Research
Journal Articles
"Disparities in Access to Unemployment Insurance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from U.S. and California Claims Data" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Peter Mannino, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter), RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Forthcoming.
"Estimating the Disparate Cumulative Impact of the Pandemic in Administrative Unemployment Insurance Data" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Peter Mannino, Roozbeh Moghadam, Carl Romer, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter), AEA Papers and Proceedings 112 (May): 78-84, 2022.
"Do Tax Cuts Produce More Einsteins? The Impacts of Financial Incentives vs. Exposure to Innovation on the Supply of Inventors" (with Raj Chetty, Xavier Jaravel, Neviana Petkova, and John van Reenen), Journal of the European Economic Association 17 (3): 651-77, 2019.
"Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation" (with Raj Chetty, Xavier Jaravel, Neviana Petkova, and John van Reenen), The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134 (2): 647-713, 2019.
"Team-Specific Capital and Innovation" (with Xavier Jaravel and Neviana Petkova), American Economic Review, 108(4-5):1034-73, 2018.
Works in Progress
"UI Benefit Generosity and Labor Supply from 2002-2020: Evidence from California UI records" (with TJ Hedin, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter). Under Revision for Journal of Labor Economics.
"Job Amenities & Earnings Inequality"
"Pricing Neighborhood Amenities: A Proxy Based Approach" (with Sophie Calder-Wang)
"The Role of Mentoring in Economic Mobility" (with Neviana Petkova).
Abstract: How do adult mentors shape kids' life trajectories? To evaluate this question, we leverage the microdata from a 1991 RCT that randomized disadvantaged children's eligibility for a popular mentoring program. Our re-analysis of the original short-run survey data suggests that kids' behaviors improved during the time they were with mentors. A linkage to later-life administrative records yields imprecise estimates of treatment effects on earnings, but significant evidence that the treatment group is on a better trajectory in several ways. For instance, members of the treatment group today are significantly more likely to have attended college, though standard estimates of the economic returns to education would be too small to detect in this experimental sample. Although our estimates suggest that mentoring programs will not fully equalize economic opportunities for disadvantaged youth, the program's relatively low costs and substantial benefits may place it among the most cost-effective interventions of its type to be evaluated.
Selected Policy Research on the Labor Market During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
"Early evidence on federal government income supports for U.S. individuals, workers, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic" The Recovery Reports: Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID Relief. Washington Center for Equitable Growth, December 2022."Increasing Equity and Improving Measurement in the U.S. Unemployment System: 10 Key Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Peter Mannino, Roozbeh Moghadam, Carl Romer, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter) (Apr. 12 2022)
"Report to US DOL -- Disparities in Access to Unemployment Insurance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from US and California Claims Data" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Peter Mannino, Roozbeh Moghadam, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter) (Submitted to US DOL in November 2021)
"Why Extended UI Benefits were Turned Off Prematurely for Workers in 33 States " (with Thomas J. Hedin, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter) (Apr. 20 2021)
"As Crisis Continues, More Unemployed Californians are Receiving UI Benefits" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter) (Feb. 25 2021)
"The Impact of Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits in California" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter) (Dec. 14 2020)
"Lost Wages Assistance Program in California" (with Thomas J. Hedin, Geoffrey Schnorr, and Till von Wachter) (Sept. 1 2020)