Marco Castillo
Biographic Data
| ID | 3605700 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marco Castillo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marco |
| FAMILY NAME | Castillo |
| SIGNATURE | CASTILLO M |
| AFFILIATIONS | New York City College of Technology |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0756-7184 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 41 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Is Less More: An Analysis of Microblogs vs. Discussion Forums as Tools for Understanding the Public
Social media platforms offer valuable tools for public administrators seeking to assess public sentiment on policy issues, especially in urban areas with diverse stakeholder interests. This study investigates how public administrators can leverage social media by comparing communications on Reddit’s discussion forum platform with X’s microblogging platform. I hypothesize that Reddit fosters more subjective, nuanced discussions, providing richer i…
My Neighbor Next Floor: The Built Environment and Social Preferences
We assess the effect of the built environment on low-cost helping behavior toward neighbors. The setting is households in Shanghai, China that, due to rapid development, were involuntarily, i.e. as good as randomly, relocated to different building structures. Using a natural field experiment of misdelivered mail, we test the causal effect of spatial proximity and the built environment on helping behavior. Living one floor apart reduces the willin…
A Perspective from the Global South: Reflections of a Guatemalan Organizer
Detecting Drivers of Behavior at an Early Age: Evidence from a Longitudinal Field Experiment
We use field experiments with nearly 900 children to investigate how skills developed at ages 3-5 drive later-life outcomes. We find that skills map onto three distinct factors - cognitive skills, executive functions, and economic preferences. Returning to the children up to 7 years later, we find that executive functions, but not cognitive skills, predict the likelihood of receiving disciplinary referrals. Economic preferences have an independen…
Media Tropes and the Legacy of Settler Colonialism in Chile's Constitutional Reform Process
This article examines the legacies of racism and settler colonialism in contemporary Chile by examining political discourses in the context of the country's failed Constitutional reform process. We analyze newspaper articles during the period of the first progressive and the second conservative constitutional projects, which were both rejected in popular referendums in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Through our analysis, we find how media narrative…
Implementing indigenous paradigms: The paradoxes of actualizing Sumak Kawsay
In this paper, I use the Quechan indigenous concept of sumak kawsay and its effects on the politics and policy of the South American nation of Ecuador to aid public administration in its efforts toward developing knowledge that can foster improvements in human wellbeing. The concept of sumak kawsay, which seeks to define the “good life” for human beings, can provide value for public administration as it seeks new ways to conceptualize and actuali…
Discount Rates of Children and High School Graduation
We present direct evidence that children who are unwilling to wait for a larger reward and instead prefer a small one earlier (i.e. they have a higher discount rate) are less likely to graduate from high school. Using an incentivised experiment to measure the discount rates of 878 children, we find large effects on human capital accumulation - a one standard deviation increase in the discount rate decreases the probability of graduating from high…
In Paraguay, All That's New is Old: Setting fire to Congress did not set fire to the system
St Century Golpismo: A Nacla Roundtable
Tanks in the streets. Generals declaring victory over communism. Congress closed. Civil liberties suspended. For those of us whose knowledge of Latin America was shaped by the Cold War, these are p
Eternal Conflicts: Centralization vs. Decentralization in the Star Wars Film Series
This article explores the tension between centralization and decentralization in the Star Warsfilm series, noting how the films' representation of the conflict between these forces reflects and seeks to reconcile long-held American ambivalences about energetic government. The article posits that the Star Wars films reflect a tragic view of centralized governmental power in which its potential as a positive force is inevitably marred by its inhere…
What Persuades Voters? A Field Experiment on Political Campaigning
Candidates spend considerable resources campaigning. Prior research indicates campaigning affects voting decisions but, as with advertising generally, what element of campaigning persuades – the content or its delivery method – is not fully understood. Using a field experiment in a 2010 general election for local office, we identify the mechanism behind one campaign method: candidate door‐to‐door canvassing. We vary both the method of contact and…
Public Participation, Mayoral Control, and the New York City Public School System
