Published and Accepted Papers
Peer-reviewed
"The Dynamic Impact of Internet Access on Student Learning: Evidence from Peruvian Public Primary Schools." (with Kevin Kho and Eduardo Nakasone)
AEJ: Economic Policy, November 2023
Coverage: VoxDev / Published Version
"The Relationship Between Parental Disability and Child Outcomes: Evidence from Veteran Families." (with Prashant Bharadwaj)
PLOS ONE, November 2022
Final working paper version is from September 2022 / Published Version
"Perverse Consequences of Well-intentioned Regulation: Evidence from India's Child Labor Ban" (with Prashant Bharadwaj and Nicholas Li) Online Appendix
Journal of the European Economic Association, June 2020
Blogs/Popular Press Coverage: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Insider, CATO Institute Non-technical summary: VoxEU, Ideas For India
"The Intergenerational Consequences of Tobacco Policy: A Review of Policy’s Influence on Maternal Smoking and Child Health." (with David Simon)
Southern Economic Journal, July 2017
Stata Code
"Discrimination Begins in the Womb - Evidence of Sex Selective Prenatal Investments" (with Prashant Bharadwaj)
Journal of Human Resources, December 2013
Published Version / Online Appendix (for published version) / Stata Code
Featured in the Indian Express, NPR, Academic Minute, and other news outlets
Other
"Effects of Parental Disability on Children’s Schooling: The Surprising Role of Parental Education." with Katie Bollman.
AEA Papers and Proceedings, May 2023
Webcast of 2023 ASSA presentation
Working Papers
"The Effects of of Expanding Worker Rights to Children." with Diana Martinez and Diego Vera-Cossio
August 2023 Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Development Economics
"Frosty Climate, Icy Relationships: Frosts and Intimate Partner Violence in Peru." with Katie Bollman, Eduardo Nakasone, and Judhajit Chakraborty
August 2023
"When the Temperature Drops, Perceptions Worsen: Effects of Extreme Cold on Perceptions of Government and Civic Participation in the Peruvian Highlands." with Eduardo Nakasone and Judhajit Chakraborty
August 2023
"From Loans to Labor: Access to Credit, Entrepreneurship and Child Labor."
July 2018
Referenced in this commentary from the Center for Global Development
August 2023 Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Development Economics
"Frosty Climate, Icy Relationships: Frosts and Intimate Partner Violence in Peru." with Katie Bollman, Eduardo Nakasone, and Judhajit Chakraborty
August 2023
"When the Temperature Drops, Perceptions Worsen: Effects of Extreme Cold on Perceptions of Government and Civic Participation in the Peruvian Highlands." with Eduardo Nakasone and Judhajit Chakraborty
August 2023
"From Loans to Labor: Access to Credit, Entrepreneurship and Child Labor."
July 2018
Referenced in this commentary from the Center for Global Development
Other Projects and Works in Progress
"The Effect of School-based Internet Access on Educational Attainment, Occupational Choice, and Earnings." with Eduardo Nakasone
Abstract/Project Description: We show that access to internet at secondary schools increases the probability that young adults attend university in Peru. We exploit variation in school-based internet connectivity induced by the rollout of a national program that connected many public schools to the internet starting in 2004. Using data from annual cross-sectional household surveys, we find that cohorts that attended secondary schools with internet access are 2.4 percentage points (nearly 10%) more likely to attend university than cohorts who attended the same schools before they gained internet access. We also find that young adults are less likely to be working only and more likely to be exclusively attending school. In addition, we 1) see whether internet access affects the quality of universities attended; 2) investigate whether improvements in digital skills are a likely mechanism; 3) explore the effects on labor market outcomes for older samples, including effects on occupational choice and wages.
"COVID Mortality and Voting Behavior: Evidence from the 2021 Presidential Elections in Peru." with Eduardo Nakasone and Judhajit Chakraborty
Abstract/Project Description: Using district-level variation in COVID-19 deaths and data from the 2011, 2016, and 2021 presidential elections in Peru, we find that -- conditional on district- and election-year fixed effects -- districts that suffered the most COVID deaths in the months before the elections shifted their votes towards more left-leaning parties. In particular, each additional COVID death per 100,000 district residents shifts the first-round voting patterns 1.6% to the left on a political ideology index. Falsification exercises show no evidence of pretrends in voting patterns by COVID deaths. We investigate several potential mediating factors, including voter participation, confidence in political institutions, and public transfers such as pandemic-specific relief programs.
"Explaining Differential Treatment of Daughters and Sons: The Role of Economic Incentives."
Abstract/Project Description: I document the differential response of child labor to household borrowing by child gender. Preliminary results indicate that girls’ labor is highly responsive to household borrowing whereas boys’ labor is generally insensitive to changes in access to credit. These results suggest that within households, boys and girls are treated very differently; while households use girls’ labor to buffer other members from shocks, boys are largely protected against shocks to the household. I then use these baseline results as a motivation for investigating the underlying causes of the observed gender differentials. I consider differential returns to education, the use of children as a means for long-term savings, bequest motives and heterogeneous labor productivities as potential explanations for this finding.
Abstract/Project Description: We show that access to internet at secondary schools increases the probability that young adults attend university in Peru. We exploit variation in school-based internet connectivity induced by the rollout of a national program that connected many public schools to the internet starting in 2004. Using data from annual cross-sectional household surveys, we find that cohorts that attended secondary schools with internet access are 2.4 percentage points (nearly 10%) more likely to attend university than cohorts who attended the same schools before they gained internet access. We also find that young adults are less likely to be working only and more likely to be exclusively attending school. In addition, we 1) see whether internet access affects the quality of universities attended; 2) investigate whether improvements in digital skills are a likely mechanism; 3) explore the effects on labor market outcomes for older samples, including effects on occupational choice and wages.
"COVID Mortality and Voting Behavior: Evidence from the 2021 Presidential Elections in Peru." with Eduardo Nakasone and Judhajit Chakraborty
Abstract/Project Description: Using district-level variation in COVID-19 deaths and data from the 2011, 2016, and 2021 presidential elections in Peru, we find that -- conditional on district- and election-year fixed effects -- districts that suffered the most COVID deaths in the months before the elections shifted their votes towards more left-leaning parties. In particular, each additional COVID death per 100,000 district residents shifts the first-round voting patterns 1.6% to the left on a political ideology index. Falsification exercises show no evidence of pretrends in voting patterns by COVID deaths. We investigate several potential mediating factors, including voter participation, confidence in political institutions, and public transfers such as pandemic-specific relief programs.
"Explaining Differential Treatment of Daughters and Sons: The Role of Economic Incentives."
Abstract/Project Description: I document the differential response of child labor to household borrowing by child gender. Preliminary results indicate that girls’ labor is highly responsive to household borrowing whereas boys’ labor is generally insensitive to changes in access to credit. These results suggest that within households, boys and girls are treated very differently; while households use girls’ labor to buffer other members from shocks, boys are largely protected against shocks to the household. I then use these baseline results as a motivation for investigating the underlying causes of the observed gender differentials. I consider differential returns to education, the use of children as a means for long-term savings, bequest motives and heterogeneous labor productivities as potential explanations for this finding.