Áureo de Paula is an applied econometrician with strong interests in both methodological questions (identification and estimation of multi-agent models) and empirical applications (mostly problems in developing nations). His research is on the intersection of applied economic theory, econometrics and empirical microeconomics. He is affiliated with the University College London (UK), the Sao Paulo School of Economics (Brazil), the Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (UK), the Institute for Fiscal Studies (UK) and the CEPR. Professor de Paula's work has been featured in top ranked academic publications and he is also an associate editor of several academic journals (REStud, JBES, Econometrics Journal).

De Paula received a B.A. and M.Sc. in Economics from Pontificia Universidade Catolica – RJ (Brazil) in 1996 and 2000 respectively, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University in 2002 and 2006 respectively.