Katya Vasilaky
I am an Associate Professor with tenure 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.
Research
Labor Markets, Conflict, and Identity
Current Research
Klymak, M., Kosenko, A., Korenok, O., Mykhailyshyna, D., Vasilaky, K.
Charitable Giving in Wartime: Evidence from Ukraine's War Fundraising.
Revise and Resubmit, Review of Economics and Statistics.
Working Paper ·
VoxEU Coverage ·
Policy Implications Podcast
Brock, M., Klymak, M., Vasilaky, K. Reintegrating Internally Displaced Persons, Veterans, and Women in the Post-Invasion Labor Market. Funded by J-PAL European Social Inclusion Initiative and CEGA Development Economics Challenge.
Vasilaky, K. War, Identity, and its Economic Consequences. Funded by the IPA Displaced Livelihoods Initiative.
Machine Learning and Causal Inference
Current Research
Islam, A., Vasilaky, K., Zheleva, E. Position Bias Correction Through Residuals. Requested Rebuttal, ACM RecSys 2026.
Jain, M., Deshpande, M., Vasilaky, K., Wilson, C. Selection-Aware Learning for Satellite-Based Crop Yield Prediction. Working Paper; funded by a Cal Poly RSCA Grant.
Vasilaky, K., Vasilaky, W.
Inclusive Ridge: Adaptive Shrinkage with Applications to Causal Inference.
Working Paper.
Git Repository
Publications
Ovaisi, Z., Vasilaky, K., Zheleva, E. Propensity-independent Bias Recovery in Offline Learning-to-rank Systems . ACM SIGIR (2021).
Ovaisi, Z., Ahsan, R., Vasilaky, K., Zheleva, E. Correcting for Selection Bias in Learning-to-rank Systems. WWW/WebConf (2020).
Experimental Economics, Gender, and Social Identity
Current Research
Brock, J.M., Vasilaky, K. Does Background Uncertainty Narrow the Gender Competition Gap? An Experiment with Non-Students. Under Review; funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Shafran, A., Vasilaky, K. Intraday Farm Productivity Bonuses and Their Peer Effects: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Under Review; funded by USDA AFRI.
Doremus, J., Zilber Mann, C., Vasilaky, K. Group-Oriented Messaging and Diversity in Economics: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Under Review; funded by a Cal Poly RSCA Grant.
Publications
Flory, J., Leonard, K., Tsaneva, M., Vasilaky, K. How Social Structure Shapes Female Competition Throughout Her Lifetime. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2023).
Hamilton, S., Richards, T., Shafran, A., Vasilaky, K. Farm Labor Productivity and the Impact of Mechanization. American Journal of Agricultural Economics (2022).
Vasilaky, K., Brock, M. Power(ful) Guidelines for Experimental Economists . Journal of the Economic Science Association (2020).
Buehren, N., Montalvao, J., Goldstein, M., Leonard, K., Vasilaky, K. Spillover Effects of Girls' Empowerment on Brothers' Competitiveness. Economic Development and Cultural Change (2020).
Vasilaky, K., Islam, A. Competition or Cooperation? Using Team and Tournament Incentives for Learning among Female Farmers in Rural Uganda. World Development (2018).
Vasilaky, K. Female Social Networks and Farmer Training: Can Randomized Information Exchange Improve Outcomes? American Journal of Agricultural Economics (2013).
Vasilaky, K., Leonard, K. As Good as the Networks They Keep? Improving Outcomes through Weak Ties in Rural Uganda. Economic Development and Cultural Change (2018).
Applied Development Economics
Current Research
Harou, A., Vasilaky, K., Lee, C.-Y., Osgood, D. Timely Disaster Response and its Impacts on Poverty in the Philippines. Under Review; funded by the World Bank.
Publications
Baul, T., Karlan, D., Toyama, K., Vasilaky, K. Improving Smallholder Agriculture via Video-Based Group Extension. Journal of Development Economics (2024).
Vasilaky, K., Alfredo, K., Harou, A. What Works for Water Conservation? Evidence from a Field Experiment. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (2023).
Vasilaky, K., Diro, R., McCarney, G., Osgood, D. Can Education Unlock Scale? The Demand Impact of Educational Games on a Large-Scale Unsubsidized Index Insurance Programme in Ethiopia. Journal of Development Studies (2019).
Vasilaky, K., Saenz Martinez, S., Stanimirova, R., Osgood, D. Perceptions of Farm Size Heterogeneity and Demand for Group Index Insurance. Games (2020).
Enenkel, M. et al. Why Predict Climate Hazards if We Need to Understand Impacts? Mobile Technologies Could Put Humans Back into the Equation. Climatic Change (2020).
Haack, R.A. et al. Effectiveness of the International Phytosanitary Standard ISPM No. 15 on Reducing Wood Borer Infestation Rates in Wood Packaging Material Entering the United States. PLoS ONE (2014).
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, JPAL European Social Inclusion Initiative — Reintegrating Internally Displaced Persons, Veterans and Women in the post Invasion Labor Market in Ukraine ,
- Principal Investigator, CEGA UC Berkeley Development Economics Challenge — Reintegrating Internally Displaced Persons, Veterans, and Women in the Post-Invasion Labor Market in Ukraine ,
- Principal Investigator, Innovations for Poverty Action — War, Identity and its Economic Consequences in Ukraine ,
- Principal Investigator, Cal Poly Teacher Scholar Grant — Social Identity, Training, and Opportunity: Integrating Ukraine's IDPs into New Labor Markets and Communities ,
- Principal Investigator, RSCA, Cal Poly — Addressing Prediction Biases in Agricultural Yields with Remote Sensing with Meha Jain,
- 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
- Ukraine — War, Identity and its Economic Consequences in Ukraine,
- Central Coast (California) — Immigration Reform and Farm Labor Shortages,
- 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,
- Uganda — Cotton Cash Crop and Female Productivity,
- Tanzania — Markets for Cotton By-Products,
field photos
Personal Field Work
- Spain (Nieva) — WWOOF Spain,
- France (Cauterets) — WWOOF France,
- France (Dordogne) — WWOOF France,
- Canada (Gaspé) — WWOOF Canada,