Solis, Alex
Visiting Researcher
Department of Economics
Department of Economics
Affiliated Researcher
Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets
Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets
I'm an affiliated researcher with the Mistra Center for Sustainable market (MISUM) at the Stockholm School of Economics, researching mainly human capital and credit markets and the economics of education. I am also a visiting researcher at the Department of Economics.
I am mainly interested in labor economics, studying different topics, from investment in human capital to behavioral economics.
I have studied the effects of credit on human capital investments. Human capital behaves differently than physical capital. Physical capital can be used as collateral in credit institutions (banks) to borrow for investments to create more capital. If the investor fails to pay, the bank sells the collateral to recover the funds.
However, human capital is inalienable from individuals, so banks cannot recover their funds in case of default. Consequently, credit institutions do not lend for investment in human capital, even when returns to education are high (credit markets are incomplete, markets fail). The main consequence is that individuals must rely on family resources to invest in human capital creating inequality and low social mobility.
I am mainly interested in labor economics, studying different topics, from investment in human capital to behavioral economics.
I have studied the effects of credit on human capital investments. Human capital behaves differently than physical capital. Physical capital can be used as collateral in credit institutions (banks) to borrow for investments to create more capital. If the investor fails to pay, the bank sells the collateral to recover the funds.
However, human capital is inalienable from individuals, so banks cannot recover their funds in case of default. Consequently, credit institutions do not lend for investment in human capital, even when returns to education are high (credit markets are incomplete, markets fail). The main consequence is that individuals must rely on family resources to invest in human capital creating inequality and low social mobility.
In my research, I show that when student loans become available, individuals increase their university enrollment (Solis, 2017), persistence (Card and Solis, 2022), and degree completion (Solis, 2022), leading to higher earnings in the labor market, i.e., credit availability increases investments in human capital, allowing individuals to benefit from education.
I have also studied other aspects of education, such as the effects of education on non-pecuniary outcomes, such as political participation (Solis, 2013) and family and partner characteristics (Kauffmann et al., 2013), and the effects of grade retention on cognitive and non-cognitive variables (Solis, 2018).
I am also interested in other topics. For example, I study the effects of competition on family formation and the marriage market (Solis, 2021); the impact of behavioral biases, such as inattention, on the housing market (Repetto and Solis, 2019); and how costs pass through to prices (Berk, Leibtag, Solis and Villas-Boas, 2009).
I am also interested in other topics. For example, I study the effects of competition on family formation and the marriage market (Solis, 2021); the impact of behavioral biases, such as inattention, on the housing market (Repetto and Solis, 2019); and how costs pass through to prices (Berk, Leibtag, Solis and Villas-Boas, 2009).
I have mostly taught econometrics for Ph.D. students, labor economics for master students, and several topics, from basic economics to macroeconomics, to undergraduate students.
My website is https://alexsolis.webs.com/
My website is https://alexsolis.webs.com/