After getting his BA in Peru, his MRes in Barcelona and his PhD in Chicago, Sebastian Sotelo is coming to the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor of Economics. An international economist with a special interest in economic geography and growth, Sotelo likes to do applied work and make contact with data.

Sotelo’s most recent research seeks to understand the link between internal barriers to trade, agricultural productivity, and incomes. He looks at how distance from a market affects land allocation, use of modern technology, and income. One of the markets he looks at specifically is that of Lima, in Peru. Lima is a large market, but people living far from Lima have a hard time getting their goods to the market, which reduces their productivity and the prices they obtain for those goods. In the future Sotelo plans to continue to apply international economics to interesting questions. Some questions he would like to answer include how trade barriers affect the incentive for farmers to upgrade the quality of their products and how the market for transportation services shapes those barriers.

 Sotelo is excited to come to Michigan – the people here are nice, nurturing, and interested in applying research to real problems. Michigan has a long tradition of research in international economics, and Sotelo is excited to join the community.