Silverio Murillo, Adan2019-09-172019-09-172017-07https://hdl.handle.net/11299/206624University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.July 2017. Major: Agricultural and Applied Economics. Advisor: Paul Glewwe. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 102 pages.This dissertation consists of three empirical essays on development economics. The first essay estimates the effect of bullying on dropping out of school. I find that boys experience higher rates of bullying than girls, but bullying affects only girls' probability of dropping out of school. The second essay investigates the accuracy of information regarding assets collected through household surveys. Using a survey that asks questions regarding household assets to the wife and to the husband from families participating in the Mexican conditional cash transfer program PROGRESA, I find discrepancies between the spouses in the possession of assets reported. The third essay analyzes the use of disaster funds (government saving resources ex-ante for post-disaster use) to protect families’ consumption from a natural disaster. Using data for Hurricane Earl in Puebla, Mexico, where a disaster fund was implemented; results show a decrease in consumption, including beans, which is an essential staple good for Mexican families.enAdolescentesBullyingEducationNatural DisastersNon-cognitive skillsSurvey DataThesis or Dissertation