In 2018 I completed my PhD in Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute. One major strand of my research examines the impact of development aid in challenging operational environments, for which I spent time in Kabul interviewing relevant stakeholders. Another strand of my research is focused on political economy of finance. Presently I teach artificial intelligence and machine learning, business ethics, and corporate finance to management professionals at CEIBS.
PUBLICATIONS
Aid Fragmentation and Corruption
w/ Austin Wright (Chicago) and Yun Xiao (Gothenburg)
Review of Economics and Statistics, forthcoming
Losing Hearts & Minds: Aid and Ideology (featured on TEDx)
Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2023
Surprise Election for Trump Connections (featured on UN-PRI, NZZ)
w/ Nadia Massoud (Melbourne Business School), Mario Schabus (Michigan State), and Yifan Zhou (Fanhai)
Journal of Financial Economics, 2021
The Dynamism of Partially State-Owned Enterprises in East Asia (Internet Appendix)
w/ Richard Carney (CUHK-Shenzhen), Wai-Man Liu (ANU), and Phong Ngo (ANU)
Journal of Corporate Finance, 2021
Cognitive Visual Commonsense Reasoning Using Dynamic Working Memory
w/ Xuejiao Tang (Leibniz), Xin Huang (Maryland), Wenbin Zhang (Maryland), Qiong Hu (Auburn), Zhen Liu (Guangdong), and Ji Zhang (Queensland)
DaWaK: Big Data Analytics and Knowledge Discovery, 2021
Board Connections and Crisis Performance: Family, State, and Political Networks
w/ Richard Carney (CUHK-Shenzhen) and Xiang Li (Boston College)
Journal of Corporate Finance, 2020
Conflict and Counterinsurgency Aid: Drawing Sectoral Distinctions (featured on VoxEU, VoxDev)
Journal of Development Economics, 2019
w/ Elena Nikolova (University College London)
Conflict Management and Peace Science, 2018
Community Preferences, Insurgency, and the Success of Reconstruction Spending
w/ David Scoones (University of Victoria)
Defence and Peace Economics, 2015
Hearts and Minds Cannot be Bought
Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 2014
w/ Richard Carney (CUHK-Shenzhen)
Journal of Financial Economics, 2013 (FAMe synopsis)
WORKING PAPERS
w/ Kai Gehring (Bern), Sarah Langlotz (Goettingen), Rossella de Sabbata (Bern), and Austin Wright (Chicago)
Abstract: This paper examines the influence of Islamic State (IS) propaganda on public opinion in Afghanistan. We leverage granular survey data to investigate how plausibly exogenous exposure to IS content influences views towards local and international forces. We employ two distinct designs. First, we leverage high frequency time variation in IS content and survey data collection to investigate how global videos distributed digitally impact local attitudes. Second, we exploit plausibly exogenous signal penetration of a prominent IS radio tower in Nangahar province constructed during the sample period to evaluate how analog transmissions impact civilian preferences in Eastern Afghanistan. Our findings suggest that thematic variation in content matters: videos that display or promote violence (as opposed to bureaucratic capacity) undermine public support for IS and other local actors but increase demands for coalition forces to remain in Afghanistan. Evidence from the radio design suggest that timing also matters: the negative consequences of radio content accumulates over time, with long-run effects on public distrust of IS and other local actors and a consistent demand for international forces to remain in country. These results suggest messaging intended to consolidate power through public opinion can backfire, especially if this content emphasizes themes related to prolonging conflict. These findings also indicate that public demand for international forces to remain in country to limit the escalation of conflict remained robust until the end of 2018, providing potential insights into why public support for government forces rapidly deteriorated in 2021 when the final exit was announced.
w/ Lingxiao Liu (Manchester), Oliver Rui (CEIBS), and Hua Zhang (CEIBS)
Abstract: Prevailing theory suggests corporate culture can be influenced by religious social norms. Firms in religious locales have been found to be more environmentally responsible, exhibit fewer financial reporting irregularities, take fewer risks, and face a lower cost of debt financing. We leverage data on loan applications through a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform in China to examine whether private borrowers also benefit from religious association. Our data suggests individual borrowers residing in prefectures with a high density of Buddhist temples or Christian churches are more likely to receive loans through the platform, and also receive funding more quickly. Information on local institutions, macroeconomic conditions, and borrower characteristics permits us to explore important sources of effect heterogeneity. Our findings indicate the benefits of religious association to borrowers are strongest in information-poor contexts, shedding light on a potential mechanism underlying our main results.