Rocío Madera

Rocío Madera

Assistant Professor of Economics

Southern Methodist University

Professional Summary

I am an Assistant Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist University and a CESifo Research Network affiliate. I study how income uncertainty, labor-market frictions, and local economic conditions shape heterogeneous household consumption and family decisions, welfare, and the design of public policy. Download my CV here to learn more about me and my work.

Education

PhD in Economics

University of Minnesota

Master in Economics and Finance

CEMFI

BA in Economics

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Research Fields

Macroeconomics with micro-data Income risk Consumption and savings Labor markets Spatial economics Policy design and welfare Family economics
Publications
Self-Employment Promotion as Active Labor Market Policy: Design and Trade-offs in Rigid Labor Markets Joaquin Garcia-Cabo, Rocío Madera, Zoe Xie Economics Letters, December 2025
PDF DOI
Consumption Dynamics and Welfare Under Non-Gaussian Earnings Risk Fatih Guvenen, Rocío Madera, Serdar Ozkan Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 169, December 2024
PDF DOI NBER WP
Does Self-Employment Pay? The Role of Unemployment and Earnings Risk Joaquin Garcia-Cabo, Rocío Madera Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 86, April 2024
PDF DOI Fed IFDP
Skewed Idiosyncratic Income Risk over the Business Cycle: Sources and Insurance Chris Busch, David Domeij, Fatih Guvenen, Rocío Madera American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 14(2), April 2022
PDF DOI Code
Income Contingent University Loans: Policy Design and an Application to Spain Antonio Cabrales, Maia Guell, Rocío Madera, Analia Viola Economic Policy, 34(99), July 2019
DOI Code
Working Papers
The Value of Public Insurance Against Idiosyncratic Income Risk: A Variance-Adjustment Statistic Chris Busch, Rocío Madera under review, April 2026
PDF Slides CEPR DP CESifo WP
Urban Welfare: Tourism in Barcelona Treb Allen, Simon Fuchs, Sharat Ganapati, Alberto Graziano, Rocío Madera, Judit Montoriol-Garriga March 2026
PDF
The Nonlinear Consumption Response to Income Risk: The Role of Tail Changes and Durables Rocío Madera Review of Economic Dynamics, revise & resubmit, February 2026
PDF
Ongoing Projects
Early-Career Job Instability and Life-Cycle Income Dynamics Antonio Cabrales, Maia Guell, Rocío Madera February 2026
Individual Careers and Household Income Inequality Chris Busch, Fane Groes, Rocío Madera January 2025
Spatial Fiscal Policy: Stimulus Payments in a Consumption Network Simon Fuchs, Wookun Kim, Rocío Madera, Hoyoung Yoo January 2023
Book Chapters and Policy
University financing: sustainability, efficiency and redistribution Antonio Cabrales, Maia Guell, Rocío Madera, Analia Viola Funcas Social and Economic Studies, November 2024
Funcas
La financiacion de las universidades: sostenibilidad, eficiencia y redistribucion(in Spanish) Antonio Cabrales, Maia Guell, Rocío Madera, Analia Viola Papeles de Economia Espanola, June 2024
Funcas
Effects of Social Insurance on Income Losses and Gains over the Business Cycle Chris Busch, David Domeij, Fatih Guvenen, Rocío Madera VoxEU/CEPR, April 2022
VoxEU Column
Income-Contingent University Loans: Policy Design and Application to Spain Antonio Cabrales, Maia Guell, Rocío Madera, Analia Viola VoxEU/CEPR, July 2019
VoxEU Column
Préstamos universitarios contingentes a la renta: diseño y aplicación a España(in Spanish) Antonio Cabrales, Maia Guell, Rocío Madera, Analia Viola Nada es Gratis, October 2018
NeG
Skills
100%
Stata
100%
Matlab
100%
R
100%
Fortran
80%
Julia
80%
Python
80%
GIS
Teaching

Southern Methodist University

  • Intermediate Macroeconomics, Undergraduate
  • Macroeconomic Theory and Policy, Undergraduate
  • Macroeconomics, Master
  • Macroeconomics with Heterogeneity and Monetary Economics, PhD