Emma Aguila

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Exec Ed
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- The Bigger Picture
- Bookclub PodcastAn audio bookclub. Our geeks read and discuss new and classic works in the policy field – fictional and non. Social justice, tech, politics, policy … we cover it all and more. We want to get at the heart of what it means to be a community member in America. Listen on our site here, or subscribe at ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Get Involved: Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at [email protected].
- LA HashtagsLos Angeles Hashtags Itself, began as a six-episode, limited series podcast, featuring various Angeleno agencies leading the critical trend of using digital media for urban and social development. Season 3, LA Hashtags Herself, will focus on a few of the many women who aim to leave Los Angeles a better place. If you like art, community, cultural journalism, real estate, transportation, and tech generally, we hope you will find something worth hearing. Listen to the individual posts on our site here, or subscribe at iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play!
- Our American DiscourseGreat knowledge need not wither on the academic vine. We bring you the smartest minds from the University of Southern California and beyond, wrestling with the defining challenges of our time. In their research, we find wisdom. In their voice, hope. Hosted by Anthony W. Orlando, Our American Discourse reminds us that we’re never too different to learn from each other, nor too divided to find common ground. Listen to the individual podcasts below or subscribe on Google Play, iTunes, or Soundcloud. But most of all, keep the conversation going. Tell us what you thought. Tell others what you heard. Keep our American discourse alive—and healthy.
- The Policy PaycheckCreated and hosted by Serena Allen, a junior studying public policy, with an emphasis on advanced policy analysis, The Policy Paycheck is a nonpartisan podcast dedicated to simplifying the economic side of high profile policies. Often, we only get one side of the coin regarding policy matters. This podcast reaches beyond these boundaries to allow listeners to think critically on political matters that impact their daily lives.
- P.S. You’re InterestingOur newest podcast series is where we discuss new research in Political Science with stars in the field. We hope to bring the research to life. Host Jeffery A. Jenkins hopes to share innovations and implications of research, through conversation and interviews with invited guests. To listen to individual episodes use the player on the episode, or stream & subscribe on your favorite podcasting app – just search “P.S. You’re Interesting” or “usc bedrosian.” Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter, @jaj7d
- Policy at the Playhouse“All art is political in the sense that it serves someone’s politics.” – August Wilson Theatre can bolster the status quo. It can foment revolution. It can make us question our identities and the identities of those around us. It makes us yearn and strive. It gives us closure. It leaves us wanting more. Theatre is a weapon. It holds up a mirror. It is politics. Theatre dissolves the distance between people. Theatre exposes humanity and inhumanity. Theatre connects us. The Policy at the Playhouse podcast features conversations about how art, theater in particular, is an integral part of our civic lives allowing us to question and inform our conceptions of citizenship and community. This podcast continues our ongoing efforts to bring policy and its impact into the public discourse, recognizing that citizens inform themselves in many different arenas. Listen to individual episodes on the player above, the Policy at the Playhouse page, or subscribe at iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play.
- Reel ReviewReel Review is a film podcast dedicated to thinking about how the media we consume contributes to the public good. Hosted by Erroll Southers, the podcast focuses on visual storytelling, diversity, and the public good. This podcast is sponsored by Price Video Services and USC Bedrosian Center, and continues our ongoing efforts to bring policy and its impact into the public discourse. Download or subscribe at ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Get Involved: Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter or Facebook, & Instagram, or email us at [email protected].
- Unfair Nation by (In)equality Fellow, Ehsan Zaffar
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Associate Professor

Ph.D. in Economics
University College London, UK

Sol Price School of Public Policy
Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall, 226
Los Angeles, CA 90089

Emma Aguila is an Associate Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public of Policy. She was previously a Senior Economist and Director of the RAND Center for Latin American Social Policy (CLASP). Dr. Aguila earned her Bachelor’s Degree at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico in Mexico City. She completed her master’s and Ph.D. in Economics at University College London in the United Kingdom. Her research interests include pension reform, saving for retirement, and social security coverage and labor dynamics of immigrants.

Dr. Aguila has received several awards for her work on pension reform in Mexico. Her study on the effects of pension reform (pay-as-you-go versus fully-funded systems) on private savings and consumption received the first prize in pensions in 2005 from CONSAR, Mexico. In 2007, Dr. Aguila’s study on social security systems, pension provision, and retirement behavior in Mexico received the Inter-American Award for Research in Social Security. In 2008, she received the RAND Gold Merit Award for her contributions to social policy in Latin America.

Dr. Aguila has published two books examining aspects of income security in retirement, social security, health, and migration: (1) United States and Mexico: Ties That Bind, Issues That Divide and (2) Living Longer in Mexico: Income Security and Health. She has also authored several articles in top-ranking scientific journals.

