Kathryn Vasilaky
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Faculty Affiliate at the Noyce School of Applied Computing, Cal Poly. I'm also a Research Affiliate at the Climate School at Columbia University, Faculty Affiliate at CEGA, UC Berkeley, an Invited Researcher at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, MIT, and a member of the Innovation Growth Lab.
As a development economist, my work examines how groups, networks, and gender dynamics influence information exchange and technology adoption, with a focus on agriculture across Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Central America, the US, and Ukraine. Additionally, I work at the intersection of computer science and economics, investigating how selection biases in data impact machine learning and recommendation algorithms.
I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and a B.A. from Columbia University.
Beyond academia, I am a co-founder of Ground Truth Data, a startup focused on granular weather sensing, and I co-run PyData SLO. My diverse interests include volunteering with WWOOF, teaching for Girls Who Code, and contributing to Economists for Ukraine. In a previous life, I was a professional ballet dancer with the San Francisco Ballet company, and today I stay creative through improvised theater.
Research
Peer-Reviewed Research
Baul, T., Karlan, D., Toyama, K., Vasilaky, K.
Improving Smallholder Agriculture via Video-Based Group Extension
(2024). Journal of Development Economics, 169.
VoxDev Coverage ·
JPAL Summary ·
JPAL Insights
Flory, J., Leonard, K., Tsaneva, M., Vasilaky, K. How social structure shapes female competition throughout her lifetime (2023). Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 216, 433-456.
Vasilaky, K., Harou, A., Alfredo, K., Kapur, I.
What works for water conservation? Evidence from a field experiment in India
(2023). Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 119.
World Bank Coverage
Hamilton, S., Richards, T., Shafran, A., Vasilaky, K. Farm labor productivity and the impact of mechanization (2022). American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 104(4), 1435-1459.
Ovaisi, Z., Vasilaky, K., Zheleva, E. Propensity-independent Bias Recovery in Offline Learning-to-rank Systems (2021). 44th International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR).
Vasilaky, K., Brock, M. Power(ful) Guidelines for Experimental Economists (2020). Journal of the Experimental Science Association, 6, 189–212.
Ovaisi, Z., Ahsan, R., Zhang, Y., Vasilaky, K., Zheleva, E. Correcting for Selection Bias in Learning-to-rank Systems (2020). Proceedings of the 2020 World Wide Web Conference (WWW/WebConf).
Enenkel, M., Brown, M.E., Vogt, J.V., McCarty, J.L., Bell, A.R., Guha-Sapir, D., Dorigo, W.A., Vasilaky, K., Svoboda, M., Bonifacio, R., Voigt, S., Anderson, M., Funk, C., Osgood, D.E., Hain, C., Vinck, P. Why predict climate hazards if we need to understand impacts? Mobile technologies could put humans back into the equation (2020). Climatic Change.
Buehren, N., Goldstein, M., Leonard, K., Montalvao, J., Vasilaky, K. Spillover Effects of Girls' Empowerment on Brothers' Competitiveness: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Uganda (2020). Economic Development and Cultural Change, 70(2).
Vasilaky, K., Martínez Sáez, S., Stanimirova, R., Osgood, D. Perceptions of Farm Size Heterogeneity and Demand for Group Index Insurance (2020). Games.
Vasilaky, K., Diro, R., Norton, M., McCarnery, G., Osgood, D. Can Education Unlock Scale? The Demand Impact of Educational Games on a Large-Scale Unsubsidised Index Insurance Programme in Ethiopia (2019). Journal of Development Studies, 56(2), 361-383.
Vasilaky, K., Leonard, K. As Good as the Networks They Keep?: Improving Outcomes through Weak Ties in Uganda (2018). Economic Development and Cultural Change, 66(4), 755-792.
Vasilaky, K., Islam, A. By Team or By Tournament? Incentives for Sharing Information in an Experimental Game (2018). World Development, 103, 216-225.
Vasilaky, K. Female Social Networks and Farmer Training: Can Randomized Information Exchange Improve Outcomes? (2013). American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 95(2), 376-383.
Haack, R.A., Britton, K.O., Brockerhoff, E.G., Cavey, J.F., Garrett, L.J., Kimberley, M., Lowenstein, F., Nuding, A., Olson, L.J., Turner, J., Vasilaky, K.N. Effectiveness of the International Phytosanitary Standard ISPM No. 15 (2014). PLoS ONE, 9(5).
Working Papers
Klymak, M., Kosenko, A., Korenok, O., Mykhailyshyna, D., Vasilaky, K.
Charitable Giving During the War. 2025 CSAE Working Paper Series.
Working Paper ·
VoxEU Coverage
Brock, J.M., Vasilaky, K. Does Background Uncertainty Narrow the Gender Competition Gap? Under Review.
