Research

Publications

The effects of the Affordable Care Act on Seasonal Agricultural Workers, (with Jeffrey Perloff)  Journal of The Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (2022) [Paper] 

Abstract: This study investigates the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) policies (Medicaid expansion, health insurance premium subsidy, and tax penalty) on farmworkers' health insurance coverage and healthcare utilization. Using the National Agricultural Worker Survey, we find that the ACA policies substantially raised the share of seasonal farmworkers with medical insurance. It significantly increased workers' use of preventive medical services and decreased the use of hospitals, including emergency rooms, which was a goal of the law's proponents. These effects did not significantly differ between workers with and without a pre-existing medical condition.

Working Papers

• Defaults and Decisions: Choice Architecture and Consumer Opt-Out [Paper]

Abstract: This paper studies how defaults (preset options) shape consumer choice and firm outcomes. I use transaction data from over 15 million New York City Yellow taxi rides to estimate a structural model of tipping behavior. The model disentangles two mechanisms driving default tip adherence: norm-based deviation costs and cognitive (or effort-related) default opt-out costs. I find that defaults strongly anchor behavior: more than six in ten passengers select a default tip, and opt-out costs, estimated at $0.63, or 5% of the average fare, deter default opt-out. Counterfactual simulations highlight a design tradeoff: revenue-maximizing defaults increase tip revenue by 14% but raise opt-out costs, while consumer welfare-maximizing defaults reduce opt-out frictions at the expense of revenue. Targeted defaults that account for observable consumer heterogeneity provide measurable improvements in both consumer utility and tip income, boosting tip revenue by 7% and consumer welfare by 23% relative to uniformly assigned defaults.

Media Coverage: Forbes, WSJ, WSJ, Stanford Insights, Marginal Revolution

Presented at: Psychology and Economics Lunch Series (UCB), IO Seminar Series (UCB), Science & Philanthropy Initiative Conference, Haas School of Business Marketing Seminar Series, Stanford GSB Marketing Seminar, Stanford GSB Rising Scholars Conference, Chicago Booth Marketing Seminar, Stanford Institute of Theoretical Economics, Marketing Science Conference, Public and Labor Economics Workshop (Texas A&M), Simon Business School Marketing Seminar (University of Rochester), IAREP-SABE 2021 Virtual Conference, Virtual Quantitative Marketing Seminar, BASS FORMS Conference (UT Dallas), 2022 World Economic Science Association Conference (MIT), Stanford Behavioral and Experimental Economics Seminar.

• The Price of Identity: Overoptimism and Congruence Concerns (with Eugen Dimant, Lorenz Götte, Michael Kurschilgen, & Maximilian Muller) [Paper]

Abstract: We examine how identity influences economic decision-making, using field experiments on sports betting to measure belief distortions and identity-driven preferences. We find that people overestimate the likelihood of identity-aligned outcomes by 10–18%, and allocate 20% more of their betting budget to teams for which they have an affinity than to neutral teams. Using a structural model of portfolio allocation, we show that overoptimism accounts for 30%–44% of this investment gap, while the remaining 56%–70% stems from an aversion to betting against one’s favored team, even when such bets offer higher expected returns. Our estimates suggest that this aversion is equivalent to discounting gains from identity-incongruent outcomes by 17%–27%. We also provide evidence for the "identity-threat response" theory: when individuals perceive their identity as under threat–such as after their team’s poor performance–they strengthen their commitment, reinforcing identity-driven betting. Our findings raise policy concerns, as identity-driven biases may exacerbate financial harm not only in the rapidly expanding sports betting market but also in broader consumer and financial decision-making contexts where identity affects choices.

Presented at: Stanford Institute of Theoretical Economics, Stanford GSB Marketing Seminar, Kellogg School of Management, Ross School of Business (University of Michigan), Virtual Experimental Economics Seminar Series (Middlebury), Imperial College London, MIT Sloan, Cornell, UChicago.

Works in Progress

• Understanding Decision-Making in High-Stakes Environments  (with Henry Farber)

Abstract: This study investigates factors that cause behavioral departures from foundational assumptions that undergird standard economic models and how persistent these factors are for long-run behavior.

• Religious Constraints and Labor Supply Decisions

Abstract: This study explores how religious constraints impact labor supply decisions and outcomes. In particular, it focuses on whether there are significant changes in working hours before or after Ramadan, potentially indicating a departure from the expected labor smoothing.