Assistant Professor of Finance

My research examines how economic shocks, institutions, and technological change affect workers, households, firms, and financial markets. I study these questions across several settings, including financial advisory markets, credit and bankruptcy systems, household financial decisions, FinTech, and large-scale disruptions such as natural disasters and pandemics. A growing part of my work focuses on labor markets and economic resilience, including how employer demand changes after disasters and how recovery differs across places, industries, occupations, and workers.

Across these projects, I am especially interested in the mechanisms that connect financial institutions and economic shocks to real outcomes. I combine institutional detail with administrative and other large-scale data, and often build new datasets when the information needed to answer a question is not available in usable form.

My current work includes collaborations on labor-market recovery, workforce demand, financial education, and community economic resilience. I am interested in collaborations that connect research with practical questions facing communities, employers, workforce organizations, and public agencies.

I am a 2026–2027 Faculty Fellow at Texas State University's Translational Health Research Center.

Current Research Highlights:

Banking access and crypto participation: Evidence from India’s crypto ban
Published in Finance Research Letters, 2026

With Matt Flynn and Anish Shankar Menon [Journal Link]

Studies how banking access affects participation in cryptocurrency markets. Using India’s crypto banking ban and later reversal, the paper shows that de-banking reduced retail crypto activity, redirected participation toward formal financial systems, and had persistent effects even after the policy was reversed.

Evolution of Financial Advisory Markets with the Advent of Robo-Advisors
Published in Managerial Finance, 2025 [Journal Link]

Examines how the entry of robo-advisors reshapes financial advisory markets. Shows how technological innovation transforms intermediation and influences the behavior of traditional advisors.

Natural Disasters and Labor Market Dynamics

How county hiring and separations respond to weather events, 2005–2025. Underlying panel publicly released through Texas State Dataverse. [Data Link]

Workforce Recovery after the 2025 Central Texas Floods

With the Hays-Caldwell Economic Development Partnership.

Tracks how employer hiring demand in Central Texas changed after the July 2025 floods using job-postings data. Gives local partners timely evidence on which industries and occupations are recovering.

Automation and High-Skill Labor Markets: Evidence from Robo-Advisors

With Matt Flynn

Studies the labor market effects of robo-advisors on financial advisors. Finds that automation is complementary, driven by an expansion in demand for advisory services.

Where Gender Gaps Arise: Firm Complaint Handling, Arbitration, and Customer Recovery

With Ivilina Popova

Examines gender differences in financial misconduct cases across complaint and arbitration stages. Shows that disparities emerge primarily during formal dispute resolution rather than at the incidence stage.

Creditor Rights and Relationship Dependence: Evidence from India's Bankruptcy Reform

With Matt Flynn & Anish Shankar Menon

Analyzes how India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) affects credit access for distressed firms. Finds that lending increases through existing bank relationships without expanding access to new lenders, highlighting persistent informational frictions.

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