Publications
The Impact of Sanctioning in the Nonprofit Sector, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 2025
Navigating the Notches: Charity Responses to Ratings, Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics 2025
Effects of COVID-19 on the Nonprofit Sector with Stephanie Karol, National Tax Journal 2024
How Do Big Gifts Affect Rival Charities and Their Donors? Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 2021
Who Gives and Who Gets? Tax Policy and the Long-Run Distribution of Philanthropy in the US with Nicolas Duquette. Henry Peter and Giedre Lideikyte-Huber (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Taxation and Philanthropy 2021 (Shortlisted for the Fondation Lombard Odier Prize for Academic Excellence in Philanthropy)
The Teacher Labour Market, Teacher Turnover and Disadvantaged Schools: New Evidence for England with Rebecca Allen and Simon Burgess, Education Economics 2018
Class Size at University with Gervas Huxley, Mike Peacey and Maddy Richardson, Fiscal Studies 2018
Working Papers
Rags to Rags: The Multi-Generational Effects of Ending Cash Transfers in Victorian Britain with Jon Denton-Schneider
We study the intergenerational impacts of ending cash transfers using the 1834 (``New'') Poor Law, which drastically cut the income support that was provided to 15 percent of the population in England and Wales at a cost of 2 percent of GDP. We show that in 1861, cohorts more exposed to income-support declines in childhood held lower-skilled jobs as adults and had fewer of their children in school. Linking these sons to the 1891 census, we find similar results for them as adults and also for their children, highlighting the importance of accounting for multi-generational effects in cost-benefit analyses of social programs.
Information in the Nonprofit Sector: What do Donors Value? with Teresa Harrison
This paper studies donor responses to information on nonprofit operations. Using an event study design, we leverage the rollout of Charity Navigator's new Encompass Rating System, which provides information on a charity's finances, impact, organizational culture and leadership. We find that, for the most part, donors ignore more nuanced information on a charity's operations. However, at particularly salient times of year for charitable giving, such as GivingTuesday, information on charity leadership is most highly valued. These results are important for understanding donor decision-making and preferences, and can help shape charities' long-term strategies.
Works in Progress
Employees in the U.S. Non-Profit Sector with Jakob Brounstein, Sreeraahul Kancherla, Stephanie Karol and Carl McPherson