Robert Gonzalez

My major fields of interest are development economics and public economics. Specifically, my research focuses on the role of information-communication technologies (ICTs) and the use of novel GIS data and methods to study conflict, crime, and public health.

My most recent work studies the role that access to cellphone technology can play on fragile settings: deterring election fraud in fragile security environments such as that of Afghanistan, containing the spread of disease during the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic, explaining patterns of insurgent violence in Afghanistan. As part of my research, I have done fieldwork in India, Liberia, and Brazil.

Prior to joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, I was an assistant professor in the department of economics at the University of South Carolina. I obtained my PhD in economics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2016.