The Department of Economics is proud to congratulate PhD student Laura Muñoz Blanco, who has won the European Economic Association Young Economist Award at the EEA-ESEM Congress 2022. The award was presented for her paper "Shifting Marriage Timing for Women: Natural Disasters and Forced Displacement," which examines the link between environmental shocks, forced displacement, and early marriage — and explores what policy interventions can most effectively address the problem.
Laura's research sits at the intersection of applied microeconomics, development economics, and economic history, combining geospatial data analysis with causal inference methods to shed light on how destructive events reshape the lives and choices of women in affected communities. The EEA Young Economist Award is one of the most prestigious prizes available to early-career researchers in economics in Europe, recognising outstanding original research by PhD students presented at the annual congress. The School extends its warmest congratulations to Laura on this exceptional achievement.