Research
Working Papers
“Child Maltreatment Investigations and Family Well-being” (with Lindsey Lacey and Katherine Rittenhouse). Revise and Resubmit, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 34334]
“Paying for Permanent Families: Subsidizing Permanency Raises Foster Child Achievement” (with Aaron Sojourner, Heidi Ombisa Skallet, and Jon Pedersen). Under Review.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 32560]
Media coverage: MinnPost
Work in Progress
“Early Life Interventions, Labor Markets, and Firms” (with Steve Ross)
Publications
“Domestic Violence and Income: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit” (with Resul Cesur, Núria Rodríguez-Planas, and Jennifer Roff). Journal of Law and Economics, 68.4 (2025): 755–804.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 29930]
“The Safety Net and Job Loss: How Much Insurance Do Public Programs Provide?” (with Chloe East). Journal of Public Economics, 238 (2024): 105171.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 28218] [Journal]
Media coverage: Econofact, Denver Business Journal, CNBC
“The Impact of the Covid Pandemic on the Health and Wellbeing of Pre-school Aged Children” (with Sirui Qiu). Handbook of Inequality and COVID-19, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025: 325–340.
“Matching on Noise: Finite Sample Bias in the Synthetic Control Estimator” (with Joseph Cummins, Doug Miller, and Brock Smith). Journal of Econometric Methods, 13.1 (2023): 67–95.
[Working Paper PDF]
“Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance” (with Jennifer Heissel and Claudia Persico). Journal of Human Resources, 57.3 (2022): 747–776.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 25489] [Journal]
Media coverage: Bloomberg, Chalkbeat, Capitalisn’t podcast, CityLab, Brookings
“Sex, Marijuana, and Baby Booms” (with Alberto Chong and Michele Baggio). Journal of Health Economics, 70 (2020): 102283.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 25208]
Media coverage: The Wall Street Journal, The Verge, News 8
“Body Weight and Internet Access: Evidence from the Rollout of Broadband Providers” (with Melanie Guldi and Michael DiNardi). Journal of Population Economics, 32.3 (2019): 877–913.
[Journal]
“The Effects of Aggregate and Gender-Specific Labor Demand Shocks on Child Health” (with Marianne Page and Jessamyn Schaller). Journal of Human Resources, 54.1 (2019): 37–78.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 22394] [Journal]
“The Earned Income Tax Credit, Poverty, and Health” (with Mark McInerney and Sarah Goodell). Health Affairs, Health Policy Brief, October 4, 2018.
[Article]
“The Impact of Stock Market Fluctuations on the Mental and Physical Well-Being of Children” (with Chad Cotti). Economic Inquiry, 56.2 (2018): 1007–1027.
[Journal]
“The Intergenerational Consequences of Tobacco Policy: A Review of Policy’s Influence on Maternal Smoking and Child Health” (with Leah Lakdawala). Southern Economic Journal, 84.1 (2017): 229–274.
[Journal]
“Does Early Life Exposure to Cigarette Smoke Permanently Harm Childhood Welfare? Evidence from Cigarette Tax Hikes.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8.4 (2016): 128–159.
[Journal] [Online Appendix]
Media coverage: Bill of Health (Harvard Law)
“Income, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Infant Health” (with Hilary Hoynes and Doug Miller). American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 7.1 (2015): 172–211.
Winner, AEJ: Economic Policy Best Paper Award, 2018.
[Working Paper PDF] [NBER WP 18206] [Journal]
Media coverage: The Atlantic, Slate, Salon, National Review, Development Impact, Inequalities