Research

I study development economics, which I interpret to be the study of economic and social problems in disadvantaged populations whether they be in developing countries or not. I work to design programs that help those struggling populations with their real-world problems, and uncover mechanisms working against their success. I do this in a rigorous way using both randomized control trials and advanced statistical methods using observational data.

I am primarily interested in the Economics of Education, and understanding when and why people hold biased beliefs about education’s value and helping to correct those so people make more informed decisions. I am also interested in studying how these decisions are adversely affected by changing environmental factors.

Working Papers

How to Build a Reader: Evidence from a Scalable Literacy Intervention in Ghana with Simon Graffy, Jason Kerwin, and Monica Lambon-Quayefio. February 2026. [PDF]

Work in Progress

Getting More from Schools: Experimental Evidence on Skill Formation from Ghana

Getting More from Schools: Experimental Evidence on Skill Formation from Ghana
Theory emphasizes complementarities between school- and home-based inputs to education, yet almost no experimental work has tested for them. I cross-randomize a parental engagement intervention and a principal training program across 103 primary schools in Ghana, all already receiving an effective structured literacy program. This \(2 \times 2\) factorial design generates independent variation in home- and school-based inputs, which will allow me to test for complementarities in the production of literacy skills. I develop a skill formation model that decomposes investment into school quality and parental effort, linked by a within-period elasticity of substitution that my design identifies. The model predicts that neither intervention alone will move parental effort, but together they will generate outsized literacy gains.

Is Awareness Always Good? An Accidental Information Intervention in Nigeria

To Drop out or Not to Drop out: Local Economics Conditions and College Students’ Dropout Decisions

Why Cluster at all? Randomization Inference Correction to Incorrect Rejection Rates with Small Clusters