Paloma Assuncao is a first year PhD fellow at UNU-MERIT. She obtained her B.A. in economics from Escola de Economia de Sao Paulo (EESP-FGV), and she studied economics at Tinbergen Institute as a research master student, with focus on empirical microeconomics. Prior to joining UNU-MERIT, she worked as a macroeconomic research intern at Santander Bank and junior economic consultant at MCM Consultants, both in Brazil.

Her research interests include female economic participation, fertility decision and social norms in developing countries. At UNU-MERIT, she is particularly interested on studying excess female mortality among children in India and the role of gender-biased social norms.