Research
Publications
A Cross-verified Database of Notable People (3500 BC - 2018 AD) (with Morgane Laouenan, Jean-Benoît Eyméoud, Olivier Gergaud, Guillaume Plique and Etienne Wasmer) (Nature Scientific Data, 2022):
Project Website
Corresponding visualization using the data: Notable people map by Topi Tjukanov.
Coverage: DailyMail UK, NY Post, Metro UK, +135 others
Article Metrics available here
Codes and Dataset available here
Abstract: A new strand of literature aims at building the most comprehensive and accurate database of notable individuals. We collect a massive amount of data from various editions of Wikipedia and Wikidata. Using deduplication techniques over these partially overlapping sources, we cross-verify each retrieved information. Our strategy results in a cross-verified database of 2.29 million individuals (an elite of 1/43,000 of human beings having ever lived), including a third who are not present in the English edition of Wikipedia. Building on seminal works based on Freebase and Wikipedia by Schich et. al 2014 and Yu et. al 2016, we use six additional language editions of Wikipedia as well as Wikidata as complementary sources of information about notable individuals to reduce the Anglo-Saxon bias present in current works. We obtain information about their demographic characteristics, place and death of birth / death, citizenship, and occupation. This is an attempt to create the most comprehensive database employable for understanding the role of culture, gender and creative classes in fields of economic growth, urban economics, cultural development and network analysis.
Working Papers
Homophily and Transmission of Non-cognitive skills in Social Networks (with Daniel Chen, Matthias Sutter and Camille Terrier)
Abstract: Social networks are a key factor of success in life, but they are also strongly segmented on gender, ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics (Jackson 2010). We present novel evidence on an understudied source of homophily: behavioral traits. Based on unique data collected using incentivized experiments with more than 2,500 French high-school students, we find high levels of homophily across all behavioral traits that we study. Notably, the extent of homophily depends on similarities in demographics, particularly gender. Using network econometrics, we show that the observed homophily is not only an outcome of endogenous network formation, but is also a result of friends influencing each others' behavioral traits. Importantly, the transmission of traits is larger when students share demographic characteristics such as gender
Selected Works in Progress
Popularity, Social Networks and Student Outcomes (on field)
AEA RCT Registry Link
Abstract: From an early age, individuals’ social network access and position shape aspects of human capital that have long lasting consequences in their lives. Socially isolated and less connected students exhibit deficiencies on multiple dimensions including behavioral, personality and academic skills. Therefore, can one improve cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes for students through social integration? If yes, can this be achieved through the design of optimal peer matching strategies using information from current classroom social networks? This project aims to explore these questions through a randomized desk peer assignment in 23 Indian private schools spread over 13 cities (4 regions / states). Linking isolated students to popular students can lead to overall development through better integration, positive peer effects and enhanced classroom experience. However, if popular peers are saturated in their socialization capacity, their inaccessibility may result in further ostracization. As a result, improvement in the sense of belongingness amongst isolated students may require linking them to each other to form more stable friendships. The project tests under an optimal strategy who should isolated individuals be linked to: popular peers, other isolated peers or someone in the middle of the distributions w.r.t popularity. To do so it divides the students in the classroom into three types by their measure of popularity (high, medium, and low). It then employs a novel two-level randomization design where firstly, desk mate type is randomized between high, medium, and low for each individual and secondly, the proportion of low to high and low to low matches are varied to alter the overall classroom environment.
Cultural transmission and historical origins of attention to environmental issues (with César Barilla)
Abstract: How does the climatic experience of previous generations affect today's attention to environmental questions? Using self-reported beliefs and environmental themes in folklore, we show empirically that the realized intensity of deviations from typical climatic conditions in ancestral generations influences how much descendants care about the environment. The effect exhibits a U-shape where more stable and more unstable climates lead to higher attention, with a dip for intermediate realizations. We propose a theoretical framework where the value of costly attention to environmental conditions depends on the perceived stability of the environment; prior beliefs about which are shaped through cultural transmission by the experience of ethnic ancestors. The U-shape results from a dual purpose of learning about the environment: optimal utilization of typical conditions and protection against extreme events.
Family Ties: The Effects of the Price of College on Parent and Student Finances (with Sandra Black, Jeff Denning, Robert Fairlie and Oded Gurantz)
Work in Early Stages
Trajectories of notable individuals: A cross verified database of locations (with Minda Belete, Morgane Laouenan, Olivier Gergaud and Etienne Wasmer)
Historical elite social networks and the escape from the Malthusian trap
Percolation of Natural Disasters related Credit Shocks through Family Networks (with Shreya Chandra)
Omniscient Teachers: Revealing social network information for better student outcomes (with Tarang Tripathi) (in field preparation)
Uncovering the black box of academic peer effects: Effects of peer tutoring on agency of students (with Madhavi Jha, Dashleen Kaur, Nikhil Kumar) (in field preparation)
Empowering Youth with Digital Skills: A Large-Scale Clustered Randomized Intervention in Kenya (with Tommaso Batistoni, Daniel Chen, Tushar Kundu and Ken Maina)