My research interests are labor, education, and health economics. I am particularly 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

A natural disaster can reorganize employment across sectors while leaving the overall employment rate persistently below its counterfactual path. I study the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami using a rich Indonesian household dataset and a difference-in-differences design that compares working-age individuals in affected and unaffected districts. The disaster produces a persistent employment rate shortfall. The agricultural employment rate falls sharply, while the combined rise in industry and service employment offsets less than half of the agricultural loss. The employment rate decline falls overwhelmingly on women. Monthly wages among employees rise in services and fall in agriculture, while hours worked among employed individuals show no statistically significant change. The divergence between employment and wages is consistent with sectorally uneven labor demand and changes in labor supply. These findings show that structural change can coexist with incomplete labor absorption.

Draft is available upon request

Work in Progress

3. Salary Transparency and Labor Market Outcomes

2. Teachers in Developing Countries

with Paul Glewwe, Jovin Lasway, and Suzanne Wisniewski

1. The Effects of Time-use Agency on Unpaid Work

with Amy Damon, Diahhadi Setyonaluri, Usha Adelina Riyanto, and Bimbika Sijapati Basnett