Abstract: This paper studies the scarring effect of job displacement on workers' commuting cost to subsequent jobs. Using matched German employee-employer data, geo-coordinates of workers' residences and workplaces, and a matched event study design, we estimate the response of workers' commuting distances to job displacement in mass layoffs. After displacement, workers take up jobs that require 21 percent longer commuting, and the effect persists in the subsequent 10 years. To quantify the monetary value of increased commuting, we develop an on-the-job search model and structurally estimate workers' willingness to pay to avoid commuting. The extra commuting cost amounts to one-fifth of the wage losses facing displaced workers, thereby exacerbating the total cost of job displacement.

Awards:

Finalist, Bank of Canada Graduate Student Paper Award (2023)

Finalist, Urban Economics Association Best Student Paper Award (2023)

Best Young-Researcher Paper (Runner-Up), Canadian Labour Economics Forum (2022)

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Abstract: Dockless bike sharing provides a convenient and affordable means of transport for urban residents. It solves the “last-mile problem” in public transport by reducing the travel cost between home and subway stations and thus increasing the attractiveness of distant apartments. This may affect the relationship between housing price and distance to subway and reduce the price premium enjoyed by proximate apartments. Using resale apartment data in 10 major cities in China, a difference-in-differences approach at the apartment level, and a two-step estimator at the city-month level, we find that the entry of bike sharing reduces the housing price premium by 29% per km away from a subway station. The effect is equivalent to a reduction of 1,893–2,127 CNY (282–317 USD) in commuting costs per household per annum over 30 years. The effect is driven by a relative increase in the listing price of, and in the demand for, apartments distant from vis-à-vis proximate to subway stations.

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Abstract: This paper assesses the effects of corporate tax reductions for small businesses on employee earnings. Following a 2014 reform in Quebec, Canada, workers at firms with tax cuts experience a significant increase in their earnings. We estimate that overall workers bear about three quarters of the tax burden. Additionally, the effects are larger for workers in high-growth industries, where firms invest more and experience larger increases in productivity and profitability after tax cuts. We find that the increased worker earnings are connected with firms’ increased profits, and estimate that 35 percent of the extra surplus passes on to workers.

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Emergency department (ED) physicians treat patients with different symptoms and constantly switch between tasks. Utilizing three years of comprehensive data on patient visits and lab tests from two large EDs, we investigate the impact of task switching on physician productivity, quality of care, and patient routing. We subsequently provide operational solutions based on the identification findings. Our estimates indicate that, at different EDs, a 10% increase in the switching frequency of physicians reduces the number of patients treated per hour by 8.65% - 11.53%, but we find no significant impact on treatment quality. We propose a data-driven queue management method to optimally partition patients into two queues. Based on the simulation of implementing the proposed two-queue system in our collaborating EDs, we find that the average waiting time is reduced by up to 40%.

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