Working papers
“Marriage and Work Among Prime Age Men”, with Adam Blandin and John B. Jones, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Working Paper No. 23-13, revised Dec. 2025
[Abstract]: Married men work more hours than men who have never been married. Fixed effect regressions reveal that part of this gap is attributable to an increase in work around the time of marriage. Two potential explanations for the increase are: (i) men hit by positive labor market shocks are more likely to marry; and (ii) marriage leads men to work more hours. Using a structural life-cycle model, we find that marriage substantially increases male hours of work. Counterfactual simulations suggest that declining marriage rates account for roughly half of the fall in prime age male hours observed over recent decades.
“Why Do Households Save and Work?”, with Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi, Johanna Torres Chain. NBER Working Paper 33874, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Working Paper No. 2526, revised Feb. 2026
[Abstract]: This paper quantifies why households save and work using a life-cycle model that incorporates wage risk, endogenous labor supply of both spouses, marital transitions, health, medical expenses, mortality, and bequest motives at the death of the first and last household member. We estimate it using PSID and HRS data and conduct counterfactuals to assess the quantitative role of individual mechanisms. Precautionary saving against wage risk is smaller than in models that abstract from labor supply and within-household insurance. Bequest motives and medical expenses remain important drivers of wealth, while marriage and divorce generate large but offsetting effects across household types.
"Household Consumption and Savings over the Life Cycle: The Roles of Demographics and Durables", with Neha Bairoliya, Areendam Chanda, Jingyi Fang, Dallas Fed Working Paper No. 2537, revised June 2026
[Abstract]: The canonical prediction of life-cycle models, that individuals smooth consumption over their lifetime, has mostly been tested in developed countries and found little empirical support. We provide a novel developing-country perspective by analyzing patterns of lifecycle consumption, income, and savings rates in India. In contrast to the U.S., Indian households exhibit little growth in nondurable consumption expenditures after adjusting for family size. Surprisingly, this flat adjusted profile coexists with substantial income growth and a sharp rise in the savings/surplus rate over the life cycle. We show that lumpy non-housing durable accumulation is an important use of this life-cycle surplus, helping reconcile high savings rates with flat measured adult-equivalent nondurable consumption. Quantitatively, non-housing durable stock growth accounts for about one-third of accumulated life-cycle surplus by age 45, and an augmented expenditure profile that adds imputed non-housing durable investment flows to nondurables raises adult-equivalent lifecycle growth from 8.4% to 27.9%.
Work in Progress
“The Evolution of Urban - Rural Income and Consumption Inequality in Transitioning China”, with Dan Yang
“Demographics, Labor Mobility, and Pension Sustainability: Evidence from China,” with Suqin Ge, Chunzan Wu, and Junsen Zhang
“Social Security Redistribution and Female Labor Supply”, with Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi
“Estate Taxation in An Aging Economy”, with Selahattin Imrohoroglu
“Charitable Bequests and Wealth Inequality”, with Benjamin Bridgman
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