I. What causal mechanisms shape individual decisions regarding human capital investment and preference dynamics?
My research studies the endogenous dynamics of multiple forms of human capital—skills, education, health, and work experience—as well as the formation of preferences, including addiction and memorable goods consumption. I examine how financial frictions, technology, institutions, and public policy shape individual investment decisions and generate inequality over the life cycle.
The Causal Effects of Youth Cigarette Addiction and Education (with James J. Heckman). Journal of Political Economy, Forthcoming.
Inequality in Human Capital and Endogenous Credit Constraints (with James J. Heckman). Review of Economic Dynamics, 2017.
Financial Inclusion and Racial Wealth Inequality. Revise and Resubmit, International Economic Review.
A Dynamic Model of Health, Addiction, Education, and Wealth (with James J. Heckman). Under Major Revision.
Juvenile Crime, Education, and Expungement Policy (with Limor Golan). Work in Progress.
Nature and Nurture in the Production of Childhood BMI (with Nancy Daza Baez, Gabriella Conti, and Fan Wang). Work in Progress.
Food and Physical Activity Environments and Children's Health: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study (with Nancy Daza Baez, David Church, Gabriella Conti, and Fan Wang). Submitted.
The Impact of Juvenile Conviction on Human Capital and Labor Market Outcomes (with Limor Golan and Hayley Wabiszewski). Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, 2022.
II. How do these individual-level mechanisms translate into aggregate outcomes?
My research embeds micro-founded mechanisms—individual investment and preference formation—into macroeconomic and empirical frameworks to quantify the aggregate consequences of technology, financial frictions, and public policy for welfare, inequality, and economic growth.
On the Welfare Cost of Consumption Fluctuations in the Presence of Memorable Goods (with Dirk Krueger and Andrew Postlewaite). Quantitative Economics, 2020.
The Real Effects of Financial (Dis)integration: A Multi-Country Equilibrium Analysis of Europe (with Indraneel Chakraborty, Hans Holter, and Serhiy Stepanchuk). Journal of Monetary Economics, 2017.
Income Inequality, Tax Policy, and Economic Growth (with Siddhartha Biswas and Indraneel Chakraborty). Economic Journal, 2017.
Technology, Growth, and Skill Obsolescence (with Joseph Kaboski and Ge Sun). Work in Progress.
The Determinants of Rising Inequality of Health Insurance and Wages. Ph.D. Dissertation, 2013.