In this article, I utilize the case of New York City to assess the role and influence of public-participation mechanisms operating in large urban public school systems under mayoral control. I find that the public-participation mechanisms operating under New York City’s mayor-controlled school system can produce some policy and administrative changes despite their lack of formal statutory powers. Their ability to produce such changes depends on s…
Trustworthiness and Social Capital in South Africa: Analysis of Actual Living Standards Data and Artifactual Field Experiments
This article measures trustworthiness using an experimental protocol designed to distinguish this social norm from purely altruistic preferences. Experimental participants were drawn from South African households surveyed by a longitudinal living standards study. This procedure not only permits analysis of the impact of experimentally measured social norms on real-world outcomes but also provides a rich array of data that can be used to control f…
Discrimination in Latin America: An Economic Perspective
This book presents a set of studies on contemporary discrimination in Latin America that takes advantage of these new tools by focusing on social interactions that range from cooperation, group formation, and the impact of migration in poor families to specific markets such as housing and labor. The techniques applied include traditional regression analysis, experimental approaches, and audit studies, as well as structural methods. This wide rang…
What Persuades Voters? A Field Experiment on Political Campaigning
Candidates spend considerable resources campaigning. Prior research indicates campaigning affects voting decisions but, as with advertising generally, what element of campaigning persuades – the content or its delivery method – is not fully understood. Using a field experiment in a 2010 general election for local office, we identify the mechanism behind one campaign method: candidate door‐to‐door canvassing. We vary both the method of contact and…
Discount Rates of Children and High School Graduation
We present direct evidence that children who are unwilling to wait for a larger reward and instead prefer a small one earlier (i.e. they have a higher discount rate) are less likely to graduate from high school. Using an incentivised experiment to measure the discount rates of 878 children, we find large effects on human capital accumulation - a one standard deviation increase in the discount rate decreases the probability of graduating from high…
Trustworthiness and Social Capital in South Africa: Analysis of Actual Living Standards Data and Artifactual Field Experiments
This article measures trustworthiness using an experimental protocol designed to distinguish this social norm from purely altruistic preferences. Experimental participants were drawn from South African households surveyed by a longitudinal living standards study. This procedure not only permits analysis of the impact of experimentally measured social norms on real-world outcomes but also provides a rich array of data that can be used to control f…
Implementing indigenous paradigms: The paradoxes of actualizing Sumak Kawsay
In this paper, I use the Quechan indigenous concept of sumak kawsay and its effects on the politics and policy of the South American nation of Ecuador to aid public administration in its efforts toward developing knowledge that can foster improvements in human wellbeing. The concept of sumak kawsay, which seeks to define the “good life” for human beings, can provide value for public administration as it seeks new ways to conceptualize and actuali…
Detecting Drivers of Behavior at an Early Age: Evidence from a Longitudinal Field Experiment
We use field experiments with nearly 900 children to investigate how skills developed at ages 3-5 drive later-life outcomes. We find that skills map onto three distinct factors - cognitive skills, executive functions, and economic preferences. Returning to the children up to 7 years later, we find that executive functions, but not cognitive skills, predict the likelihood of receiving disciplinary referrals. Economic preferences have an independen…
Discrimination in Latin America: An Economic Perspective
This book presents a set of studies on contemporary discrimination in Latin America that takes advantage of these new tools by focusing on social interactions that range from cooperation, group formation, and the impact of migration in poor families to specific markets such as housing and labor. The techniques applied include traditional regression analysis, experimental approaches, and audit studies, as well as structural methods. This wide rang…
Trustworthiness and Social Capital in South Africa: Analysis of Actual Living Standards Data and Artifactual Field Experiments
This article measures trustworthiness using an experimental protocol designed to distinguish this social norm from purely altruistic preferences. Experimental participants were drawn from South African households surveyed by a longitudinal living standards study. This procedure not only permits analysis of the impact of experimentally measured social norms on real-world outcomes but also provides a rich array of data that can be used to control f…
Public Participation, Mayoral Control, and the New York City Public School System