Dr. Aguila has significant experience designing and implementing field experiments and longitudinal surveys. She is currently leading a randomized control trial analyzing the impact of a non-contributory pension program in the State of Yucatan, Mexico. She is advisor of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) survey in Mexico and the Social Protection Survey (EPS) in Latin America.

Dr. Aguila’s 12 years of professional experience has informed her research agenda. She has worked as a researcher for the chief economist team at the Department of Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom, as a consultant in projects for the World Bank, and on the research staff of the Mexican Ministry of Finance, the Mexican Ministry of Energy and the Mexican National Population Council.

Publications

Aguila, E. (2018). Non-contributory pension programs and frailty of older adults: Evidence from Mexico. PLoS One, 13(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206792

Vega, A., Porteny, T., & Aguila, E. (2018). The Role of Clinics in Determining Older Recent Immigrants’ Use of Health Services. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(6), 1468–1475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0693-x

Aguila, E., Kapteyn, A., & Perez-Arce, F. (2017). Consumption Smoothing and Frequency of Benefit Payments of Cash Transfer Programs. The American Economic Review, 107(5), 430–435. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20171147

Blanco, L., Aguila, E., Gongora, A., & Duru, O. (2017). Retirement Planning Among Hispanics: In God’s Hands? Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 29(4), 311–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2016.1272161

Vega, A., & Aguila, E. (2017). Foreign retirement income among new older immigrants in the United States. International Migration, 55(3), 38–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12325

Aguila, E., Angrisani, M., & Blanco, L. (2016). Ownership of a bank account and health of older Hispanics. Economics Letters, 144, 41–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2016.04.013

Aguila, E., Guerrero, E., & Vega, W. (2016). Sociodemographic characteristics associated with alcohol use among low-income Mexican older adults. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 11(17), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-016-0061-6

Aguila, E., Mejia, N., Perez-Arce, F., Ramirez, E., & Rivera Illingworth, A. (2016). Costs of Extending the Noncontributory Pension Program for Elderly: The Mexican Case. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 28(4), 325–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2016.1158384

Aguila, E., Cervera, M. D., Martinez-Salgado, H., & Weidmer, B. (2015). Developing and Testing Informed-Consent Methods in a Study of the Elderly in Mexico. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Aguila, E., Fonseca, R., & Vega, A. (2015). Self-Employment, Health Insurance, and Return Migration of Middle-Aged and Elderly Mexican Males. In W. Vega, K. Markides, J. Angel & F. Torres-Gil (Eds.), Challenges of Latino Aging in the Americas (pp. 103). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Aguila, E., Kapteyn, A., & Smith, J. P. (2015). Effects of Income Supplementation on Health of the Poor Elderly: The Case of Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(1), 70-75.

Aguila, E., Mejía, N., Pérez, F., Rivera, A., & Ramírez, E. (2015). Pobreza y Vulnerabilidad en México: El Caso de los Jóvenes que no Estudian ni Trabajan. Estudios Económicos, 30(1), 3-49.

Aguila, E. (2014). Male Labor Force Participation and Social Security in Mexico. Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 13(02), 145-171.

Aguila, E., Hurd, M. D., & Rohwedder, S. (2014). How do Management Fees Affect Retirement Wealth under Mexico’s Personal Retirement Accounts System? Latin American Policy, 5(2), 331-350.

Aguila, E., Borges, A., Kapteyn, A., Robles, R., & Weimar, B. (2014). A Noncontributory Pension Program for Older Persons in Yucatan, Mexico. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Aguila, E., Escarce, J., Leng, M., & Morales, L. (2013). Health Status and Behavioral Risk Factors in Older Adult Mexicans and Mexican Immigrants to the United States. Journal of Aging and Health, 25(1), 136-158.

Aguila, E., & Zissimopoulos, J. (2013). Ruhestands- und Gesundheitsleistungen fur aus den Vereinigten Staaten zuruckkehrende mexikanische Arbeitsmigranten. Internationale Revue fur Soziale Sicherheit, 66(2), 115–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/issg.12023

Aguila, E., & Zissimopoulos, J. (2013). Retirement and Health Benefits for Mexican Migrant Workers Returning from the United States. International Social Security Review, 66(2), 101-125.

Aguila, E., Akhmedjonov, A., Basurto-Davila, R., Kumar, K. B., & Shatz, H. J. (2012). How can Economic and Political Ties between the United States and Mexico be Strengthened? Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Aguila, E., Kapteyn, A., Robles, R., & Weidmer, B. (2011). Experimental Analysis of the Health and Well-Being Effects of a Non-Contributory Social Security Program. RAND Corporation Working Papers, (WR-903). (Under review).