Research

The Inequitable Impact of Equal Rationing: The Case of Load Shedding in South Africa
Draft

This paper examines how the unreliability of the electrical grid affects economic inequality by analyzing the effects of South Africa’s system of rotating power outage implemented between 2019 and 2024. Using a novel methodology that matches daily satellite luminosity data with outages schedules, I find that areas with the highest concentration of low-income households experience an additional 28% decrease in nighttime luminosity during power outages compared to the wealthiest areas. This differential exists despite equal exposure to outages across the income distribution. Consistent with richer households adapting to power outages by installing fuel-operated generators, I show that the differential impact is reduced when oil prices increase.

Black-White Income Inequality During Jim Crow: Evidence from ‘Passing’ for White
with Ricardo Dahis, Emily Nix, Nancy Qian
[Draft available upon request]

This paper documents several new facts about racial discrimination from 1910-1940 in the United States. Exposure to racial discrimination was positively associated with some Black men taking on White identities, resulting in large income gains and economic mobility. However, this imposed high social costs; beyond the loss of one’s Black identity, passing for White was associated with higher separation rates from a person’s community and family. Using the income gains from passing, we estimate that removing contemporaneous labor market discrimination would have increased the Black-to-White income ratio by at least 16 percentage points.

Does Gender Influence Migrant Reception? Evidence from Italy
Draft

This study examines whether the presence of women in local government influences attitudes toward migrant reception. Using data from the European Social Survey, I document that women view migration as more economically threatening than men, though they are more supportive of welcoming refugees. To identify causal effects, I exploit the exogenous variation in female representation created by Italy’s 2012 gender quota law (Law 215/2012), which required municipal candidate lists to include at least onethird women in municipalities over 5,000 residents. Using a difference-in-difference and an instrumental variables approach, I show that a one standard deviation increase in women’s council representation increases the probability of bidding for refugee centers by 77%. This suggests that despite women’s greater concern about migration’s economic impact, their preference for supporting vulnerable populations dominates in policy decisions.

The Glass Cliff: Gender and Leadership Selection in Distressed Organizations