Jorge De la Roca

Biography

Jorge De la Roca is an Associate Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public of Policy. His research interests include urban economics, labor economics, and economic geography. His research focuses on understanding the benefits of working in big cities and studying urban migration across cities of different sizes, where he has published articles in the Review of Economic Studies, Journal of the European Economic Association, and the Journal of Urban Economics. He has also studied the consequences of racial segregation on minorities in the United States, co-authoring articles in Regional Science and Urban Economics and Journal of Housing Economics.

Dr. De la Roca earned his doctorate and master’s in Economics at CEMFI in Spain and his Bachelor Degree at Universidad del Pacífico in Peru. He is the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Research Director and co-leads the LACEA Urban Economics network (LAUrban). Before joining the Price School, he was a research fellow at the NYU Furman Center. He has also worked at Harvard University’s Center for International Development, the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Group for the Analysis of Development in Lima, Peru.

Selected Publications

• Bacolod, M., De la Roca, J., & Ferreyra, M. M. (2021). In search of better opportunities: Sorting and agglomeration effects among young college graduates in Colombia. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 87, 103656.
• De la Roca, J., Gould Ellen, I., & Steil, J. P. (2018). Does segregation matter for Latinos?. Journal of Housing Economics, 40: 129–141.
• De la Roca, J., & Puga, D.( 2017). Learning by working in big cities. Review of Economic Studies, 84(1), 106–142.