.S. in Economics and Business Administration, 5 year program, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago.
EXPERIENCE
July 2010 - Present
Economist, Northern Economics, Inc.
August 2006 - July 2010
Inter-American Development Bank – Environment, Rural Development and Natural Disasters Risk Management Division
Rural Development Senior Associate, March 2010 – July 2010
Rural Development Specialist, October 2008-March 2010
Team Leader – Responsible for project management and feasibility studies:
- Food Security Program: Direct Supports to Small Farmers (vouchers) - Bolivia
- Economic Impact of Climate Change - Bolivia
Team Member - Responsible for economic analysis and baseline for impact evaluation:
- Rural Competitiveness Program - Jamaica
Young Professional-Agricultural and Natural Resource Economist, August 2006 – September 2008
Team Leader – Responsible for applied research studies:
- Groundwater irrigation in Mexican agriculture: impacts of pricing reforms.
- Value Chains and Poverty: beef industry in Honduras and Nicaragua.
- Econometric strategy for economic impact evaluation of the decoupled direct income support program to Mexican farmers - PROCAMPO.
Team Member - Responsible for economic and financial analyses:
- Agricultural Health and Food Safety Program – Bolivia.
- Climate Change Programmatic Loan – Mexico.
- Agricultural Irrigation Program - Bolivia.
- Rural Business Plans Program - Honduras.
January 2004 - July 2006
Research Fellow, Inter-American Development Bank – Sustainable Development Department, Rural Unit.
- Contributed to applied research studies on: (i) impact of trade liberalization on small farmers; (ii) rural public expenditures in Latin America; and (iii) rural territorial development.
June 2003 - January 2004
Consultant, The World Bank – Poverty Group, Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LAC).
- Quantile regressions for capacity utilization and firm size in Bolivian manufactures.
June 2002 – September 2002
Consultant, The World Bank – Environmental and Social Sustainable Development, LAC.
- Indoor Air Pollution in Rural Guatemala: Health Impacts of Traditional Fuel.
June 2001 – August 2001
Intern, Resources for the Future, Division of Quality of the Environment.
- Recycling Scrap Tires to Avoid Environmental and Health Hazards along the US-Mexico border.
June 1995 – June 1999
Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo.
Economist, January 1998 – June 1999
- Provided technical advising to Chilean Congressional Representatives regarding the economic impacts of legislation in the sectors of agriculture, environment, mining and natural resources.
Research Assistant, June 1995 – December 1997
- Research Assistance, Economic Policy Analysis Unit.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Fall 1999 – Spring 2003
Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
- Dept of Agricultural and Resources Economics: Econometrics I (Graduate level); Econometrics II (Graduate level); and World Hunger.
- Dept of Economics: Introduction to Microeconomics; Microeconomics.
March 1999 – June 1999
Lecturer, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
- Department of Economics: Microeconomics I
March 1993 – June 1999
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Department of Economics, Santiago, Chile.
Lecturer, March 1998 - June 1999.
- Introduction to Economic Theory.
Teaching Assistant, March 1993 - December 1997.
- Game Theory I, Microeconomics, Introduction to Economic Theory.
OTHER EXPERIENCE - ALASKA
- University of Alaska Anchorage, International Workshop in Experimental Economics. July 2004.
- Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage: work on a survey and economic experiments related to Individual Fishing Quotas, with Gunnar Knapp (July 2004 and July 2005).
HONORS/AWARDS
- Inter-American Development Bank: one of the 5 young professionals selected among 2,600 applicants. 2006.
- Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) in Economics: 99th percentile. 1999.
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Economics: ranked third out of 220 students. 1993.
- National Award for maximum score on the PAA (equivalent to SAT test) and the Mathematics Subject Test. 1993.
SKILLS
- Language: Spanish (Native), English (Fluent), Portuguese (medium), German (basic).
- Computer: Proficient: STATA, Eviews. Basic: MATLAB, Mathematica, SAS, SPSS, Gauss.
PUBLICATIONS
- Palma, A. and M.L. Cropper (2005), “Estimating Health Impacts”, in Environmental Health and Traditional Fuel Use in Guatemala, editors Ahmed et al., Directions in Development, The World Bank.
- Blackman, A. and A. Palma (2002), Scrap Tires in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso: Ranking of Risks, Journal of Environment and Development vol. 11(3): 247-266.