Research
My main areas of research are Labor Economics, Personnel Economics, and Immigration. I am especially interested in skill accumulation and task usage, and hierarchical mobility, i.e. promotions and demotions. In the immigration literature, my particular area of interest is the importance of language proficiency to immigrant outcomes and the assimilation of immigrants. I am also doing research on occupational licensing, especially as it relates to immigrants and their role as a labor market signal.
Publications
"Task Variation Within Occupations." Industrial Relations, 56(3). 2017.
"Promotion Signaling, Gender, and Turnover: New Theory and Evidence", with Jed DeVaro and Antti Kauhanen. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 126(A). 2016.
"The Decline in Earnings of Childhood Immigrants in the U.S." International Migration Review, 54(1). 2019.
"Occupational Attainment of Natives and Immigrants: A Cross-Cohort Analysis." Journal of Human Capital, 13(3). Fall 2019.
"The Effect of Post-Baccalaureate Certificates on Job Search: Results from a Correspondence Study", with Amanda Gaulke and Sheryll Namingit. Labour Economics, 61. 2019.
“The Wage Penalty to Undocumented Immigration”, with George Borjas. Labour Economics, 61. 2019.
"Occupational Licensing and Immigrants", with Tennecia Dacass. Journal of Law and Economics, 64, 2021.
"The Fall and Rise of Immigrant Employment During the COVID-19 Pandemic," with George Borjas. Research in Labor Economics, forthcoming 2022.
Working Papers
"The Increasing Penalty to Occupation-Education Mismatch," with Amanda Gaulke.
"Occupational Choice, Hierarchical Levels, and Skill Growth."
"Language Acquisition and Occupational Characteristics."
Works in Progress:
"Occupational Licensing, Signaling, and Gender: Theory and Evidence."