Felipe Barrera-Osorio's research examines how educational incentives affect learning outcomes among primary and secondary school students across diverse global contexts. He uses identification methods—including random assignment, regression discontinuity designs, difference-in-differences, and instrumental variables—to find causal effects of educational programs in a large array of outcomes.

His work spans Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with specific case studies including teacher incentive programs and accountability systems in Punjab, Pakistan; private provision of public education in Uganda and Pakistan; and pedagogical training in Uganda. He is currently investigating the effects of private provision of public education in Bogotá, Colombia.

Between 2004 and 2006, he was a Senior Economist at the World Bank, contributing to impact evaluations of educational programs across multiple countries. Between 2007 and 2022, he served on the executive committee of LACEA's Impact Evaluation Network, which he helped establish. In 2008, he received the Juan Luis Londoño Medal for research in education—awarded biennially to Colombian economists under 40. He is a J-PAL Affiliate and an IZA Research Fellow.