Onu Das
Onupurba Das
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics

Email: @email

Advisor: Jamie Mullins

Title of Job Market Paper: "Political Representation, Environment and Development: Evaluating the Impact of Caste-Based Leadership on Forest Cover and Development in Rural India"

Abstract: 

Website Website
Prashik Gajbhiye
Prashik Gajbhiye
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics

Email: @email

Advisor: Jamie Mullins and Matt Woerman

Title of Job Market Paper: "Weather Shocks, Workfare, and the Farmer Suicide Crisis in India"

Abstract: 300,000 Indian farmers have taken their lives in the past two decades, creating a national crisis. This marginalized population is particularly vulnerable to weather-induced crop failures. I estimate how weather shocks affect suicide rates, and whether government assistance programs can mitigate these effects, among the more than 120,000,000 people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Using novel village-level data, I find that hot temperatures have a greater effect on farmer suicides than previously believed. I further find that government assistance can greatly reduce the magnitude of these effects. These findings implicate and emphasize the role of government programs to solve this crisis. 

Website Website
Headshot of Jing Gan
Jing Gan
Industrial Organization

Email: @email

Advisor: Emily Wang & Christian Rojas

Title of Job Market Paper: "Quality and Spatial Competition: Evidence from US Restaurants"

Abstract:

Taehyun Kim
Taehyun Kim
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics

Email: @email

Advisor: David Keiser

Title of Job Market Paper: "The Impact of Temperature on Mortality in South Korea"

Abstract: This paper documents the temperature-mortality relationship in South Korea and examines the potential for electricity to mitigate harm. The study combines nationwide, county-level daily weather data, monthly mortality rates, and residential electricity consumption from 2016 to 2019. The temperature-mortality relationship exhibits an unbalanced U-shape with a significant increase in mortality at extreme temperatures, especially at colder temperatures and among the elderly population. Electricity use appears to mitigate deaths at higher temperature levels. 

Website Website
Osung Kwon
Osung Kwon
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics

Email: @email

Advisor: Jamie Mullins

Title of Job Market Paper: "The Mortality of Air Pollution: Evidence from Transboundary Air Pollution"

Abstract: 

Website Website
Rajib Rahman
Rajib Rahman
Industrial Organization

Email: @email

Advisor: Christian Rojas & Christoph Bauner

Title of Job Market Paper: "Effectiveness of Advertising Spending Conditional on Soda Tax Policies: Impact on Consumer Purchase Behavior, Manufacturer Pricing and Marketing Strategies, and Public Health Outcomes" 

Abstract: I estimate the causal effects of traditional advertising on soft drink sales, conditional on soda tax policies. Using weekly sales and advertising spending data from 2010 to 2015, I analyze the impact of Berkeley, California’s soda tax policy, implemented in January 2015, on the advertising effectiveness for diet and regular soft drinks across major brands. While existing literature provides evidence of advertising effectiveness across various products from a marketing perspective, I examine how this effectiveness changes under soda tax policies, a public health tool frequently used to mitigate the health risks of excessive sugar intake from soft drink consumption. I find significant evidence that advertising is less effective in the regular soda category under such policies in California compared to the diet soda category, which was not taxed. These findings offer new insights into soda tax policies and have important implications for manufacturers' pricing and marketing strategies, as well as for policymakers regarding public health outcomes.

Website Website
Gazi Uddin
Gazi Uddin
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics

Email: @email

Advisor: Nathan Chan

Title of Job Market Paper: "Leaking Environmental Justice: Evidence from RGGI CO2 Cap-and-Trade Program."

Abstract: We investigate whether a regional CO2 market inadvertently exacerbates pre-existing disparities in exposure to CO2 co-pollutants (e.g., SO2, NOx) among communities based on race and income, thereby leading to environmental injustice. Our study focuses on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional CO2 cap-and-trade program introduced in US electricity in 2009. We observe how emissions evolved in both RGGI-regulated states (i.e., states directly affected by the policy) and unregulated affected states (i.e., states that might experience “leakage” from the policy) from 1999 to 2018. We use a reduced complexity air quality model to track SO2 emissions from their sources to receptor counties. Using a difference-in-difference design with heterogeneous treatment effects, we then assess the RGGI program’s effects on various counties, focusing on differences by race and income. Our findings reveal significant unwanted distributional effects driven by the RGGI CO2 market. While the RGGI CO2 market has significantly reduced SO2 emissions overall, counties with higher Black population shares and lower median household incomes experienced relatively smaller reductions in SO2 emissions compared to counties with lower Black population shares and higher incomes. These disparities are more pronounced along racial lines than along income lines. In the nearby unregulated regions, counties with higher Black population shares also experienced relatively smaller reductions in SO2 emissions, although no significant income-based disparities were observed. These results underscore the importance of considering environmental justice implications in climate policies to foster a more just and sustainable approach to climate policy.

Website Website
Gayan Udugama
Gayan Udugama
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics

Email: @email

Advisor: Jamie Mullins and David Keiser

Title of Job Market Paper: "Motivating Costly Action in the Face of Climate Change: Hurricane Sandy and Flood Insurance"

Abstract: The purchase of flood insurance represents a costly action that individuals can take to mitigate a portion of the financial risks posed by climate change. Understanding what drives such preemptive actions is vital for fostering widespread adaptation and mitigation efforts. In this paper, we examine the extent to which experiencing a major flood event -- Hurricane Sandy in New York City -- led to increased flood insurance uptake, shedding light on what motivates individuals to undertake costly risk-mitigating actions. Using a difference-in-difference framework with address-level flood insurance data,  we assess the effect of varying experiences with Hurricane Sandy on residential insurance uptake. Our findings reveal that properties directly inundated were 7.1 to 10.4 percentage points (34% to 50%) more likely to purchase flood insurance following Sandy. Those that were very near but not directly inundated saw only a 2.6 percentage point increase. This response quickly falls to zero as the distance from direct harm increases. Taken together, these findings suggest that populations may only be motivated to take action after experiencing direct harm. This presents a significant challenge for those advocating preemptive action in the face of climate change.

Keywords: climate change, flood risk, beliefs, flood insurance, New York City, Hurricane Sandy

Website Website
Headshot of Juliana Unda Segura
Juliana Unda
Environmental & Natural Resource Economics + Experimental & Behavioral Economics

Email: @email

Advisors: John Stranlund and Nathan Chan

Title of Job Market Paper: "Preventing a Shared Risk: Between-Group Cooperation and Communication"

Abstract: How are multiple groups able to cooperate to combat shared risks? This study examines how different communication structures promote or inhibit cooperation in contexts where multiple groups contribute to a shared goal. We investigate three communication structures: isolated chat communication within individual groups, inclusive forum communication across groups, and a hybrid structure allowing participants to use both chat and forum platforms. We find that communication increases contributions to mitigate shared risk regardless of its form, and that trust within and between groups is influenced by communication structures. This research contributes to understanding how communities interact when confronted with a common objective, for example in mitigating the effects of the infiltration of illegal actors into common-pool resources or climate change.

Website Website