Working Papers

"Concessions, Land Segregation, and Spatial Development: Evidence from Mozambique", (Job Market Paper), 2025

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Abstract: Concessions to private companies were a common form of economic and administrative organization during the colonial era in Africa. This paper examines the long-run legacy of the Mozambique Company, one of the largest and most enduring concessionary firms of the twentieth century, which governed central Mozambique from 1891 to 1942 under a Portuguese charter. I exploit the Company’s historical boundaries to estimate its impact on contemporary local development, measured by household wealth and nighttime luminosity. Using spatial regression discontinuity (RD) designs across the concession area, at its border, and within the concession by colonial district type, I find that areas historically ruled by the Company are significantly better off today. However, these effects are not uniform, reflecting colonial land segregation between settler areas and indigenous reserves, with gains concentrated in the former. Drawing on original historical data from before, during, and after the concession period, I show that this spatial heterogeneity was driven by greater investment in road infrastructure and the creation of a specialized labor force serving settler-driven activities. My findings show that even within a single concession, variation in private colonial governance produced lasting development gaps, highlighting the role of private capital in contexts of weak state capacity.

Research in Progress

"Linguistic Divides: Gendered Language and Gender Norms in India", (available upon request), (with N. Mantha and B. Pattath)

Abstract: A common feature of many languages is grammatical gendering, where nouns are assigned to distinct sex-based categories. This paper examines whether gendered language affects women’s educational attainment and economic opportunities in South India. We study variation within the Dravidian language family, where Telugu distinctly marks masculine versus non-masculine nouns while Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil do not. Our empirical strategy uses spatial regression discontinuity designs at linguistic borders to exploit variation in both mother tongue and the surrounding linguistic environment. This two-dimensional approach allows us to distinguish cognitive effects, which stem from personally speaking a gendered language, from cultural effects, which arise from living in a society where a gendered language is spoken. The findings show that gendered languages constrain women’s schooling, literacy, and labor market participation, particularly where individual use of a gendered language overlaps with exposure to a linguistic environment dominated by that language. These results underscore the importance of separating cognition from culture when examining gender inequality and the role of language in shaping gender norms. 

"Carbon Colonialism", (with E. Le Rossignol and G. Pincus)

[Project Description] [PPT]

Funding: Wheeler Institute for Business and Development, ReCIPE 

Abstract: This project examines the socioeconomic and environmental effects of newly established market-based forest preservation policies implemented by private actors in partnership with local governments and firms worldwide, known as carbon concessions. These initiatives restrict land use to protect forests while committing to invest in local education, health, and basic infrastructure. We hand-collect data on the universe of privately run carbon concessions worldwide and, using a staggered event-study synthetic control design, estimate their effects on forest preservation, economic activity measured through nighttime luminosity, and conflict-related land use. To identify underlying mechanisms and distributional impacts, we complement this with spatial regression discontinuity designs using administrative and survey data around concession boundaries. Preliminary evidence indicates that these concessions are associated with short-run reductions in local economic activity. The project aims to inform governments, donors, and certification bodies about the development trade-offs of carbon-credit projects and to guide the design of compensation schemes and governance frameworks that can safeguard forest resources while improving outcomes for affected communities.  

Policy and Non-Academic Publications

"Birth Registration in Asia and the Pacific: A Classification and Regression Trees Analysis to Identify the Furthest Behind Children", 2023

[Publisher's Version]

"The Workforce We Need: Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific", 2022

[Publisher's Version]

"An Emerging but Vulnerable Middle Class: A Description of Trends in Asia and the Pacific", Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal, 2020, 27(1), 1–20

[Publisher's Version]

"The Protection We Want: Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific", 2020

[Publisher's Version] [Media]

"Closing the Gap: Empowerment and Inclusion in Asia and the Pacific", 2019

[Publisher's Version]

"Poorly Protected: Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific", 2018

[Publisher's Version]

"Inequality of Opportunity Policy Papers", 2018–2024

[Birth Registration] [Pandemic Preparedness] [Intimate Partner Violence] [Financial Inclusion] [Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health] [Water and Sanitation]