Aubrac, C., Magomba, C., Balasubramanya, S., Vasilaky, K. Realized and Elicited Cooperation Under Water Scarcity: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Tanzania. Under Review.
Vasilaky, K., Shafran, A. Intraday Farm Productivity Bonuses and Their Peer Effects: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Under Review.
Vasilaky, K.
A Generalized Ridge Regression Using an Iterative Solution: The Inverse Problem in Regression Analysis with a Stopping Rule, Columbia University.
Working Paper ·
Git Repo
Harou, A., Lee, C.-Y., Osgood, D., Vasilaky, K. Measuring the Impact of Timely Disaster Response in the Philippines Using Weather Extremes. Working Paper.
Unpublished Papers
Shirley, K., Vasilaky, K., Greatrex, H., Osgood, D.
A Hierarchical Bayesian Model of Weather Prediction with Multiple Time Series, Earth Institute, Columbia University.
Working Paper (2016)
Hill, R., Mejía-Mantilla, C., Vasilaky, K.
Vanishing Returns? Potential Returns and Constraints to Input Adoption among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda. World Bank Research Paper Vol. 1, No. 8627.
R&R
Reports & Policy Briefs
Vasilaky, K., Leonard, K.
Improving Social Networks for Ugandan Farmers (2016).
World Bank Policy Brief
Buehren, N., Goldstein, M., Leonard, K., Montalvao, J., Vasilaky, K. World Bank Report Number WPS7699
Vasilaky, K.
Єдиний Економічний Простір: Наслідки для України (2004).
Shevchenko Scientific Society
Grants & Field Experience
Grants
- Principal Investigator, Innovations for Poverty Action — War, Identity and its Economic Consequences in Ukraine ,
- Principal Investigator, RSCA, Cal Poly — Addressing Prediction Biases in Agricultural Yields with Remote Sensing,
- Principal Investigator, Noyce School of Computing, Cal Poly — Selection Bias in Learning to Rank,
- Co-Principal Investigator, RSCA, Cal Poly — Nudging Women into Business and Economics,
- Co-Principal Investigator, USDA — Immigration Reform and Farm Labor Shortages,
- Principal Investigator, RSCA, Cal Poly — Correcting for Algorithmic Confounding Bias,
- Co-Principal Investigator, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — Multimodal Satellite Rainfall Measurement for Index Insurance ,
- Co-Principal Investigator, World Bank / IFC — Evaluating the Timeliness of Disaster Response,
- Principal Investigator, Columbia University — SMS-Based System for Rainfall Reports,
- Principal Investigator, Columbia University — Groundwater Depletion in Northern India,
- PhD Thesis Funding, World Bank DECRG — Weak Ties and Technology Adoption,
Field Work
- Central Coast (California) — Immigration Reform and Farm Labor Shortages (USDA),
- India (Maharashtra) — Satellite Rainfall Measurement for Index Insurance,
- Dominican Republic — Group Insurance and Informal Networks,
- Philippines (Manila) — Disaster Response and Poverty,
- India (Punjab & Haryana) — Water Measurement and Savings,
- Senegal & Honduras — Group Size and Index Insurance,
- Indonesia (Indramayu) — Weather Uncertainty & Index Insurance,
- India (Bihar) — Video-Based Agricultural Extension,
- Ethiopia — Weather Index Insurance,
- Uganda — Female Adolescent Outcomes,
- Malawi — Gender & Competition in Villages,
- Uganda — Malaria Diagnosis Feasibility,
- Tanzania — Markets for Cotton By-Products,
Field Work Photos
Personal Field Work
I actively farm internationally through WWOOF and as a farm lead for First Fruits Farm in San Luis Obispo, CA.
- Spain (Nieva) — WWOOF Spain,
- France (Cauterets) — WWOOF France,
- France (Dordogne) — WWOOF France,
- Canada (Gaspé) — WWOOF Canada,
Teaching Experience
University Courses
PhD Course on Machine Learning for Causal Inference
Sept 11–15, 2023- Weeklong intensive course
- Co-taught with Eduardo Zambrano
Economics 552: Causal Inference for Machine Learning
Spring 2022 – PresentEconomics 580: Special Projects with World Bank
Spring 2021 – PresentEconomics 395: Programming for Economics and Analytics
Spring 2017 – PresentEconomics 201: Survey of Economics
Winter 2017 – PresentSDEV W2300: Challenges of Sustainable Development
Spring 2016Intermediate Statistics
Spring 2011Additional Activities
Guest lectures at Columbia University and teaching assistantships at the University of Maryland. I have also led several professional workshops and community tutorials on topics including Python, Flask, data science, and web scraping for organizations like NYC PyLadies, PyCon, and Statistics.com.
Curriculum Vitae
Full CV Download
A comprehensive overview of my academic and professional background, including detailed information about research, teaching, publications, and service activities.