Research areas: Urban Economics, Economic History, International Trade, and Public Economics

I am an urban economist interested in the intersection between urban and history, industrialization, and public economics. I am a member of the Industrial Policy Group.

In my job market paper, I study the long-run consequences of highway construction on affected individuals in the United States. This paper received the Best Student Paper Prize at the 14^th North American Urban Economic Association meeting.

My expected graduation date is May 2025. I will be available for interviews in the 2024-2025 job market.

Displacement and Infrastructure Provision: Evidence from the Interstate Highway System (Job Market Paper)

Abstract: This paper studies the long-run effects of the Interstate highway system construction on residents’ socio-economic outcomes.  To do so, I geocode the address information in the full-count 1940 census for all urban residents in the U.S. and link it to administrative mortality records from 1995 to 2005, enabling me to track affected individuals over time. The findings show that individuals displaced by highway construction are more likely to out-migrate from their neighborhoods, die at younger ages, and live in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic characteristics at the time of their death. The effects of highway construction also extend to individuals living near future highways, who are similarly more likely to out-migrate and reside in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic characteristics at the time of death. Decomposing how destination neighborhoods, social network, and job access and healthcare access contribute to explaining why displaced individuals die younger.  I find that displaced individuals die younger mainly because of the neighborhoods to which they relocate, which explain thirty percent of the mortality results.

Immigrant Enclave Formation: Evidence from Canadian Cities (with Pierre-Loup Beauregard)

Abstract: We analyze the formation of immigrant enclaves in Canada. We develop a quantitative model of internal city structure in which forward-looking individuals choose where to live and work at every period. We allow for heterogeneous preferences over endogenous amenities depending on immigration status. We exploit Canadian administrative tax files and estimate group-specific neighborhood valuation using a revealed preference approach. By exploiting the neighborhood-to-neighborhood transition of households in Canada, we document that the correlation of neighborhood valuations between foreign- and Canadian-born households is positive but far from unity. We then analyze counterfactual scenarios where households have the same preferences regardless of nationality and study the implications for income and urban segregation.

Neighborhood Evolution and Infrastructure Provision

Abstract: This paper examines the long-run socioeconomic impact of highway construction on U.S. neighborhoods. I construct a balanced panel of neighborhood-level characteristics from 1930 to 2020 for 62 metropolitan areas by combining data from historical census records and decennial censuses. Neighborhood-level aggregates for 1930 and 1940 are created by geocoding address-level information from historical files and then aggregating the data to match census tract boundaries. Using a matched difference-in-differences design, I find that highway construction reduces the total population of neighborhoods. The effects are driven by a relative decline in the Black population, with no significant effect on the white population. There is no evidence of changes in rents, but homeownership rates decrease following highway construction. The analysis suggests that these effects are more pronounced in suburban areas and in neighborhoods with a low initial share of Black residents. Additionally, I find evidence of spillover effects on adjacent neighborhoods.

The Evolution of the Spatial Wage Inequality Across the Work-Cycle in the U.S.

Abstract: This paper documents the heterogeneous rise in the urban gradient of the college wage gap across workers of different ages between 1980 and 2019. Using immigrants’ enclaves from 1970 as source of identification, I find that the young workers have traditionally had a steeper relationship between college wage gap and city population than old workers. Also, I find that the evolution of this urban gradient of the college wage gap has been larger for younger workers. These findings are not caused by sorting in unobserved characteristics, by outliers in the wage distribution, or by compositional changes. I show that the source of the increase in the urban component of the college wage gap is a shift in the occupational structure across the work-cycle and cities. While old and young college workers have shifted away from highly-routinary-low-paying jobs, specially in more populated cities, young high school graduates’ occupational structure has remained unaltered since 1980.

Human Capital Spillovers Across Cities (with Giulia Lo Forte)

Abstract: This paper studies human capital spillovers among Spanish workers. Leveraging administrative matched employer-employee data for Spain between 2006 and 2020, we study whether the experience gained by workers in larger cities transfers to workers in smaller cities when they relocate. We find that, for workers in medium-sized cities, their three-year wage growth is 1.2 log points larger for each year of experience their coworkers accumulated in a large city. This positive knowledge spillover may mitigate the negative welfare effects of restricting the growth of large cities – an avenue we plan to explore in future research.

• Best Student Paper Prize, North American meeting of the Urban Economics Association, 2024
• Sokoloff Dissertation Fellowship, Economic History Association, 2024
• AD Scott Fellowship in Economics, UBC, 2023
• University Press Early Dissertation Fellowship, Economic History Association, 2023
• President’s Academic Excellence Initiative Ph.D. Award, UBC, 2020 – 2024
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award, PUC, 2016
• Highest GPA in business and economics, PUC, 2015

• Advanced International Trade, UBC
• Wealth and Poverty of Nations, UBC
• Introduction to Economic Research, UBC
• Introduction to Economics, UBC
• Graduate Contract Theory, PUC
• Graduate Mathematical Economics, PUC
• MBA General Management and Strategy, PUC