Erik Alda

Academic Credentials

PhD., Criminology and Public Policy, School of Public Affairs, American University

Biography

Before joining Marymount, Dr. Erik Alda received his PhD in Criminology and Public Policy from the School of Public Affairs at American University.

His research interests lay at the intersection of performance measurement of criminal justice institutions and comparative criminology, with a focus on developing countries.

One strand of his research explores how criminal justice institutions and, particularly, law enforcement, perform and how efficiently they utilize their resources as well as the factors that affect their performance. In particular, Dr. Alda has conducted comparative research on this topic in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He is also working with governments to design and evaluate the performance of their criminal justice sector to inform policy and program design that can lead to a more efficient use of public resources. Another strand of Dr. Alda’s research studies focuses on evaluating public policies in developing countries by analyzing large administrative datasets. Research areas include policing, youths, and justice system.

In addition to his research interests, Dr. Alda has collaborative research projects in Spain, Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Bulgaria, and the US.

Other Information

Research Interests

• Organizational performance of criminal justice organizations, program evaluation, and international criminology
• Policing, Youths, and the Justice system
• Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement

Publications

Peer-reviewed publications:

• “Assessing the Cost-Efficiency of Foreign Aid: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis” (w. Ljubinka Andonoska -UT- El Paso)
• “Political Budget Cycle and Opportunistic Local Government Revenue Policies” (w. Ljubinka Andonoska -UT- El Paso)
• Using Machine Learning to Enhance Early Intervention in Juvenile Justice through Survey Optimization” (w. Nathan Green – BILT)

Presentations:

• Presented (not in person) with Delario Lindsey and Matt Bakker at the AMPS Conference in Lisbon in July on our work on the impact of the demolition of the Dunbar Homes in Arlington on house prices.
• Presented the paper “Precision Hiring: Using Assurance Regions in DEA to Find The Best Candidates” at the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing in Tucson-AZ