Vélez, Maria Alejandra
Maria Alejandra Vélez is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, and Senior Research Fellow of EfD Colombia. She holds a Ph.D. in Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2006). She is also the Director of the Center of Studies on Security and Drugs (CESED in Spanish) at Universidad de Los Andes.
Research interests
Her research interests focus on decision-making and institutional design concerning developing country environmental and natural resource issues. Using economic field experiments, she has been studying local resource sharing and collective action dilemmas of rural villagers in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. Recently she has been studying the impact of economic incentives on intrinsic motivations and the effect of collective titling on forest cover and communities wellbeing in the Colombian Pacific Region.
Mentoring
She has been mentoring several female scholars and graduate students during her career, who are now working on environmental policy and environmental economics. For example, former students and research assistants Adriana Molina and Julian Unda are now pursing PhD programs at top Universities such as University of Colorado Boulder and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Other students and former teaching assistants such as Camilo de los Ríos are pursuing a PhD program at Duke University and Sergio Puerto at Cornell University. For all them she wrote recommendation letters and guide them during the process of application.
She also has served as co-supervisor of Lina Moros, now assistant professor at the school of Management of Los Andes University and was the postdoctoral supervisor of Luz Rodriguez, now assistant professor at the school of rural development at Javeriana University. With all of my students and junior shoolars I have co-authored papers and developed joint projects.
Grants
2018. Effect of exclusión and removal from payment for environmental services (PES) programs in Colombia. Innsbruck University.
2018-2019. Effect of exclusión and removal from payment for environmental services (PES) programs in Colombia. Innsbruck University.
2016-2020.Impacto de la titulación colectiva en el pacífico Colombiano. Gothenburg University - Environment for Development Initiative (EfD).
2019-2022. Effect of ending payment for environmental servicies. Gothenburg University - Environment for Development Initiative (EfD).
2020-2022. Preferences for mining formalization. Gothenburg University - Environment for Development Initiative (EfD).
2021-2022. Towards a green drug policy agenda in Colombia and Latin America: tools for enhancing environmental approaches on Alternative Development. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
2021-2022. Analysis of the socioeconomic characteristics of Coca farmers in special management zones. Vicechancellor of Research and Creation UniAndes and EAFIT University.
Policy engagement
She has been interacting with congress members on the debate about drug policy in Colombia and its environmental impacts.
Awards
Associate Editor, Journal of Environment and Development Economics 2019-2021
Member Editorial Board, Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, Since 2019
Economic Advisory Board, Enviromental Defense Fund , Since 2020