Job Market Paper
Judicial Transparency and Criminal Justice
(with Felipe Diaz Klassen and Anna Kyriazis )
Manuscript
Abstract: Elected officials at all levels of governance routinely make decisions that affect large populations, often without public scrutiny. This study examines the effect of increased transparency on judicial decision-making by leveraging a legislative reform that mandated public disclosure of court fee waivers. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that the share of cases with court cost waivers increased by nearly 120%. The effects varied across political districts and re-election timing, indicating that electoral incentives play a significant role in judicial responsiveness. We also find that the effect size decreases with defendant income, suggesting potential targeting of waivers for those with lower ability to pay. Additionally, transparency-induced reductions in monetary obligations led to lower recidivism rates and improved timely compliance among defendants.
Working Papers
Jurisdiction size, political participation, and political competition
Draft available upon request
Housing Demand, Cost-of-Living Inequality, and the Affordability Crisis
(with David Albouy, Gabriel Ehrlich and Yingyi Liu )
Working Paper (coming soon)
The Affordable Care Act, Breastfeeding, and Women’s Labor Market Outcomes
(with Mark Borgschulte and Rebecca Thornton )
Working Paper (coming soon)
Selected Works in Progress
Municipal Annexations: Determinants and Consequences
Fiscal Spillovers and Public Official Incentives
(with Felipe Diaz Klassen, Anna Kyriazis , and Cameron Milani )
"The Heat of the Moment": Temperature's Role in Shaping Classroom Dynamics
(with Wilfried Adohinzin , Aditi Arvind , and Mahounan Yedomiffi )
Other Writings
Sampling and Response Rates for Infants in American Community Survey ,
Technical Report for the US Census Bureau
(with Mark Borgschulte and Rebecca Thornton )
Report
Pre-PhD Work
Nonlinear effects of heat stress on milk yield in California: An econometric analysis
(with Deep Mukherjee) Revise & Resubmit, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Working Paper
Assessing the linkage between dairy productivity growth and climatic variability: The case of New York State
(with Deep Mukherjee) Open Agriculture, 2018; 3: 658–669
Paper