Applied economist working at the intersection of environmental and climate policy, political economy, and inequality. My research examines how policy design and institutional frameworks shape decarbonization and its distributional consequences. I use empirical methods to evaluate the causal effects of public policies.
Achieving net-zero emissions requires not only technological innovation but also the capacity to absorb and implement it effectively. This study investigates how absorptive capacity, defined as the interaction between tertiary education and R&D investment, amplifies the impact of innovation on carbon emissions. Using fixed effects and Difference-in-Differences models, the analysis shows that while R&D alone reduces emissions, its effect is significantly stronger in countries with higher levels of education. Mechanism analyses reveal that absorptive capacity enhances environmental outcomes by strengthening policy enforcement, accelerating the diffusion of green technologies, and improving energy efficiency. These findings highlight the importance of aligning education and innovation policies to unlock the full decarbonization potential of climate technologies.
This research explores the impact of education on individuals' involvement with financial assets such as savings, annuities/IRAs, and stocks in the United States. Utilizing panel data and various identification strategies, the findings indicate that education is associated with greater investment in these assets, particularly among those with college and postgraduate degrees. The paper examines how higher incomes resulting from better education, improved financial behaviors, and an increased willingness to take risks contribute to these outcomes.
The Effects of Medicaid Expansion on the Racial/Ethnic Composition within Nursing Home Residents
Background: The Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, aimed to improve healthcare coverage for American citizens. This study investigates the impact of Medicaid expansion (ME) under the ACA on the racial and ethnic composition of nursing home admissions in the U.S., focusing on whether ME has led to increased representation of racial/ethnic minorities in nursing homes.
Results: The analysis revealed that the racial and ethnic composition of nursing home admissions has become more homogeneous following Medicaid expansion. Specifically, there was a decline in Black residents and an increase in White residents in nursing homes.
Conclusions: Medicaid expansion has not diversified nursing home demographics as hypothesized; instead, it has led to a more uniform racial composition. These findings highlight the complex interplay between healthcare policy implementation and racial disparities in access to long-term care.
Working Papers
Can Educational Policies Reduce Wealth Inequality?
This study investigates the causal relationship between education and wealth accumulation. Utilizing three distinct identification strategies, the research analyzes a panel dataset from the United States, encompassing two generations. The empirical findings indicate that higher educational attainment, particularly at the college and postgraduate levels, leads to a significant increase in lifetime wealth. Subsequently, the paper develops a life-cycle heterogeneous agents model to assess the impact of educational policies on wealth accumulation.
Interplay of Public and Private Educational Spending: Macroeconomic Implications
This study investigates how the interaction between public and private educational spending shapes macroeconomic outcomes. The paper develops a quantitative model calibrated to cross-country data to assess how the composition of educational investment affects growth, inequality, and intergenerational mobility.
The Silent Divides in Education's Promise: Uneven Wealth Gains from College
This study examines the impact of tertiary education on wealth in the U.S. by gender, race, and generation. The findings reveal that males and White individuals gain more wealth from higher education, while females and Non-White groups see less benefit or even negative impacts. Generational analysis shows diminishing returns for younger cohorts.
Rewarding Green Goals: The Effects of Environmental Incentives for CEOs with Benedict Probst
This paper examines whether tying CEO compensation to environmental performance reduces firms' greenhouse gas emissions. Using global firm-level data from 2015–2024, we exploit the staggered adoption of environmental bonus components and regulatory-driven variation, to estimate how emissions change after incentives are introduced. Across specifications, the estimated effects are small and statistically non-significant. To interpret this null result, we document that environmental components are typically minor relative to total compensation and rely largely on qualitative, non-verifiable criteria rather than quantified emissions targets. Consistent with weak contractibility and limited monitoring capacity, firms appear more likely to adjust disclosure and qualitative representations of performance than operational emissions. Our results suggest that ESG-linked compensation schemes, as currently designed, function more as symbolic commitments than as effective drivers of decarbonization, highlighting the need for clearer, quantitatively grounded, and verifiable metrics if pay is intended to align executives with climate goals.
Other Research
The Right of Self-Defense: Who is a Threat? with Alessio Muscarnera
This paper investigates the impact of Stand Your Ground laws on crime-related outcomes. Using a generalized difference-in-differences methodology, we find that the adoption of SYG laws increases racial and justifiable homicide rates, as well as hate crime incidents. These results challenge the idea that broadening the scope of self-defense laws increases public safety.
The Care Wave: Macroeconomic Impact of Prevention and Provision
This paper develops an overlapping generations (OLG) model to assess the macroeconomic and social impacts of Europe's demographic transition. Two policy approaches are evaluated: preventive health measures aimed at reducing future long-term care (LTC) needs and expanding LTC insurance coverage. The model, calibrated to EU5 countries, explores the effects of these strategies on economic growth, inequality, and fiscal sustainability.
