Publications

International student applications in the UK after Brexit, with Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes. Journal of Economic Geography (accepted), (IZA Working paper, current version). Media: Fraser of Allander, VoxEU 

Peer gender and schooling: evidence from Ethiopia, with Daniel Borbely and Jonathan Norris.  Journal of Human Capital, 2023, 17(2).

Dynamic effects of co-ethnic networks on immigrants' economic success, with Michele Battisti and Giovanni Peri, The Economic Journal, 2022, 132(641), 58-88.  Media: VoxEU

Occupational recognition and immigrants labor market outcomes, with Herbert Brücker, Albrecht Glitz, and Adrian Lerche,  Journal of Labor Economics, 2021, 39(2) .

Single-mother families and the gender gap in children's time investment and non-cognitive skill, with Letizia Mencarini and Silvia Pasqua, Review of Economics of the Household, 2019, 17, 149-176 .  

The effects of immigration on household services, labour supply, and fertility, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 2018, 80(4), 843-869. 

Immigrants, domestic labor and women's retirement decisions, with Giovanni Peri and Mariacristina Rossi, Labour Economics, 2015,  36, 18-34. Media:  VoxEU

Working papers

Does Paid Family Leave Affect Abortion? Evidence from New York, with Rory Allanson and Otto Lenhart. Strathclyde Discussion Papers in Economics No 24 -1.

Abstract:  As state Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs continue to roll out across the United States, previous work has sought to investigate their impacts on economic, child, and maternal outcomes, including fertility. The impact they may have on abortion is however still unexplored. We employ the Synthetic-Difference-in-Differences estimator developed by Arkhangelsky et al. (2021) to estimate the effect of New York’s PFL program (NY-PFL) on abortion rates. Using abortion data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we find that the launch of NY-PFL in 2018 led to a 13.6% decrease in abortion rates per 1,000 women for the 20-39 age group, with smaller effects observed for older women. Event-study estimates reveal that this decrease intensified from an initial 7.1% decline in 2018-19 to 13.6% in 2021, while robustness checks underline the significance of our findings. Our exercise contributes further evidence towards the deliberation of state PFL programs. 

Marijuana Legalisation and Mental Health with Daniel Borbely, Otto Lenhart, and Jonathan Norris (IZA Working Paper). Media: Atlantico, VoxEU; Under Review. 

Abstract: This study examines the effects of U.S. state-level marijuana policies on mental health. Using data from three nationally representative data sets and estimating difference-in-differences models that account for the staggered implementation of both medical and recreational marijuana legislation, we evaluate the impact on marijuana use as well as two measures of mental distress. We show that marijuana laws have positive effects on marijuana use, but find no evidence for any effect on mental health on average. Nonetheless, null aggregate effects mask sharp heterogeneities across the age distribution. Our findings show that elderly individuals (age 60 and older) benefit from medical marijuana legalization in terms of better mental health, whereas legalizing recreational marijuana produces negative mental health effects for younger individuals (below age 35). The effects of medical marijuana legislation are driven by elderly people with pre-existing chronic health conditions, whereas those of recreational marijuana legislation are driven by younger and relatively healthy individuals. Furthermore, results are stronger for women than for men. 

Reference Dependence and Long-run Peer Effects with Marco Fongoni, Jonathan Norris, and Zhan Shi (IZA Working Paper); Under Review.  

Abstract:

We study the long-run effects of income inequality within adolescent peer compositions in schools. We propose a theoretical framework based on reference dependence where inequality in peer groups can generate aspiration gaps. Guided by predictions from this framework we find that an increase in the share of low-income peers within school-cohorts improves the educational outcomes of low-income students and has negative effects on high income students. We further document a range of evidence that corroborates these results, including that they are distinct from peer non-linear ability effects. We then find that social cohesion, through better connections in the school network, has an important role in mitigating the effects of peer inequality. Our results provide evidence on the role of inequality in peer groups for long-run educational outcomes, while also demonstrating that there is potential to avoid these consequences.

Work in progress 

The Child Penalty: Gender Norms and Occupational Sorting with Césarine Boinet and Jonathan Norris. 

Beliefs on Children's Human Capital Formation and Mothers at Work with Césarine Boinet, Jonathan Norris, and Zhan Shi.