Research
Working Papers
· Do Universities Improve Local Economic Resilience?, with Greg Howard and Russell Weinstein. Conditionally accepted, Review of Economics and Statistics
Abstract: We use a novel identification strategy to investigate whether regional universities make their local economies more resilient. Our strategy is based on state governments using similar site-selection criteria to assign normal schools (to train teachers) and insane asylums between 1830 and 1930. Normal schools became larger regional universities while asylum properties mostly continue as small state-owned psychiatric health facilities. We find that a regional university roughly offsets the negative effects of manufacturing exposure. We show the resilience of regional public university spending is an important mechanism, and we show correlations consistent with bachelor’s degree share also playing a mediating role.
· Older and Wiser? Gender Norms and Relative Age in Marriage, with Mark Borgschulte. Prepare for submission,
Abstract: We document the economic consequences of an “older husband-younger wife” norm in the current U.S. marriage market. Using a regression kink estimator, we describe the distribution of relative marital ages, spousal labor supply and income within the household that arises around equality in marital age as a consequence of the norm. As spouses' relative age crosses from older husbands to older wives, the average wife pays an implicit penalty through an increase in education and working hours relative to her husband. The gender gap in total personal income is $8600 smaller in households in which the wife is one year older than her husband compared to households with equal ages or a slightly older husband. The kinked penalty for violating the norm appeared around 1970, is growing in new marriages, and is largest in U.S. states with higher incomes and levels of education. The evidence supports but complicates the social role theory of gender norms.
Work In Progress
Abstract: We evaluate the impacts of a conversion-based forest PES program, the ``Grain-for-Green'' in China, on household's income, and allocation of labor and agricultural inputs in the long-run. Our empirical strategy of using Difference-in-Difference suggests enrolled and non-enrolled households are comparable prior to program. We find household reallocates labor toward to non-agricultural employment and increases agricultural inputs as they enrolls in the program. However, we do not have evidence on program increases household's income nor total crop productions. Heterogeneity analysis indicates household's income level is a significant determination of adaptation strategies in response to loss of cropland.
· Higher Education Accessibility and Local Crime: Evidence from College Openings in United States
Abstract: This paper utilizes nation-wide variation in college construction to study whether the opening of a college reduces local violent and property crime. To address the endogeneity of college location, I employ event study, difference-in-difference, and instrumental variable strategies. The estimates indicate that opening a new college in the metropolitan CZ may reduce violent crime by 14 percent and property crime by 7.9 percent in the short run. In the long run, college openings likely account for a 3.6 percent reduction in violent crime and a 0.9 percent reduction in property crime in the non-metropolitan CZs. The improved local socioeconomic conditions likely explain the decline in property crime, while the decline in violent crime is attributable to an intergenerational channel. This study complements the literature by providing the first evidence of the effects of college opening on local crime and the mechanisms behind these effects.
Paper in Chinese
· 工业投资与地区经济增长: 来自三线建设断点回归的证据。通讯作者，与王鑫、朱欢、文传浩合作。已接收，《世界经济》2022年第六期。
Publication
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