Research & Policy Analysis

I am interested in academic research on labour, innovation and productivity, the energy transition, economic history, and political economy. I also publish analyses of the Canadian, American, and other economies aimed at policymakers and the wider public. These works are all listed below.

 Academic Research

Publications

• "Matching Geographies and Job Skills in the Energy Transition" The Extractive Industries and Society, Volume 17, March 2024 (with Daniel Raimi)

  • Previous draft: Resources for the Future Working Paper 22-25

  • Revised version of MPP Thesis at Harvard Kennedy School, awarded the Harvard Environmental Economics Program Prize for the Best Paper by a Master’s Degree Student, Taubman Center Urban Prize for best paper on domestic urban issues in the US,  and Harvard Kennedy School International and Global Affairs Award for Best Integration of Disparate Quantitative Data in a MPP thesis (previously titled “Spatial-Skills Mismatch in the Decarbonization Job Transition: A Framework for Policy Responses”)

• “Productivity and Pay in the US and Canada” International Productivity Monitor, Number 41, Fall 2021 (with Lawrence Summers and Anna Stansbury) 

  • Previous draft: NBER Working Paper 29548

  • Coverage: VoxEU, PIIE, AEIdeas

Working Papers

• “A Note on the Global Distribution of Authorship in Economics Journals” NBER Working Paper 29435, February 2024 (with Ernest Aigner and Dani Rodrik)

• “Labour Strikes and Innovation in the Second Industrial Revolution” (Available upon request)

  • Awarded the Frank D. Lewis Memorial Prize in Economic History for best student paper presented at the 2022 Canadian Network for Economic History Conference 

• “Social Media and the Spread of Protests: Evidence from Facebook and the 2020 India Farmers Protests” (Available upon request)

• “The Effect of Local Labour Market Conditions on Opioid-Related Medical Incidents in Ontario.” Presented at Canadian Economics Association Annual Meeting, 2018 (with Brennan Thompson). (Available upon request)

Policy Analysis

Labour markets

• "Matching Geographies and Job Skills in the Energy Transition." Resources for the Future Working Paper 22-25, October 2022 (with Daniel Raimi)

• “Recent trends and long-term challenges in Ontario’s labour market.” Ontario 360 Transition Briefings, 2022

• “The Search for Stability: A Review of Worker Transitions.” American Enterprise Institute, 2021 (with David Deming, Rachel Lipson, Jerren Chang, Stephanie Nussbaum, and Mariano Parro)

• “Visualizing the robustness of Canada’s labour market” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2019 

• “Strength in Numbers: Targeting Labour Force Participation to Improve Prosperity in Ontario.” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Annual Report 16, 2017 (with Julia Hawthornthwaite, and Saad Usmani)

Innovation and AI

• “Ontario Needs a Broader and Coordinated Approach to Innovation Policy.” Ontario 360 Transition Briefings, 2022

• “Learning from the Past for Designing the Future of AI Global Governance.” University of Toronto Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, 2020 (available upon request)

• “Focus on commercialization to boost innovation in Ontario.” Ontario 360 Briefings, 2018 (with Jamison Steeve)

• “The Final Leg: How Ontario Can Win the Innovation Race.” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity WP 31, 2018

• “Fraunhofer institutes offer model for boosting commercialization in Ontario” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2018 

• “Ontario needs talent with diverse skills for innovation” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2017 

• “Government should close innovation gaps and redistribute gains” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2017 

• “Are Trends in Patenting Reflective of Innovative Activity in Canada?” CSLS Report, 2017 (with Erika Rodrigues)

Education/Training

• “The Search for Stability: A Review of Worker Transitions.” American Enterprise Institute, 2021 (with David Deming, Rachel Lipson, Jerren Chang, Stephanie Nussbaum, and Mariano Parro)

• “Why are elementary school math scores declining in Ontario?” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2018 

• “Teaching for Tomorrow: Building the Necessary Skills Today.” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity WP 33, 2018 (with Margaret Campbell)

• “The Gap Year: An Overview of the Issues.” Centre for the Study of Living Standards Research Report, 2017

Public Finance

• “Ontario’s 2019 Budget: The impact is in the details” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2019 

• “Unfinished Business: Ontario since the Great Recession” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Annual Report 17, 2018 (with Weseem Ahmed, Margaret Campbell, and Christopher Mack).

• “Ontario Budget 2018: Investments in future productivity come with risk” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2018 

Other

• “Canada should tread carefully on ‘common ownership’ concerns” CD Howe Institute, 2019 (with Grant Bishop)

• “What does the new USMCA trade deal mean for Ontario?” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2018 

• “Ontario’s housing crisis is riskier than you think” Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Blog, 2017 

Media publications and appearances

• “A Threat to Competition That’s Easy to Criticize but Tough to Regulate.” Barron’s Magazine, 2019

• “Success Breeds Inequality.” Harvard Business Review, 2019 (with Darren Karn)

• “How Big a Problem Is It That a Few Shareholders Own Stock in So Many Competing Companies?” Harvard Business Review, 2019

• Radio interview on Ontario's declining EQAO math scores, The Scott Radley Show on Global News 900 CHML (Hamilton, Ontario) (at 20 minute mark)