In this article, I utilize the case of New York City to assess the role and influence of public-participation mechanisms operating in large urban public school systems under mayoral control. I find that the public-participation mechanisms operating under New York City’s mayor-controlled school system can produce some policy and administrative changes despite their lack of formal statutory powers. Their ability to produce such changes depends on s…
Eternal Conflicts: Centralization vs. Decentralization in the Star Wars Film Series
This article explores the tension between centralization and decentralization in the Star Warsfilm series, noting how the films' representation of the conflict between these forces reflects and seeks to reconcile long-held American ambivalences about energetic government. The article posits that the Star Wars films reflect a tragic view of centralized governmental power in which its potential as a positive force is inevitably marred by its inhere…
What Persuades Voters? A Field Experiment on Political Campaigning
Candidates spend considerable resources campaigning. Prior research indicates campaigning affects voting decisions but, as with advertising generally, what element of campaigning persuades – the content or its delivery method – is not fully understood. Using a field experiment in a 2010 general election for local office, we identify the mechanism behind one campaign method: candidate door‐to‐door canvassing. We vary both the method of contact and…
St Century Golpismo: A Nacla Roundtable
Tanks in the streets. Generals declaring victory over communism. Congress closed. Civil liberties suspended. For those of us whose knowledge of Latin America was shaped by the Cold War, these are p
In Paraguay, All That's New is Old: Setting fire to Congress did not set fire to the system
Discount Rates of Children and High School Graduation
We present direct evidence that children who are unwilling to wait for a larger reward and instead prefer a small one earlier (i.e. they have a higher discount rate) are less likely to graduate from high school. Using an incentivised experiment to measure the discount rates of 878 children, we find large effects on human capital accumulation - a one standard deviation increase in the discount rate decreases the probability of graduating from high…
Implementing indigenous paradigms: The paradoxes of actualizing Sumak Kawsay
In this paper, I use the Quechan indigenous concept of sumak kawsay and its effects on the politics and policy of the South American nation of Ecuador to aid public administration in its efforts toward developing knowledge that can foster improvements in human wellbeing. The concept of sumak kawsay, which seeks to define the “good life” for human beings, can provide value for public administration as it seeks new ways to conceptualize and actuali…
Detecting Drivers of Behavior at an Early Age: Evidence from a Longitudinal Field Experiment
We use field experiments with nearly 900 children to investigate how skills developed at ages 3-5 drive later-life outcomes. We find that skills map onto three distinct factors - cognitive skills, executive functions, and economic preferences. Returning to the children up to 7 years later, we find that executive functions, but not cognitive skills, predict the likelihood of receiving disciplinary referrals. Economic preferences have an independen…
Media Tropes and the Legacy of Settler Colonialism in Chile's Constitutional Reform Process
This article examines the legacies of racism and settler colonialism in contemporary Chile by examining political discourses in the context of the country's failed Constitutional reform process. We analyze newspaper articles during the period of the first progressive and the second conservative constitutional projects, which were both rejected in popular referendums in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Through our analysis, we find how media narrative…
My Neighbor Next Floor: The Built Environment and Social Preferences
We assess the effect of the built environment on low-cost helping behavior toward neighbors. The setting is households in Shanghai, China that, due to rapid development, were involuntarily, i.e. as good as randomly, relocated to different building structures. Using a natural field experiment of misdelivered mail, we test the causal effect of spatial proximity and the built environment on helping behavior. Living one floor apart reduces the willin…
A Perspective from the Global South: Reflections of a Guatemalan Organizer
Is Less More: An Analysis of Microblogs vs. Discussion Forums as Tools for Understanding the Public
Social media platforms offer valuable tools for public administrators seeking to assess public sentiment on policy issues, especially in urban areas with diverse stakeholder interests. This study investigates how public administrators can leverage social media by comparing communications on Reddit’s discussion forum platform with X’s microblogging platform. I hypothesize that Reddit fosters more subjective, nuanced discussions, providing richer i…
Political science (11 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · Economics (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Management (3 works) · Psychology (3 works) · Public Administration (3 works)