Associate Editor: Journal of the European Economic Association (2019-)

Research interests: Culture and economics, political economy, economic development

Working papers

• NEW VERSION: "Heroes and Villains: The Effects of Heroism on Autocratic Values and Nazi Collaboration in France", with Julia Cagé, Anna Dagorret, and Saumitra Jha.

  • Winner of the Oliver Williamson Best Conference Paper Award, for best paper at 2020 SIOE Conference.

  • Coverage in The Economist ; Vox EU ; AOC Media (in French)

  • Maps

• "Whistle the Racist Dogs: Political Campaigns and Police Stops", with Federico Masera and Hasin Yousaf. Reject & Resubmit at Quarterly Journal of Economics

  • Coverage in Promarket ; Vox EU ; Le Monde

• "Men. Roots and Consequences of Masculinity Norms", with Victoria Baranov and Ralph de Haas. R&R at Journal of Economic Growth.

  • Coverage in Vox EU

  • Podcast: Seriously Social listen here

  • Coverage in Australian House of Representatives

• "Corporate Gender Culture", with Renée Adams and Ali Akyol.

• "Mothers, Fathers, and Others: Competition and Cooperation in the Aftermath of Conflict", with Alessandra Cassar, Fatima Jamal Khan, and Miranda Lambert. R&R at Evolutionary Human Science.

Publications

• "Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers", with Sascha Becker, Irena Grosfeld, Nico Voigtländer, and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. American Economic Review, Vol. 110(5), May 2020: 1430-63.

• "Queens of the Desert: Convictism and Marital Attitudes Across Australia", with Victoria Baranov and Ralph de Haas. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 110, May 2020: 457-62.

• "Render Unto Caesar: Taxes, Charity, and Political Islam", with Maleke Fourati and Gabriele Gratton. European Economic Review. Vol. 119, October 2019: 114-146.

• "It’s Raining Men! Hallelujah? The Long-Run Consequences of Male-Biased Sex Ratios" with Rose Khattar. Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 86(2), March 2019: 723–754.

  • Online Appendix

  • Popular press coverage: The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age ; Quartz.com ; The Conversation

• "Income inequality not gender inequality positively covaries with female sexualization on social media", with Khandis Blake, Brock Bastian, Thomas F. Denson, and Robert C. Brooks. PNAS, August 2018 115(35) 8722-8727.

• "Can Vouchers Reduce Elite Capture of Local Development Projects? Experimental Evidence from the Solomon Islands", with Andrew Beath, Ariel BenYishay, Giovanna d’Adda, and Roberto Weber. Journal of Public Economics, April 2018, Vol. 160 (117-131).

• "Persistent Effect of Sex Ratios on Relationship Quality and Life Satisfaction” with Rob Brooks. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, September 2017, Vol. 372 (1729).

• "The Fish is the Friend of Matriliny: Reef Density and Matrilineal Inheritance” with Ariel BenYishay and Joseph Vecci. Journal of Development Economics, July 2017, Vol. 127, 234-249.

  • Online Appendix

• "The Wild West is Wild: The Homicide Resource Curse" with Mathieu Couttenier and MarcSangnier. Journal of the European Economic Association, June 2017, Vol. 15(3).

  • Online Appendix

• "Initial Endowments and Economic Reform in 27Post-Socialist Countries" with Ariel BenYishay. Journal of Comparative Economics, December 2014, Vol. 42 (4): 892–906.

• "A History of Violence: The Culture of Honor and Homicide in the US South" Journal of the European Economic Association, October 2014, Vol. 12 (5): 1285-1316.

  • Online Appendix

• "Institutional Quality, Culture, and Norms of Cooperation: Experimental evidence from Italy and Kosovo" with Alessandra Cassar and Giovanna d’Adda. Journal of Law and Economics, August 2014, Vol. 57: 821-863.

• "Conflict and Social and Political Preferences: Evidence from World War II and Civil Conflict in 35 European Countries", Comparative Economic Studies, March 2014.

• "Legacies of Violence: Trust and Market Development" with Alessandra Cassar and Sam Whitt. Journal of Economic Growth, September 2013, Vol. 18(3): 285-318.

• “Learning, Political Attitudes and Crises: Lessons from Transition Countries" with Frantisek Ricka and Claudia Senik. Journal of Comparative Economics, May 2013, Vol. 41(2): 490–505.

• "The Weight of History on European Cultural Integration: A Gravity Approach" American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 2011, Vol.101 (3): 1-7.

• "Long Term Institutional Persistence: Ottoman Rule and Financial Development in the Regions of Europe" Journal of Comparative Economics, March 2011, Vol. 39:1-16.

• "Democracy, Market Liberalization and Political Preferences" with Claudia Senik, The Review of Economics and Statistics, February 2011, Vol. 93(1): 365-381.

• "Land Tenure Arrangements and Rural Urban migration in China" with Andreas Kontoleon and Katrina Mullan. World Development 2011, Vol. 39(1): 123-133.

• "Maintenance Cost, Outside Options and Optimal Ownership of a Public Project" The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 2010, Vol. 10(1).

• "Relaxing Rural Constraints: a Win-Win Policy for Poverty and Environment in China?" with Ben Groom, Andreas Kontoleon, Tim Swanson and Shiqiu Zhang. Oxford Economic Papers 2010, Vol. 62(1): 132-156.

• "How Sustainable are Sustainable Development Programmes? The Case of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China" with Andreas Kontoleon. World Development 2009, Vol. 37(1): 268-285.

Chapters in books

• On the short- and long-run effects of male-biased sex ratios: Evidence from convict transportation to Australia, Vox CEPR E-book: The Long Economic and Political Shadow of History, Vol. 2, edited by Stelios Michalopoulos and Elias Papaioannou 2017.

• “Social Cooperation and the Problem of the Conflict Gap: Survey and Experimental Evidence from Post-War Tajikistan,” with Alessandra Cassar and Sam Whitt. In: The Economics of Conflict, edited by Karl Wärneryd, MIT Press 2014.

• “Assessing the Sustainability of the Sloping Land Conversion Program: a Choice Experiment Approach,” with Andreas Kontoleon. In: Choice Experiments in Developing Countries: Implementation, Challenges and Policy Implications, edited by J. Bennett and E. Birol, Edward Elgar 2010.

Book reviews

• "The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous", by Joe Henrich, Science, 18 September 2020, Vol. 369, Issue 6510, pp. 1438.

• “Towards a Labour Market in China" by J. Knight and L. Song. The Economics of Transition, January 2006.

Work in progress

• "The economic impacts of COVID-19 on household mental health: Panel evidence from Pakistan", with Victoria Baranov, Fatima Jamal Khan, and Sarah Walker

• “Allomaternal care and the origins of cooperation”, with Alessandra Cassar and Sarah Walker.

• “Occupation and Insurgency: The Determinants of Resistance in World War II France” with Julia Cagé and Saumitra Jha.

Projects in the field:

• “Child human capital production: A field experiment in the Solomon Islands," with Alessandra Cassar, Alejandrina Cristia, Adeline Delavande, and Sarah Walker, AEA RCT Registry: AEARCTR-0004116, August 20, 2019.

• "Positive Psychology, human capital and wellbeing: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan", with Victoria Baranov , Fatima Jamal Khan, and Sarah Walker, AEA RCT Registry: AEARCTR-0005246, January 8, 2020.