
Office Location:
Specialization:
Fields: Development Economics; Labor Economics; Political Economy.
Topics: Structural transformation; Globalization; Employment; Education; Public Services.
Bio:
I am a development economist. I trained in economics and energy policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I completed a PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics. Before joining UCSB, I worked at the Asian Development Bank, supporting electricity sector reforms, and examining the implications of structural transformation for employment and education policy across the region. I study the economics of economic development and change (including globalization and deindustrialization), employment, education and inequality. I also work closely with collaborators in economics, political science and other disciplines on other aspects of economic development and political-economy, including public services provision, corruption, gender-based violence, and commodity price management.
I received UCSB’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2017.
Research Associate, Broom Center for Demography
Publications:
Journal Articles
Titles link to final journal articles and to non-paywalled working papers.
Economics / Political-Economy
- Will studying economics make you rich? A regression discontinuity analysis of the returns to college major (with Zachary Bleemer), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (February 2022, lead article). Working Paper.
- Is employment globalizing? (with Liming Chen, Jesus Felipe and Andrew Kam), Structural Change and Economic Dynamics (2021). Working Paper.
- The effects of labor regulation on firms and exports: Evidence from Indian apparel manufacturing (with Asha Sundaram and Rana Hasan), Journal of Comparative Economics (2021). Working Paper.
- Manufacturing matters... but it's the jobs that count (with Jesus Felipe and Changyong Rhee), Cambridge Journal of Economics, (2019). Working Paper.
- Labor Regulations, Employment and Wages: Evidence from India's Apparel Sector, (with Rana Hasan, Nidhi Kapoor and Asha Sundaram). Asian Economic Policy Review (2017).
- Deindustrialization? A Global Perspective (with Jesus Felipe), Economics Letters (2016). Working Paper.
- Pilferage from Opaque Food Subsidy Programs: Theory and Evidence (with Shikha Jha), Food Policy, (2014). Working paper.
- Does industry affiliation influence wages? Evidence from Indonesia and the Asian Financial Crisis (with Wei Sun), World Development (2013). Working paper.
- Self-targeted food subsidies and voice: Evidence from the Philippines (with Shikha Jha and Pilipinas Quising), Food Policy (2013). Working paper.
- Where have all the educated workers gone? Services and wage inequality in three Asian economies (with Jesus Felipe, Pilipinas Quising and Sheila Camingue), Metroeconomica (2013). Working paper.
- Corruption, Food Subsidies and Opacity: Evidence from the Philippines (with Shikha Jha), Economics Letters (2012). Working paper.
- Economic Liberalization and Rising College Premiums in Mexico: A Reinterpretation (with Belinda Acuna Mohr), World Development (2012). Working paper.
- The effects of trade and services liberalization on wage inequality in India (with Rana Hasan), International Review of Economics and Finance (2012). Working paper.
- Overeducation in Developing Economies: How can we test for it and what does it mean? (with Jesus Felipe, Pilipinas Quising and Sheila Camingue), Economics of Education Review (2011). Working paper.
- Incomplete Property Rights, Exposure to Markets, and the Provision of Ecosystem Services in China (with Michael T. Bennett and Jintao Xu), China Economic Review (2011). Working paper.
- Understanding the Coffee Crisis: What Can We Learn from Price Dynamics? (with Jean-Paul Chavas), Journal of Development Economics (2008). Working paper
- Why Do Diplomas Pay? An Expanded Mincerian Framework Applied to Mexico (with Hector J. Villarreal), Applied Economics. (2008). Working paper.
- Price Dynamics in a Vertical Sector: The Case of Butter (with Jean-Paul Chavas), American Journal of Agricultural Economics (2004). Working paper.
- Power Sector Reform in Central Asia: Observations on the Diverse Experiences of Five Central Asian Republics and Mongolia (with Anil Terway & Satish Rao), Journal of Cleaner Production (2007). Working paper.
