I’m a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of Oregon, on the job market 2021. Check out this new* stated preference method I’m developing.
PhD in Economics, 2021 (expected)
University of Oregon
MS in Economics, 2017
University of Oregon
BS in Economics, 2016
Portland State University
BS in Philosophy, 2012
Portland State University
Cultural insiders and foreign aid: How the cultural background of World Bank project managers affects project success (working paper)
Abstract: A wealth of research has determined that project- and country-level characteristics matter for the success of foreign aid projects. This research explores how the cultural background of project leaders affects these outcomes. I use a new measure of cultural proximity between countries, based on the genetic distance measure compiled by Spolaore and Wacziarg (2018) and data from the World Bank, to quantify how much cultural overlap likely exists between project leaders and the countries where these projects take place. To address possible endogeneity arising from assignment of managers to projects, I instrument for cultural proximity with the average cultural proximity of other available project leaders. Where institutions are strong, culturally similar project managers outperform those who are more culturally distant, but this relationship is not present in countries with poor institutions.Willingness to bear the costs of pandemic restrictions (with Trudy Ann Cameron, in progress)
We develop and field a stated preference survey about pandemic restrictions to a representative sample of Oregonians. Our results (coming soon!) will allow us to identify the tradeoffs Oregonians are willing to make between, on the one hand, the economic burden and inconvenience of pandemic restrictions and, on the other, the avoided illnesses and deaths those restrictions are likely to achieve. Rich demographic data from non-respondents allow us to correct for non-response bias.
Differential attention to attributes in stated preference research: evidence from Mouselab (with Trudy Ann Cameron, in progress)
In typical stated preference surveys, respondents are required to make cognitively taxing choices among a set of alternatives. We build a model of attention allocation that assumes subjects gain utility from accurately representing their preferences in incentive compatible surveys but that subject attention is finite and costly. We validate our model using data from mouse-tracking software, collected while subjects work through a stated preference survey about health outcomes.
Note: I am working with the Census Bureau to gain access to a Federal Statistical Research Data Center, which will provide much better evidence that crime reporting rates vary with temperature. Ideally, I will be able to match ground monitoring data from NOAA with crimes reported in the National Crime Victimization Survey, the only nationwide dataset that includes observations of unreported crimes.
(Instructor of record)
Fluent
Conversational
Always improving