CSMGEP Profiles: Angelino Viceisza

Finding Your Path

Math has always been an important factor in Angelino Viceisza’s life. But when he adds it all up, mentors have been what made the difference.

Viceisza, now a professor of economics at Spelman College in Atlanta, grew up in the Caribbean, with parents who had not gone to college themselves. In one of his earliest brushes with mentorship, he followed his sister into higher education, studying accounting just as she had. But he could only follow her so far.

“Basically by year two or three of college, I was like, boy, this is boring,” he recalls. He pushed through and graduated, but he knew he didn’t want to continue in accounting. He decided his next step would be Temple University’s international MBA program, which took him to Paris, Tokyo, and Philadelphia. Exciting enough, but even with that degree in hand, he was unsure of his next step, though he sensed he would like it to involve more math.

After returning to the Caribbean to consider his options, he ran into a mentor from his undergraduate years who asked a question that Viceisza, it turned out, needed to hear.

“He said to me, ‘You're telling me you don't like accounting, you don't like international business, you're looking for something more concrete. Have you ever considered economics?’”

Viceisza, to that point, had not. But once he did, it felt like a good fit, and he credits his mentor’s advice with setting him on what would become his career path.

“I always tell my students, you don't know where in the walk of life you're going to cross paths with somebody who says something that makes it click.”

Through his graduate studies at Georgia State University, Viceisza felt even more of a click with experimental economics, which he describes, academically speaking, as “playing God.”

An experimental economist is interested in how the collection of data is designed, making sure that the data coming in is as accurate as possible. When the subject of study is humans, there are all sorts of variables, and a lot of surprises. Experimental economists work to fully understand those forces and account for them. By “playing God,” he says, “I'm saying you're basically controlling, in a sense, who gets what, but you're controlling it by using chance and using luck.” 

One key area of Viceisza’s recent research is financial remittances — money that migrants send back to family in their home countries. One of his studies looked into whether fintech can boost financial inclusion, particularly for users with lower levels of education. Specifically, it tested whether migrants who claimed that cost was the primary factor in what remittance service they chose to use would stick to that preference given additional data via a comparison website. The study presented additional information like delivery times and customer reviews and tracked what users looked at and how they reacted to the added data. Viceisza’s research found that despite a stated preference for cheaper options, some migrants opted for more expensive services when given other factors to consider. The findings challenged the assumption that fintech uniformly guides people to make better financial decisions, and pointed to the need for better understanding of how people of all financial sophistication levels react to multiple layers of information.

Experimental economics has taken Viceisza to lots of places, and lots of areas of study too, including development, household finance, and entrepreneurship.

“Sometimes I get the question, ‘You've worked in many different areas of economics,’” he says, “and the reason why is because, yes, my core is methodological, but I can apply that methodology to a little bit of finance, a little bit of entrepreneurship, a little bit of development, and so on, which is why the topics in my research have seemed quite varied to some economists.” The theme running through it all, he says, is not a single topic, but rather the methodology behind the data collection.

In addition to teaching classes at Spelman, Viceisza is founder and director of VLab and research director of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship at the college. Both are a way to pay forward the mentorship he received early in his studies.

At VLab, which is named both for his campus nickname, “Dr. V,” and for the fact that it’s virtual, he gives undergraduates exposure to meaningful work in economics with the hope that they’ll gain what they need to continue in the field. Students might perform a literature review on a topic Viceisza is working on, clean up data, make charts, help with field surveys, present at conferences, or co-author a publication. A VLab student was instrumental in managing data collected through eye-tracking software for Viceisza’s study of migrant remittances and comparison websites, for example. 

The Center for Black Entrepreneurship, a collaboration between Spelman College, Morehouse College, and the Black Economic Alliance launched in 2023, supports Black businesses both at the student level and in the local community. Mentoring is a central tenet here, too, and CBE research fellows are encouraged to both contribute to and use data from the Black Wealth Data Center. And that’s just the beginning. Longer-term goals include creating an annual report on the state of Black entrepreneurship and nurturing a community of researchers and practitioners who are seeking gaps in research and opportunities for research to inform policy.

Viceisza is proud of his “nonlinear path” into economics, and hopes it serves as assurance to younger generations considering the profession that there are many routes in, and even the rocky ones are worthwhile.

“Most of us don't put the failures on the CV,” he points out. “You don't see all the trials and tribulations we went through. … We too have struggled getting there and we still struggle. It is just part of life.”

Proust Questionnaire

A salon and parlor game of the 19th century made famous by Marcel Proust’s answers, the Proust Questionnaire (adapted here) gets to the heart of things ...

What’s on your nightstand?
My cell phone

What job would you like to have if you weren’t an economist?
Something to do with fashion (designer, model)

What is an ideal day? 
Lots of sleep and good food

What trait do you deplore in other people? 
Lack of reliability or trustworthiness

What trait do you most admire in people? 
The willingness to get involved in things that are none of their business

What is your favorite extravagance?
Good milk chocolate, especially Belgian

What is your worst habit?
Loving sugar/sweetness

Which talent would you most like to have?
To read and change people's minds (maybe this is more of a superpower)

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? 
Surviving my mother's death