Rodrigo Aranda, PhD

Rodrigo Aranda is a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Center for Economic and Social Research at the University of Southern California and with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is also a Faculty Affiliate with the Georgia Policy Labs at Georgia State University, and a RCMAR Scholar with the Minority Aging Health Economics Research Center at the USC Schaeffer Center. He was previously a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Child & Family Policy Lab in the Georgia Policy Labs. He received his doctorate in economics from Tulane University and worked at the National Council for Social Policy Evaluation in Mexico prior to his Ph.D.

Aranda’s program of research specializes in applied microeconomics with a focus on health economics. His work has centered on measuring the effect that public policies, high-profile events, and a changing environment have on health behaviors. His ongoing projects focus on the effect of increased access to sports in youth on health outcomes, the effect of indirect exposure to high-profile acts of violence on physical activity, and the effect of cigarette taxes on birth outcomes.

RCMAR Pilot Project Title: Effects of Adolescent Athletic Participation on Adult Women’s Cognitive Health.