Research & Projects

Working Papers

Bank Expansion, Firm Dynamics, and Structural Transformation: Evidence from India’s Policy Experiment (with Marshall Mo)

This paper examines the impacts of bank expansion on firm dynamics and labor allocation in developing countries through the lens of a policy experiment in India designed to encourage bank expansion in "under-banked'' districts. Empirical findings demonstrate significant growth in manufacturing firms in these districts due to eased credit access, resulting in increased capital accumulation, sales revenue, and employment. However, the expansion predominantly benefited incumbent firms, with minimal stimulation of firm entry or product innovation. The reform also induced notable labor reallocation towards manufacturing sectors, particularly in areas with lower agricultural productivity. To fully understand the aggregate effects of bank expansion and policy counterfactuals, we are developing a spatial general equilibrium model, which will be calibrated using our micro-level estimates.

Presentations:

NBER-ISB conference on Economic Policy and the Indian Economy, Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE) annual conference, *Webinar Series in Finance and Development (WEFIDEV), Columbia Development Colloquium

Plants and the Scope for Quality Differentiation: An Empirical Study in India (with Ama Baafra Abeberese and Eric Verhoogen)

We propose a new proxy for the scope for quality differentiation based on the slopes of Quality Engel curves. We validate this proxy using the positive relationship between price-plant size elasticities and the scope for quality differentiation.

Work in Progress

The Role of E-Commerce in Sustaining Essential Supply Chains During Natural Disasters: A Case Study on Amazon

In the aftermath of natural disasters in the US, e-commerce giants like Amazon have emerged as vital lifelines, ensuring the continuity of essential supply chains, notably in lower-income areas facing local supply disruptions. Through a comprehensive study employing synthetic DID, propensity score matching, and a triple difference design, we identified a significant increase in Amazon orders across all demographics. Notably, lower-income regions exhibited a pronounced reliance on the e-commerce platforms during these challenging times.

Land Market Constraints and Structural Transformation: Policy Implications Under India's ULCRA

This study examines the impact of the 1999 repeal of India's Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (ULCRA) on firm growth and structural transformation. ULCRA aimed to prevent urban land monopolization but inadvertently constrained firms and increased housing costs, potentially deterring rural-to-urban migration. We leverage the repeal's staggered adoption across states and estimate the deregulation impacts using a staggered DID design. We hypothesize that the repeal improved firm growth by easing credit constraints and fostered structural transformation by reducing rural-to-urban migration barriers.

Religiosity and Firm productivity: Evidence from Firms in India

This study investigates the influence of religion on consumer behaviors in India and its subsequent impact on firm dynamics. While previous research has primarily focused on the supply-side effects of religion on economic growth, we emphasize the demand side, exploring how religiosity shapes consumption patterns. Using household consumption data of taboo goods, we construct a measure of religiosity based on the Revealed Preference approach. We leverage the Ram Rath Yatra, a 1990 religious campaign, as a potential exogenous identity shock to study its effect on firm productivity.

The Impact of Trade Liberalization in the Presence of Legal Distortions

This study explores the interplay between trade liberalization and weak legal institutions in India, a country marked by congested courts. We investigate how legal inefficiencies impact firms' production choices, especially for relationship-specific goods. This study empirically examines the impact of India's tariff reductions in the 1990s on the distortionary effects of court congestion. Utilizing a triple-difference design, we combine the variation in court congestion with the exogenous tariff reductions to discern the effects on plant-level outcomes.