Researchers at the IDB
Ernesto Schargrodsky is the Deputy Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Before joining the IDB in 2025, he was Full Professor and Director of the Crime Lab at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina and previously served as Director of Socioeconomic Research at CAF.
From 2011 to 2019, Mr. Schargrodsky served as President of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, and he was Dean of its Business School from 2006-2011. Mr. Schargrodsky has been visiting professor at Stanford University and Harvard University. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society, associate researcher at J-PAL LAC, member of the National Academy of Economic Sciences of Argentina, and a researcher at CONICET.
Mr. Schargrodsky has published extensively on topics such as crime and policing, corruption, inequality, land titling, privatization, and political polarization. His work has appeared in leading academic journals including the American Economic Review, American Economic Review: Insights, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, among others.
He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Harvard University and holds a Licenciatura in Economics (Honors) from the University of Buenos Aires. He is a citizen of Argentina.
Latest Studies at the IDB
This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on criminal activity in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We find a large, significant, robust, and immediate decline in crime following quarantine restrictions. We observe the effect on property crime reported to official agencies, police arrests, and crime reported in victimization surveys, but not in homicides. The decrease in criminal activity was greater in business and transportation areas, but still large in commercial and residential areas (including informal settlements). After the sharp and immediate fall, crime recovered but, as of November 2020, it did not reach its initial levels. The arrest data additionally allow us to measure the distance from the detainees address to the crime location. Crime became more local as mobility was restricted.
This book provides a detailed microeconomic analysis of the impact of various privatizations in different countries in the region. Its central message is that in many cases, contrary to popular belief, society as a whole and in particular the poor have benefited from privatization. The book presents a careful analysis of the various mechanisms through which privatization has an impact on welfare, an analysis that by and large has been missing from the debate. Case studies of water sector privatization in Argentina and Colombia, and also the telecom industry in Peru are included.
The research team generates innovative ideas that support the strategic policy agenda of the IDB and its member countries to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Discover more of the IDB’s research in the Publications Catalog, the Bank’s open-access repository.
We design and enable innovative and effective solutions that promote inclusive and sustainable development in the region.
We work to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through financial and technical support for our borrowing member countries, we work to achieve lasting development gains across a wide range of sectors.