- Under-Representation of Disadvantaged Classes in College: What do the Data Tell Us? (With Rana Hasan), Economic and Political Weekly (of India) (2006). Working paper.
Cognate Disciplines
- When Development is Not Enough: Structural Change, Conflict and Gendered Insecurity (with Alison Brysk), Global Society, (2017). Working Paper.
- Is Only Fair Lovely? Consequences of Skin Color in a Survey Experiment in Delhi (with Amit Ahuja and Susan Ostermann), Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics (2016). Working paper.
- Research Diversification and Impact: The Case of National Nanoscience Development (with Patrick Herron, Timothy Lenoir and Cong Cao), Scientometrics (2016). Working paper.
- Do rights at home boost rights abroad? Sexual equality and humanitarian foreign policy (with Alison Brysk), Journal of Peace Research (2014). Working paper.
- Globalization and De-Globalization in Nanotechnology Research: The role of China (with Patrick Herron, Yasuyuki Motoyama, Richard Appelbaum and Tim Lenoir), Scientometrics (2012). Working paper.
Books
- Metrics that Matter: Measuring what's really important to college students (with Zachary Bleemer, Christopher Muellerleile, Mukul Kumar and Christopher Newfield). Johns Hopkins University Press (2023).
Working Papers
- Major restrictions and student stratification (with Zachary Bleemer). UC Center for Studies in Higher Education Working Paper Series 14.21.
- Education and the Evolution of Comparative Advantage (with Jesus Felipe and Hongyuan Jin, 2021). Asian Development Bank, Economics Working Paper Series 635.
Book Chapters and Reports for Public Agencies
- Major restrictions, socioeconomic stratification and student success (with Zachary Bleemer). University of California Office of the President Policy Brief (2020).
- What humanities scholars and economists think higher education is for – and how quantification sidelines both views (with Christopher Newfield). In Anna Alexandrova, Stephen John and Christopher Newfield (eds.) The Limits of the Numerical: The Abuses and Uses of Quantification. University of Chicago Press (2022).
- Asia's Structural Transformation: Where to, how, and how fast? (with Jesus Felipe, Roehl Briohnes, Douglas Brooks and Bart Verspagen, 2013).
- Inclusiveness through Food Security: The Case of the Philippines National Food Authority (with Shikha Jha), in Juzhong Zhuang (ed.) Inequality and Inclusive Growth in Asia: Measurement, Policy Issues and Country Studies. Anthem Press (2010).
- Education and Structural Change in Four Asian Countries (with Jesus Felipe, 2007)
- International Payments Imbalances (with Frank Harrigan and Jesus Felipe, 2006)
- A Diagnostic Review of Regulatory Approaches and Challenges: Power Sector Reforms in Seven CAREC Member Countries(with David Butcher, 2005)
- The Economics and Feasibility of Electricity Generation using Manure Digesters on Small and Medium Size Dairy Farms. (2002).
Invited Online Articles
- Are Labor Markets Increasingly Global? Some Empirical and Policy Concerns, Global-e, the E-journal of 21st Century Global Dynamics Initiative (2018)
- How Serious are India’s Manufacturing Skill Gaps? , Ideas for India (2015)
- The Manufacturing Conundrum, (with Jesus Felipe and Changyong Rhee), World Bank Jobs and Development Website (2015)
- Five ways to lessen inequality as demand for labor softens worldwide, Huffington Post (2014).
- Strawberries, Chocolate and Skill Gaps, World Bank Jobs and Development Website (2014).
- Why Global students should study economics. Global-e, the E-journal of 21st Century Global Dynamics Initiative (2013)
In the works..
- What does economic growth do to public services corruption? (with Amit Ahuja).
- Does studying economics change your political perspective? (with Zachary Bleemer)
- Trade liberalization and inequality as if businessmen existed (with Andrew Dawson, Miguel Flores Segovia and Asha Sundaram)
- On the pitfalls of estimating production functions with value data (with Jesus Felipe and John McCombie)