Working Papers
"Racial Sorting in the US Marriage Market: Evolution and Welfare Implications"
Presentations: SEA - Structural Applied Micro 2023, SOLE 2024 (scheduled), CEA 2024 (scheduled), ESPE 2024 (scheduled)
Abstract: Interracial marriage has steadily increased in the US, indicating positive progress toward social integration. Nevertheless, this progress has been uneven across different social groups, with notable gender disparities among Blacks and Asians. This paper analyzes how the marital welfare of different social groups is shaped by changing marital gains related to interracial marriage and changing population composition. Using a structural model of marriage market equilibrium, I first show that marital gains from interracial marriage have improved only for some pairs, revealing substantial gender and education gaps. I then show that these disparities in marital gains, along with the demographic composition, have improved marriage prospects and welfare for some groups (e.g. college-educated Black men) while limiting others’ (e.g. Black women). Using the estimated model, I uncover the complex ways through which changing marital gains and population have shaped uneven marital welfare through equilibrium channels. In particular, I find that the evolving gender disparities in marital surplus associated with interracial marriage contributed to the gender gaps in marital welfare among Black men and women. In contrast, the sex ratio imbalances played a more substantial role for White men’s and women’s marital welfare. Lastly, I show that in the absence of the gender gaps in racial preferences in marriage, particularly in the direction of stronger racial integration, marital prospects for all would improve.
"Gender Wage Gap and Household Consumption in the US: Evidence from Scanner Data" (with So Yoon Ahn) - Draft Available Upon Request
Presentations: AASLE 2021, SEHO 2022, Leuven Summer Event - Labor/Family Economics 2022, SOLE 2023, Nebraska Labor Summit
Abstract: How does women’s relative economic position affect household consumption? Higher female income can enhance women’s bargaining power, shifting spending toward their preferences. Conversely, higher earnings may lengthen work hours, affecting time constraints and spending patterns. Using exogenous gender-specific wage variations and detailed US household scanner data, we find that women’s better labor market conditions increase spending on women- and children-related goods, supporting household bargaining theories. However, unlike in developing countries, higher female wages in the US result in more frozen food and less fresh produce consumption, suggesting a labor supply effect. This shift is linked to increased household obesity.
"Preference Heterogeneity versus Economic Incentives: What Determines the Choice to Give Care?" (with Daniel Barczyk and Matthias Kredler)
Selected Work in Progress
"Geographic Variation in Racial Sorting in the US Marriage Market"
Pre-Doctoral Publication
"Evaluation of the Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education" (with Pietro Biroli, Daniela Del Boca, James J. Heckman, Lynne Pettler-Heckman, Sylvi Kuperman, Sidharth Moktan, Chiara D. Pronzato, and Anna L. Ziff), Research in Economics, 72(1):1-32. (2018)