The central theme in my research is the inefficiencies and distortions caused by disparities and discrimination in social institutions.
View my Research Statement here
The Effect of Own Gender Prosecutor on Charging and Conviction: Evidence from Random Assignment
This paper examines whether gender matching between prosecutors and defendants affects prosecutorial charging decisions and case outcomes. While prior research has focused on same-gender bias among judges, juries, and federal prosecutors, this study investigates district attorneys, who handle a broader range of cases with more discretion. Using administrative data with random case assignment, the study evaluates the impact of gender matching on case dismissal, charge dismissal, charge severity, and outcomes. The findings reveal a weak overall same-gender effect but significant bias in property crimes. For property crimes, female prosecutors exhibit same-gender stringency, being 32.2% less likely to dismiss cases and 13.5% less likely to dismiss charges when matched with female defendants. This stringency leads to a 6% increase in conviction rates.
Building a Wall Around Science: The Effect of U.S.-China Tensions on International Scientific Research
with Robert Flynn; Britta Glennon; Raviv Murciano-Goroff
NBER Working Paper Featured in : Fortune, University World New, NBER Digest
This paper examines the impact of U.S.-China tensions on trainee mobility, knowledge flows, and scientist productivity. Using a differences-in-differences approach, we find a 15% decline in Chinese students pursuing U.S. Ph.D.s and a 4% drop in those staying post-graduation. Chinese citations of U.S. science decreased, while U.S. citations of Chinese research remained stable. We find no effect on the productivity of China-based researchers, but we find a 2-6\% reduction in U.S.-based Chinese scientists' productivity and an increased likelihood of complete publication cessation. The findings suggest U.S.-China tensions harm international science, particularly for ethnically Chinese scholars in the U.S.
Are Retirement Planning Tools Substitutes or Complements to Financial Capability?
with Gopi Shah Goda; Matthew R. Levy; Colleen Flaherty Manchester; Aaron Sojourner; Joshua Tasoff, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 214 (2023): 561-573
Bullying Victims in Rural Primary Schools: Prevalence, Correlates, and Consequences
with Jingjing Tang; Huan Wang; Sarah-Eve Dill; Matthew Boswell; Scott Rozelle, International journal of environmental research and public health 19, no. 2 (2022): 765.