Research
My research spans development, health, environmental policy, and social simulation. I combine econometric methods, randomized field experiments, administrative and survey data, and LLM-based simulation audits to study policy design and household decision-making.
Working Papers
When the Worst Compete: Strategic Responses to Environmental Protection Interviews in China(Job Market Paper)
This paper studies the dynamic incentives embedded in China's Environmental Protection Interview (EPI), a ranking-driven policy that targets underperforming cities. Using high-frequency air-quality data and a Callaway-Sant'Anna difference-in-differences framework, I show that cities at risk of being treated reduce PM2.5 by approximately 12.6 μg/m³, nearly three times prior estimates. Reductions peak around 21.7 μg/m³ in December, consistent with strategic abatement near evaluation windows, and generate measurable healthcare cost savings during those periods. Political ties and proximity to capital-region oversight shape when cities exert effort, highlighting both the promise and limits of rank-ordered policy design.
Presentations:
- Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE), May 2025
- Western Economic Association International (WEAI), June 2025
- WSU Student Seminar, November 2025
- Selected for presentation at 2025 AAEA Annual Meeting
- Northwest Development Workshop, June 2024
Accuracy Can Reward Collapse: A Field Audit of LLM Survey Respondents
This paper audits LLM respondent simulation in a six-month Nigerian caregiver field trial, showing that average accuracy can reward models that collapse onto the cohort's most common direction of change. I compare direct structured-context LLM prompting, supervised RandomForest prediction, and Layered Respondent Simulation across five fidelity axes: raw error, mean-matched error, variance preservation, severe-tail recall, and individual residual alignment. The results show that respondent simulation has no single validity score: interpolation can win when strong item anchors exist, while explicit population-prior design is needed for weak-anchor outcomes and distributional realism.
Family Plans and Planning Policy: The Role of Women's Human Capital in Shaping China's Fertility Trends
This paper investigates how women's higher education shapes fertility decisions in China under the One-Child and Second-Child Policies. Using provincial college access at age 17 as an instrument and the 2020 China Family Panel Survey, we find that an additional year of education delays first birth and reduces total fertility, especially higher-order births that would violate family planning rules. The evidence points to formal employment and institutional penalties as important channels linking education to greater policy compliance.
Assessing the Impact of Organic Farm Training on Crop Productivity by Gender
This randomized controlled trial evaluates how organic vegetable technology adoption affects crop productivity and gendered labor allocation among 600 farming households in the Philippines. Training and starter kits increased adoption of organic technologies, especially labor-intensive homemade fertilizers and pesticides among poorer households. Aggregate labor effects mask important heterogeneity: poorer households increased female labor in fertilizer and pesticide application, while wealthier households reallocated labor toward market-ready inputs. The findings show how technology adoption can change production processes and widen gender productivity gaps among poorer households.
Work in Progress
Addressing Maternal Mental Health and Child Undernutrition in Nigeria through Psychological Support
This randomized controlled trial in Gombe State, Nigeria studies whether integrating Problem Management Plus (PM+), a WHO-designed low-intensity psychological intervention, into nutrition programs can improve maternal psychosocial wellbeing and child outcomes. The project enrolled 754 caregiver-child pairs after screening more than 5,400 caregivers and measures impacts across maternal wellbeing, caregiving, child feeding, development, nutrition, and health, with additional mechanisms on empowerment and intra-household dynamics.
Organic Farming Training, Child Nutrition, and Intra-Household Mechanisms in Rural Philippines
This project examines whether organic farming technology training affects child anthropometric and nutritional outcomes in rural Philippines, and through which household mechanisms those effects may arise. Using experimental household decision-making games, we construct an intra-household bargaining power index and study changes in expenditures and time allocation. Intention-to-treat estimates show no significant child-outcome effects, while local average treatment effect estimates suggest meaningful gains among households that adopt the technologies.
Other Publications and Projects
The Role of Public Sentiment in Evaluating Lockdown Effects on Mobility: An Application of Natural Language Processing Method
This study uses county-level COVID-19 tweet sentiment from March to April 2020 to evaluate lockdown effects on mobility. Using a Regression Discontinuity in Time model, we find that lockdowns reduced mobility by 5.5% for about 10 days and that neutral-tone sentiment had the strongest negative association with mobility indices, highlighting the role of public sentiment in evaluating policy effects.
The Impacts of COVID-19 on Containerized Agricultural Exports
This project analyzes disruptions from COVID-19 to U.S. agricultural container exports, focusing on logistics bottlenecks and supply-chain resilience across ports, commodities, and destination markets.
Optimal Pricing Policies for Campus Parking
This project explores efficient campus parking pricing structures that balance demand management, revenue generation, and equity concerns.
Presentation:
- Region 10 Transportation Conference, October 2022
Fieldwork Highlight: Maternal Health in Nigeria
Problem Management Plus (PM+) Intervention
As part of my research on maternal mental health and child undernutrition, I conducted fieldwork in Gombe, Nigeria. This project examines the effects of Problem Management Plus (PM+) intervention on maternal mental health and child nutrition outcomes.
Working closely with local teams, I helped design experiments and questionnaires for a randomized control trial involving 800 caregivers. I also created audio assistant survey tools for sensitive questions and trained data collectors in the field.
This research aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for improving maternal mental health interventions in low-resource settings and understanding their impact on child development outcomes.
Research Interests
Development Economics
Studying economic development in low and middle-income countries, with a focus on interventions that can improve welfare and reduce poverty.
Health Economics
Investigating maternal and child health outcomes, mental health interventions, and the economic impacts of health policies.
Environmental Economics
Analyzing environmental policies, air quality regulations, and their effects on health outcomes and economic behavior.
Labor Economics
Examining labor market outcomes, human capital development, and the relationship between education, fertility, and labor force participation.
Transportation Economics
Studying transportation systems, pricing mechanisms, and their effects on economic efficiency and welfare.
Applied Econometrics
Developing and applying econometric methods to analyze causal relationships and policy effects in various economic contexts.