I research the economics of peace and prosperity, with a focus on spatial relationships. Methodologically, I combine observational studies, economic theory, and laboratory experiments.
I research the economics of peace and prosperity, with a focus on spatial relationships. Methodologically, I combine observational studies, economic theory, and laboratory experiments.
2025 Trade and the rise of ancient Greek city-states. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107035
2025 (w/ Patrick Fitzsimmons). Peace and its correlates in the ancient world. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.106997.
2024 (w/ Lucas Rentschler) How policing incentives affect crime, measurement, and justice. Just Accepted at Economic Inquiry. 10.1111/ecin.13270.
2024 (w/ Bart J. Wilson) Territory in the State of Nature. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.01.032.
2023 (with Lucas Rentschler). Criminal justice from a public choice perspective: an introduction to the special issue. Public Choice. DOI: 10.1007/s11127-023-01089-2.
2022 (with Erik O. Kimbrough). The supply side determinants of territory. Journal of Peace Research. DOI : 10.1177/00223433221075006.
2021. Agglomeration and the extent of the market: theory and experiment on spatially coordinated exchange. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 190, 838–850. DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.08.009.
2020. Political institutions, resources, and war: theory and evidence from ancient Rome. Explorations in Economic History, 76, 101324. DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101324.
2019. The scope of political jurisdictions and violence: theory and evidence from Africa. Public Choice, DOI: 10.1007/s11127-019-00763-8.
An econometric model of ethnic maps and evaluation of the endogenous areal unit problem. http://ssrn.com/abstract=4091833. [Revisions Requested at Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics].
The endogenous nature of war and its economic consequences (w/ Dan Stephenson). https://ssrn.com/abstract=4869123. [Revisions Requested at European Economic Review].
A practical public goods mechanism and policing application (w/ Lucas Rentschler). https://ssrn.com/abstract=4804107.
A spatial economic model of war between great powers. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4957529.
Homicide and economic development in England in the long run (w/ Frank Simmen). https://ssrn.com/abstract=5100513.
A unified microeconomic analysis of crime-concentration: observation, theory, and experiment (w/ Warren Anderson and Lucas Rentschler). https://ssrn.com/abstract=5381962
Is war associated with agglomeration? To find out, I develop a nonstationary spatial cross-correlation function (CCF) that captures spatial dependencies which vary across locations. Applying this method to data from Modern Europe and the Ancient Mediterranean, I uncover three general patterns: cross-correlations are globally positive, locally mixed, and weaker than the autocorrelation of population itself. The first two patterns suggest that war happens where people are, broadly, and that war near cities either pushes people inwards or results from larger cities exerting more force in their periphery. The last general pattern suggests that either war impacts urban patterns less directly than intrinsic forces or that war is strategically dispersed. By uncovering these spatial patterns, I provide new insights into the complex and underexplored dynamics between conflict and urban development.