My research interests are labor, education, and health economics. I am also interested in these topics: how families break free from the cycle of poverty; transitions over the life course (i.e., labor market, marital, parenthood transitions); how people make decisions about time and gender differences in time-use allocation; and the impact evaluation of anti-poverty and inequality programs.

Working Paper

1. Disaster, Structural Change, and Incomplete Labor Absorption

Natural disasters destroy productive capacity but can also trigger substantial reconstruction investment. I study the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami using a rich Indonesian household dataset and a difference-in-differences design comparing working-age residents in affected and unaffected coastal districts. The disaster causes a persistent employment rate shortfall in affected districts relative to the control group. The agricultural employment rate falls sharply, while gains in industry and services offset less than half of the decline. This pattern is consistent with distress-driven agricultural contraction and reconstruction-induced expansion in non-agricultural sectors. Women account for nearly all of the employment decline. The gender disparity may reflect differences in human capital and care responsibilities, along with social norms and employer discrimination. Structural change can therefore coexist with incomplete labor absorption.
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Work in Progress

4. Does Devolving Decision-Making Power to Women Improve Forest Restoration? Experimental Evidence from the Himalayas

with Pooka Choksi, Eric Coleman, Harry Fischer, Forrest Fleischmann, Munib Khanyari, Raahil Madhok, Pushpendra Rana, Deepshikha Sharma, and Erin Sills

3. Conjunctivitis Learning Evaluation and Amelioration of Risk (CLEAR)

with Nathan Congdon, Paul Glewwe, and LV Prasad Eye Institute

2. Access to Education in Developing Countries

with Qihui Chen, Paul Glewwe, Yafen Liu, and Sarah Liuzzi

1. Teachers in Developing Countries

with Paul Glewwe, Jovin Lasway, and Suzanne Wisniewski