Research
I work on macro-development with a primary focus on human capital and labor markets.
Research in progress
The Global Job Ladder, with Martellini and Sockin.
Household Insurance Around the World, with Bacher, Donovan, Grübener, and Nord.
Working papers
Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences Revisited, with Lagakos.
January 2026.
Labor Market Anatomy of a Macroeconomic Crisis, with Donovan, Pedtke, and Lu.
Revise and resubmit, Journal of Monetary Economics. February 2026.
Economic Development According to Chandler, with Engbom, Malmberg, Porzio, and Rossi.
November 2025.
Structural Transformation by Cohort, with Hobijn and Vindas.
November 2018.
Publications and forthcoming
The Missing Middle Managers: Labor Costs, Firm Structure, and Development, with Hjort and Malmberg.
Conditionally accepted, American Economic Review: Insights.
Online appendix.
The Global Distribution of College Graduate Quality, with Martellini and Sockin.
Journal of Political Economy, 2024, 132(2), 434–483.
Estimates of College Graduate Quality for Global Colleges.
The Role of Labor Market Frictions in Structural Transformation, with Donovan.
Oxford Development Studies, 2023, 51(4), 362–374.
Labor Market Dynamics and Development, with Donovan and Lu.
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2023, 138(4), 2287–2325.
Online appendix. LFS Project website. Slides. VoxDev Talks podcast.
Skilled Labor Productivity and Cross-country Income Differences, with Hendricks.
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2023, 15(1), 240–268.
College Quality and Attendance Patterns: A Long-Run View, with Herrington and Hendricks.
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2021, 13(1), 184–215.
Slides. Online appendix and replication materials.
Life-Cycle Human Capital Accumulation Across Countries: Lessons from U.S. Immigrants, with Lagakos, Moll, Porzio, and Qian.
Journal of Human Capital, 2018, 12(2), 305–342.
Data for experience profiles (Figure 2).
Human Capital and Development Accounting: New Evidence from Wage Gains at Migration, with Hendricks.
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2018, 133(2), 665–700.
Slides. Online appendix.
Life-Cycle Wage Growth Across Countries, with Lagakos, Moll, Porzio, and Qian.
Journal of Political Economy, 2018, 126(2), 797–849.
Slides. Data for experience profiles. Stata program.
Wages, Human Capital, and Barriers to Structural Transformation, with Herrendorf.
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2018, 10(2), 1–23.
Replication materials.
Early Childhood Human Capital and Development.
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2016, 8(3), 145–174.
Replication materials. Online appendix. Corrigendum.
Why is Measured Productivity so Low in Agriculture?, with Herrendorf.
Review of Economic Dynamics, 2015, 18(4), 1003–1022.
Environmental Regulations and the Welfare Effects of Job Layoffs in the United States: A Spatial Approach, with Kuminoff and Timmins.
Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2015, 9(2), 198–218.
Longer working paper version.
Student Abilities During the Expansion of U.S. Education, with Hendricks.
Journal of Monetary Economics, 2014, 63(2), 19–36.
Slides. Online appendix.
Families as Roommates: Changes in U.S. Household Size from 1850 to 2000, with Salcedo and Tertilt.
Quantitative Economics, 2012, 3(1), 133–175.
Education Quality and Development Accounting.
Review of Economic Studies, 2012, 79(1), 388–417.
Slides. Data and online appendix. Brief note.
The Occupations and Human Capital of U.S. Immigrants.
Journal of Human Capital, 2010, 4(1), 1–34.
Marriage Laws and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Tertilt.
American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 2006, 96(2), 295–298.