Published & Forthcoming Papers
“Local Labor Market Effects of Nuclear Power Plants” with Duha T. Altindag, Jennifer Jones, and R. Alan Seals (forthcoming at Journal of Policy Analysis and Management)
Completed Working Papers
Exploiting the staggered rollout of submarine cables to 12 coastal African countries in the late 2000s, I investigate how faster Internet access affects research production in African universities. When a university connects to high-speed Internet, the number of publications produced by its affiliated researchers rises by about 65 percent. This effect does not occur immediately, rather, research output begins to increase significantly three to four years after the arrival of broadband. The evidence suggests that greater access to existing research and improved communication among scholars are the key mechanisms driving this growth. In contrast, I find no clear evidence that high-speed Internet access improves the quality of publications.
“Automation and the Decline in Social Security Disability Insurance Applications” with Christopher J. Cruz, John M. Nunley, and R. Alan Seals