Associate ProfessorMarian Vidal-Fernandez

BA Universitat Pompeu Fabra, MSc Universitat Pompeu Fabra, PhD Boston University

Marian Vidal-Fernandez is an Associate Professor at the School of Economics and an Associate Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course.

She is a human capital economist who employs applied micro-econometrics to study how policy-relevant issues in labor, education, and health impact minorities and populations from a disadvantaged socio-economic status (SES).

For instance, she has studied how setting minimum academic requirements to enrol into athletic activities or obtaining a driving license increases high school graduation and lowers crime rates among poor young adults, the increasing relevance of grandmothers as childcare givers, the birth order effect, the impact personality traits affect productivity, the impact of water contamination on children’s education in India, and the dynamic and heterogeneous impacts of experiencing the death of a sibling.

Marian has published in leading international and interdisciplinary journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Human Resources, the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, and the Economic Journal. Prior to joining The University of Sydney in 2015, she held a lectureship at the University of New South Wales.

Marian is passionate about scientific dissemination, and has been awarded several teaching awards. Her academic work has been cited in several leading media and news outlets, including SMH, Scientific American, Forbes, and BBC News.