Patricia Cortes

Patricia Cortes is an Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law at the Questrom School of Business and Associate Director of the Human Capital Initiative at the Global Development Policy Center of Boston University. She is an empirical labor economist working on international migration and gender. Her current research focuses on understanding the sources of the gender pay gap, particularly for the highly educated. Her work has been published in leading economic journals, such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies, and the Journal of Political Economy. Her research has been used in testimony before Congress, and highlighted, among other outlets, by The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Economist, and the Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining BU, Cortes was an Assistant Professor at University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Cortes obtained her PhD in Economics from MIT and a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from La Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia.

Education

• 2001-2006 Ph.D., Economics
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
• 1998-2000 M.A., Economics
  Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
• 1993-1998 B.A., Economics, magna cum laude
  Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia

Current Positions

• 2023- Fellow, IZA
• 2020- Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
• 2019- Associate Director, Human Capital Initiative, Global Development Policy Center, Boston University
• 2018- Associate Professor (with tenure) of Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Questrom School of Business, Boston University
• 2006- Research Fellow, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, University
  College of London

Previous Positions

• 2010-2018 Assistant Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Susilo Fellow, 2016-2017
  Questrom School of Business, Boston University
• 2006 -2010 Assistant Professor of Economics
  Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
• 1999-2001 Research Assistant
  Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department, Washington, DC

Selected Publications

• Cortes, P., Chen, Y., Kosar, G., Pan, J., Zafar, B. (In Press). "The Impact of COVID-19 on Workers’ Expectations and Preferences for Remote Work", American Economic Association: Papers and Proceedings
• Cortes, P., Pan, J., Pilossoph, L., Zafar, B., Reuben, E. (In Press). "Gender Differences in Job Search and the Earnings Gap: Evidence from the Field and Lab", The Quarterly Journal of Economics
• Cortes, P., Jessica, P. (In Press). "Children and the Remaining Gender Gaps in the Labor Market", Journal of Economic Literature
• Cortes, P., Kasoolu, S., Pan, C. (In Press). "Labor Market Nationalization Policies and Exporting Firm Outcomes: Evidence from Saudi Arabia", Economic Development and Cultural Change
• Cortes, P., Pan, J. (2019). "Gender, occupational segregation, and automation", Economics Studies at Brookings
• Cortes, P., Pan, J. (2019). "When Time Binds: Substitutes for Household Production, Returns to Working Long Hours, and the Skilled Gender Wage Gap", Journal of Labor Economics, 37 (2), 351-398
• Cortes, P., Pan, J. (2017). "Cross-Country Evidence on the Relationship between Overwork and Skilled Women's Job Choices", American Economic Review, 107 (5), 105-109