Academic Research:
"Food Choices at a Client Choice Food Pantry: Do Low-Income Pantry Users Respond to Changed Opportunity Costs?" (with Tammy Leonard, UT Southwestern Medical Center)
Published at Food Policy (July,2024)
Abstract: Client choice food pantries allow individuals, many of whom are food insecure, to select a preferred bundle of food. To date, interventions to improve the nutrition of food choices in pantries have not included price incentive programs like those employed in the retail food sector because pantries do not charge for food. However, economic incentives may still play a role in food pantry choices through choice architecture. We examined a natural experiment involving two client-choice regimes that effectively altered the opportunity cost of food selections. Longitudinal individual fixed effects models provide evidence that pantry clients responded to changed opportunity costs by selecting more foods that became relatively less expensive and fewer foods that became relatively more costly. Our study highlights the impact of choice architecture, and in particular relative trade-offs, on food selections in the food pantry context.
Do Long Term Cash Transfers Improve the Survival of Girls? Evidence from India
Work in progress
Revise and Resubmit at Applied Economics Letters (November, 2024)
In response to the prevalence of female feticide, Bihar launched a policy called Mukhyamantri Kanya Suraksha Yojana (MKSY) in 2008. This policy aimed to improve the social status of women and to improve the sex ratio in the state. The policy provided long term cash transfers to two daughters of a family if certain eligibility conditions were satisfied. In this study, I analyze if the policy led to an improvement in the survival rate of the girl child. Results in this study shed light on the effectiveness of the long term cash transfers in improving the status of women in developing countries.
Does Immigration Relief Affect Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Draft
Under Review at Economics Bulletin since May 2026
This paper studies the impacts of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on individuals’ labor market outcomes using a Regression Discontinuity Design. I estimate the Intent to Treat (ITT) impact of DACA before the legal challenge to DACA in 2017. I find that the potentially eligible DACA population earned a significantly high income when the data is considered till 2017. I further compare my ITT estimates with other studies.
Studying the impact of DACA using a cross-sectional differences in regression discontinuity design Draft
Working paper
This paper introduces the cross-sectional differences in regression discontinuity design (cross-sectional DRD) in the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) literature. The cross-sectional DRD design does not use any time dimension and leverages the DACA multi-dimensional eligibility criteria in a cross-sectional framework. In particular, in order to be eligible for DACA, one has to be born after a certain cutoff date, among others. The DRD design then leverages this age discontinuity to create two RD designs, one among those potentially DACA eligible individuals, while the other counterfactual RD design among those DACA ineligible individuals (by other DACA eligibility criteria). Using the multiple DACA eligibility conditions, I demonstrate the use of the DRD design in the DACA literature in a cross-sectional framework. This model can be applied when only post DACA data is available.
POLICY REPORTS (All reports are produced for Louisiana Legislature and submitted to David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library Louisiana House of Representatives) :
An Exploration of Outcomes in Two Student Pathways: High School Dropout and Early College Credit (with Truc Bui, Rachel Veron, Stephen Barnes)
Link coming soon
Presented at: Louisiana Board of Regents Louisiana Board of Regents - Louisiana Prospers, Louisiana Works LAWorks Homepage - Louisiana Works
Published at Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (July, 2026)
Launch Louisiana report with an in-depth analysis of the elementary-and-secondary-school-to-college or –career transition (with Truc Bui, Rachel Veron, Stephen Barnes)
Link: Launch Louisiana
Presented at: State of Louisiana's Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget JLCB | Joint Legislative Committee of The Budget, Leadership Louisiana Leadership Louisiana - Empowering State Leaders - Better LA
Published at Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (July, 2025)
HR 171-MJ Foster & TOPS Tech https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=251738 (with Robert Habans, Truc Bui, Jenna Losh, Julian Hartwell, Stephen Barnes)
Work in progress at Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
HR 17 TOPS https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=251031 (with Robert Habans, Truc Bui, Jenna Losh, Julian Hartwell, Stephen Barnes)
Work in progress at Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
INDUSTRY/CONSULTING RESEARCH:
“Revenue Analysis of a Major US retailer: ‘Subs by Tubs’,” (with Robert Peyton Santori and Sonja Hightower) – (This project won the first position at Buxton Co., Fort Worth)
This research analyzed the factors that influence the profits of a major US retail chain called “Subs by Tubs.” After completing the pre-model analysis of cleaning the data set and dealing with missing observations and outliers, several different regression models were estimated using the OLS procedure. The independent variables for the model were chosen using a combination of theory, logic, statistical significance, and model scoring. After the “best” model was selected, predicted sales were calculated for various potential locations. Subsequently, recommendations were given to the Buxton Company regarding the performance of potential future locations and whether or not each potential location was deemed to have a “high revenue potential.”