Working Paper
The Political Economy of Intergroup Contact: Evidence from Malaysia (joint with Gedeon Lim, Danial Shariat, Abu Siddique, and Shunsuke Tsuda) [New version]
Are there particular social structures that allow ethnic diversity to coexist with political stability and economic development? This paper examines the long-run effects of interethnic proximity using quasi-random variation from a colonial-era program that forcibly relocated over 500,000 ethnic minority Chinese into mono-ethnic villages across Malaysia. Ethnic majority Malays residing closer to these villages exhibit lower electoral support for the ethnonationalist coalition, potentially reflecting a moderation of political identity. We observe moderately positive impacts on local economic development. Political effects are stronger in regions with initial, historical interethnic complementarities--even without persistent economic prosperity. Malays report greater contact with Chinese, higher interethnic trust, and weaker zero-sum beliefs. Effects are stronger (reversed) in areas with interethnic complementarities (competition). Throughout, effects on social integration remain muted. These findings suggest that the nature of the underlying economic relationship can have a persistently important role in shaping the long-run effects of contact.
Previous Version: SSRN, SoDa Labotarories Working Paper Series, VoxDev
The Visibility Premium: Article Order and Citations (joint with ⓡ Francesco Lippi and ⓡ Sascha O. Becker) [New]
We exploit a natural experiment to identify the causal effect of the order in which articles appear within a journal issue on citations. Using data on 1,456 articles published in the \emph{Economic Journal} between 2010 and 2024, we find that articles appearing earlier in an issue receive substantially more citations throughout the sample period. Articles ranked 7-9 receive 20\% fewer two-year citations than those ranked 1-3, with effects growing to 28\% over five years. Between December 2015 and February 2025, the journal switched from chronological to alphabetical ordering, allowing us to disentangle rank (visibility) effects from alphabetical (name) effects. Analysis of views and downloads confirms a visibility mechanism, with important implications for editorial practices.
Publication
Gender and Religion: A Survey (joint with Sascha O. Becker and Jeanet Sinding Bentzen)
Forthcoming at the Journal of Demographic Economics
This paper surveys the literature on gender differences in religiosity and on how religion shapes gender-related economic and social outcomes. Part I examines why women tend to be more religious than men, reviewing leading explanations from sociology, economics, and psychology. Part II analyzes how religion affects gender norms and attitudes, education, labor market participation, fertility, health, legal institutions, and discrimination. Across domains, we distinguish between effects driven by individual religiosity—such as beliefs and religious practice—and those driven by religious denomination. We emphasize studies that employ credible causal identification strategies, including natural experiments, instrumental variables, and policy reforms, while also reviewing correlational evidence for context. Overall, the literature suggests that religious teachings and participation often reinforce traditional gender roles, influencing women’s education, labor supply, and fertility decisions, though important heterogeneity and exceptions exist. We also highlight instances in which secular reforms or religious movements have altered these outcomes. The survey concludes by identifying gaps in the literature and outlining priorities for future empirical research.
Working Papers
Inter-ethnic Proximity and Competition in Southeast Asia (joint with Gedeon Lim, Abu Siddique, and Shunsuke Tsuda)
Language, Nation-building, and Economic Development: Evidence from Indonesia (joint with Arya Gaduh and Gedeon Lim)