Faculty and Staff Profiles

Personal website

Areas of research: Labor economics, economics of education, development economics, applied microeconomics

Areas of teaching: Labor economics, public economics, mathematical economics, microeconomics, macroeconomics


Publications:

• • "Opening the Black Box of College Major Choice: Evidence from an Information Intervention" (with Fulya Ersoy), Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 231, March 2025

   

  • "Family Background and College Major Choice: Evidence on Major Earnings Growth" (with Margaret Leighton), Forthcoming at Education Finance & Policy

   

  • "Are Soft Skills Enough? Experimental Evidence on Skill Complementarity for College Graduates" (with Adam Osman), Forthcoming at ILR Review 

   

  • "Discrimination Against Women in Hiring" (with Adam Osman and Andrew Weaver), Economic Development and Cultural Change 73 (2), p. 781-809, January 2026

   

  • "Microfinance's Transformational Potential: Looking Beyond Average Treatment Effects" (with Ronald A. Cueva and Adam Osman), Oxford Review of Economic Policy 40 (1), p. 71-81, Spring 2024

   

  • "Student Performance in Online Health Courses", Education Economics 32 (1), p. 114-120, January 2024.

   

  • "Stigma and Take-Up of Labor Market Assistance: Evidence from Two Field Experiments" (with Adam Osman), Economica 91 (361), p. 123-141, January 2024

   

  • "Bye Bye Ms. American Sci: Women and the Leaky STEM Pipeline", Economics of Education Review 93, April 2023

   

  • "The Consequences of Promotion and Relegation in European Soccer Leagues: A Regression Discontinuity Approach", Sports Economics Review 1, March 2023

   

  • "Major-Occupation Match Quality: An Empirical Measure Based on Relative Productivity" (with Margaret Leighton), BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 23(1), p. 285-292, January 2023

   

  • "Connections, Referrals, and Hiring Outcomes: Evidence from an Egyptian Establishment Survey" (with Adam Osman and Andrew Weaver), Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 204, December 2022

• "Labor Market Returns to College Major Specificity" (with Margaret Leighton), European Economic Review 128, September 2020

• "Where The Girls Are: Examining and Explaining the Gender Gap in the Nursing Major", Scottish Journal of Political Economy 67(3), p. 322-343, July 2020

• "Are Changes of Major Major Changes? The Roles of Grades, Gender, and Preferences in College Major Switching" (with Carmen Astorne-Figari), Economics of Education Review 70, p. 75-93, June 2019

• "Drop Out, Switch Majors, or Persist? The Contrasting Gender Gaps" (with Carmen Astorne-Figari), Economics Letters 164, p. 82-85, March 2018

• "The Gender Gap in College Major: Revisiting the Role of Pre-College Factors", Labour Economics 44, p. 69-88, January 2017 

• "Pre-Market Skills, Occupational Choice, and Career Progression", Journal of Human Resources 52(1), p. 187-246, January 2017

• "How Bad is Occupational Coding Error? A Task-Based Approach", Economics Letters, 141, p. 166-168, April 2016

• "Cashier or Consultant? Entry Labor Market Conditions, Field of Study, and Career Success" (with Joseph G. Altonji and Lisa B. Kahn), Journal of Labor Economics, 34(S1), p. S361-S401, January 2016

•  "Wages, Hours, and the School-to-Work Transition: The Consequences of Leaving School in a Recession for Less-Educated Men", The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 16(1), p. 97-124, January 2016

• "Trends in Earnings Differentials Across Majors and the Changing Task Composition of Jobs" (with Joseph G. Altonji and Lisa B. Kahn), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings (now known as AEA Papers and Proceedings), 104(5), p. 387-393,  May 2014

• B.A. Economics - Vanderbilt University - 2007
• M.A. Economics - Yale University - 2009
• M.Phil. Economics - Yale University - 2011
• Ph.D. Economics - Yale University - 2014

• Quantitative Economic Analysis (Grad/Undergrad mix) - University of Memphis
• Labor Economics (Undergraduate) - University of Memphis
• Labor Economics (Graduate) - University of Memphis
• Labor and Public Economics (Graduate) - University of Memphis
• Public Economics (Undergraduate) - University of Memphis
• Priniciples of Macroeconomics (Undergraduate) - University of Memphis
• Economics of Poverty and Discrimination (Undergraduate) - University of Memphis