Maria Micaela Sviatschi

Maria Micaela Sviatschi is an economist. She is an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University.^[4][5] Her research is in labor and development economics, with work on human capital, crime and violence, and gender-based violence.^[4][5]

Sviatschi grew up in Argentina.^[6] Sviatschi earned a B.S. in economics (2007) and an M.A. in economics (2009) from Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires.^[3] She completed graduate study in economics at Columbia University, receiving an M.A. (2012), an M.Phil. (2013), and a Ph.D. (2017).^[3]

Sviatschi was a research fellow at the Inter-American Development Bank from 2009 to 2011.^[3] She served as a fellow with the International Crisis Group (Latin America and the Caribbean) beginning in 2017.^[3][7]

Sviatschi joined Princeton University as an assistant professor of economics and public affairs in 2018 and later became an associate professor.^[3][4] She is affiliated with research organizations including the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and CESifo.^[4][8]

Sviatschi's research examines how exposure to illegal markets and violence affects long-run outcomes such as education, labor-market trajectories, and crime, as well as the effects of gender-based violence and access to justice on women and children.^[4][5] Her work includes research on childhood exposure to illegal labor markets and later criminal participation in Mexico,^[9] gang diffusion and violence associated with U.S. criminal deportations to El Salvador,^[10] and evaluations of women's justice centers in Peru and related impacts on violence and children's human capital outcomes.^[11]

One of her studies examined the relationship between adult-entertainment establishments and public safety, showing that strip-club openings in New York City were associated with short-run declines in reported sex crimes in nearby areas, while also prompting some methodological debate and criticism regarding data validation and interpretation.^[12][13]

Sviatschi was named a 2025 Sloan Research Fellow in economics for her empirical work on organized crime, non-state violence, and on policy interventions to reduce gender-based violence.^[1][14]

• Sviatschi, Maria Micaela (2022). "Making a NARCO: Childhood Exposure to Illegal Labor Markets and Criminal Life Paths." Econometrica 90(4): 1835–1878.^[9]
• Sviatschi, Maria Micaela (2022). "Spreading Gangs: Exporting U.S. Criminal Capital to El Salvador." American Economic Review 112(6): 1985–2024.^[10]
• Sviatschi, Maria Micaela; Trako, Iva (2024). "Gender violence, enforcement, and human capital: Evidence from women's justice centers in Peru." Journal of Development Economics 168: 103262.^[11]