About Luis Martinez

Luis Martinez is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He is mainly interested in topics related to the political economy of development, particularly the relationship between taxation, accountability, and governance.

His current research uses sub-national data from Colombian municipalities to study the way in which the source of government revenue (taxes v.s. oil royalties) affects public good provision and the misbehavior of local public officials. In previous related work, he has provided laboratory evidence on people's tendency to make riskier choices when handling easily-gotten windfall income. He is also currently studying the effects on conflict intensity of increased access to Venezuelan territory by Colombian insurgent groups during the administration of Hugo Chávez.

Martinez received a BA in economics and philosophy (summa cum laude) from Los Andes University and an MRes (with distinction) and PhD in economics from the London School of Economics.