In applied historical research, geographic units often differ in level of aggregation across datasets. One solution is to use crosswalks that associate factors located within one geographic unit to another, based on their relative areas. We develop an alternative approach based on relative...

Fuel standards and gasoline content regulations are widely adopted by policymakers to reduce urban pollution and emission. An important but understudied question for policy design is measuring consumers’ private willingness to pay for higher gasoline standards. The empirical challenge is...

This paper shows how the migration of millions of Southern whites in the 20th century shaped the cultural and political landscape across America. Racially and religiously conservative, Southern white migrants created new electoral possibilities for a broad-based coalition with economic...

Nondemocratic regimes face a tradeoff when investing in public education. Education promotes human capital acquisition, expanding the tax base. Yet it also enhances political sophistication and participation, at a cost to nondemocratic regimes. To relax this tradeoff, a regime can disseminate...

Early in their formation, modern nation-states face internal conflicts that impede their economic development. This paper examines the role of national identity in helping modern states overcome such conflicts to provide public goods and grow. We develop a model in which the population can...

This paper investigates the impact of gasoline content regulation on consumers’ demand in China. Our empirical design takes advantage of a unique market structure and policyinduced changes in gasoline formulation. Using detailed gas station-level data, we compare the sales volume of stations...

This paper investigates the impact of gasoline content regulation on consumers’ demand in China. Our empirical design takes advantage of a unique market structure and policyinduced changes in gasoline formulation. Using detailed gas station-level data, we compare the sales volume of stations...

This paper examines the long-run effects of forced migration on economic development in the origin economy, using Czechoslovakia's expulsion of 3 million Germans after WWII. For identification, I use the discontinuity in ethnic composition at the border of the "Sudetenland" region where Germans...