WORKING PAPERS

"Generous to Men or Harsh to Women? Experimentally Unpacking Gender Bias in Lending" (Job Market Paper) 

Abstract: I study gender bias in small business lending by presenting 720 Egyptian loan officers past loan applications with randomized names. The same application is approved 6.2% more often if it has a male name. But is it due to generosity toward men or harshness toward women? I show the gender gap is driven by low-quality loans to men with repayment problems or low credit scores, suggesting generosity toward men. I then test strategies to reduce bias. I find that performance pay tied to repayment outcomes eliminates this gap by reducing approvals of low-quality male applicants, whereas diversity training is ineffective.

• Best PhD Student Paper Award (🏆Louis Pasteur Prize), Advances with Field Experiments (AFE) Conference 2025 (UChicago)

• Presentations: AEA Annual Meeting 2026 (Development Finance), University of Chicago experimental economics working group, Accelerating Growth for Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies conference (EBRD, We-Fi, IDB, IDB Invest, Imperial College London),  Advances with Field Experiments Conference 2025, EGSC 20th Meeting, FMA Doctoral Student Consortium 2025, Korea America Economic Association (KAEA) Job Market Conference, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Finance, KDI School of Public Policy and Management.

"Human-in-the-Loop Bias in AI–Assisted Lending " 

Abstract:  The effectiveness of generative AI depends on how humans use its interactive features. I study human-in-the-loop bias in AI-assisted small business lending through a randomized experiment with 720 loan officers in Egypt. Officers evaluate past loan applications with randomized applicant names while receiving recommendations from a GPT-4o–based chatbot. While AI assistance improves overall screening accuracy, adding interactive features does not provide further gains and may even worsen outcomes by making officers more likely to override correct AI recommendations. I also document gender bias in interactions with AI: when AI incorrectly recommends approving low-quality loans, officers are more likely to question and override the recommendation for female rather than male applicants. These differential responses reallocate credit across genders, reducing approvals of low-quality loans for women while increasing them for men.

PUBLICATIONS

"From Lawn Care to Home Care: Undocumented Immigration and Aging in Place", American Journal of Health Economics, 2025, 11.3: 454–486, with Domininkas Mockus

Abstract: Elderly Americans express a strong desire to stay out of nursing homes as they age (aging in place). Undocumented immigrants play an important role in supporting the elderly who live at home. This paper estimates the effect of changes in undocumented immigration on aging in place. Identification comes from a two-stage least squares research design using the staggered rollout of the Secure Communities (SC) program between 2008 and 2013 that increased the threat of deportation for undocumented immigrants. For communities with a high level of undocumented immigrants, the change in the undocumented labor supply caused by the SC program decreases aging in place by 0.42%. As a general trend, for every 10% decrease in the undocumented labor supply, the percentage of elderly natives aging in place decreases by 0.12%.

"Does Single-Sex Schooling Improve Students' Physical Fitness?: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in South Korea", Economics Letters, 2025, 112279, with Sanghee Mun

Abstract: Leveraging a randomized natural experiment, this study examines the impact of attending single-sex middle schools on students' physical fitness, measured through standardized nationwide physical tests. In South Korea, middle school students are assigned by lottery to either single-sex or coeducational schools within their designated school zones, providing an ideal setting to evaluate the effects of single-sex schooling. Using school-level data covering all middle schools, the study finds that boys attending single-sex schools achieve significantly higher pass rates on standardized physical fitness tests, suggesting improved physical fitness compared to their peers in coeducational schools. However, no similar improvement is observed for girls attending single-sex schools. These findings suggest that single-sex schooling has differential effects by gender, highlighting the need to further research to understand the mechanisms underlying these varied outcomes. 

WORK IN PROGRESS 

"Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard in Microenterprise Lending” with Jules Gazeaud, Adam Osman, Natalia Rigol, and Ben Roth (in the field)

• Summary of Research Proposal, Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL)

• Research Grant from Sawiris Foundation for Social Development  & Exploratory Research Grant from PEDL 

"Unpacking the Gender Gap in Small Business Microfinance Loans: Demand and Supply Experiments in Ghana" with Enock Kojo Ayesu and Simon Kamau

• Presentation: Young Scholars Matchmaking Workshop 2025 (PEDL-CEPR)

• Summary of Research Proposal, PEDL

• Exploratory Research Grant from PEDL 

"The Guardian Effect of Husbands on Wives' Job Seeking: Experimental Evidence from Egypt" (with Abdelrahman Nagy)