Backstory: How Research Papers in Economics Get Made

In this episode, Maddison speaks with Gautam Rao, Associate Professor at the Haas School of Business and the Department of Economics at UC Berkeley, about his paper titled, "Laboratories of Democracy? Experimental Evidence on Policy Diffusion between Municipalities in Brazil,” joint with Ines Badin, Jonas Hjort, Diana Moreira, Juan Santini.  He also discusses how this project built on an earl...

Maddison speaks with Claudia Allende, Assistant Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  Claudia shares the backstory behind her paper with Francisco Gallego and Chris Neilson, titled “Approximating the Equilibrium Effects of Informed School Choice,” along with the story behind her related research including her job market paper, “Competition Under Social Interactions a...

Mikey speaks to Manaswini Rao, an assistant professor of economics at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. Manaswini discusses the challenges faced by the judicial system in India, the promise of mediation address some of those challanges, and her new working paper that measures whether mediation lives up to that promise. Read the working paper here !

Santiago speaks with Claudio Ferraz about the research behind "When Democracy Refuses to Die: Evaluating a Training Program for New Politicians", a paper on RenovaBR, one of the world’s largest training programs for aspiring politicians in Brazil. They discuss how to build a partnership with a large NGO while keeping the collaboration aligned with the incentives, standards, and timelines...

In this episode, Precious interviews Andre Gray (UC San Diego) about his job-market paper, "Density and Diversity in African Cities." Andre discusses how migration size and migrant composition shape productivity, conflict, and structural transformation in rapidly urbanizing African cities. He also shares what drew him to urban and development economics and reflects on building a research...

Riccardo talks to Fulvia Budillon, a PhD candidate in Economics at UC San Diego currently on the job market. Fulvia discusses the backstory of her job market paper, “Beyond Access: Facility Birth, Healthcare Use and Early-Life Mortality in Malawi.” The conversation begins in the field, where Fulvia—through qualitative work, conversations, and failed attempts—arrives at her current research questio...

Riccardo speaks with Ariel Zucker, Assistant Professor of Economics at UC Santa Cruz, about her paper “Price Incentives for Conservation: Experimental Evidence from Groundwater Irrigation.” The conversation explores the logistical challenges of running a large-scale field intervention, the lessons learned from multiple pilot attempts, and the trade-offs graduate students often face when conducting...

Mikey speaks with Lauren Falcao Bergquist, an assistant professor of economics and global affairs at Yale. Lauren talks about how and why she studies agriculture in developing countries, the challenges that entails, and how she and her co-authors overcome those challenges in her new paper on Ugandan coffee farmers and their supply chains.

Precious speaks with Paul Christian, an Economist in the Development Impact (DIME) Department at the World Bank, whose research explores how agricultural and food security programs can better target and manage irrigation and subsidy projects across the Global South. Paul shares the story behind his paper “Shaping Productive and Progressive Agricultural Subsidies in Mozambique,” which examines how...

Santiago speaks with Dean Spears, a Professor at University of Texas at Austin. Dean shares the backstory of his new book with Michael Geruso. He tells us how he bridges working across economics, demography and ethics and why he thinks we should all engage in the topic of depopulation. His new book is available here:  https://deanspears.net/books/after-the-spike-population-progress-and-the-case-fo...

Join Maddison as she speaks with Madeline McKelway, an Assistant Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. Maddie shares the backstory behind her paper with Namrata Kala, "The Power of Persuasion: Causal Effects of Household Communication on Women's Employment." She also shares her experience navigating field work and getting started with RCTs. The working paper can be found here:...

In this episode, Maddison interviews Yasir Khan, an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, about the backstory behind his paper coauthored with S.K. Ritadhi, “Economic and Political Consequences of Credit Policy for Minorities: Evidence from India.” Yasir also shares his experience and his advice about starting and navigating collaborations in grad school. The working pa...

In this episode, Santiago interviews Oeindrila Dube about her work in progress "Can Contact Reduce Conflict? Experimental Evidence from Nigeria", coauthored with Soeren Henn and James Robinson. Oeindrila discusses the importance of keeping an eye out for interesting stories that can become new projects, as well as how to conduct research in sensitive places and the process of teaming up...

In this episode, Riccardo interviews Loren Brandt about the paper “Labor Force Participation and Structural Change,” coauthored with Chaoran Chen and Xiaoyun Wei. Loren reflects on his journey into research and academia, from his early work on China’s economy to the broader questions that have guided his career. He explains what it takes to build a coherent research agenda and why he found academi...

Join Riccardo as he talks to Nathan Nunn about his paper “Zero‑Sum Environments, the Evolution of Effort‑Suppressing Beliefs, and Economic Development.” They explore how Nathan’s idea‑generation process has evolved over the years, the value of reading beyond economics, and the challenges and rewards of bringing insights from other disciplines into economic research. Nathan also offers a behind‑the...

Riccardo talks to Raúl Sánchez de la Sierra about the backstory of his paper “Moral Violence: Unbundling Social Preferences at the Heart of a Major Armed Group in Congo” (with Louis Dunia and Hilary Yu). This episode uncovers a unique journey that takes us back ten years, when Raúl was forging the connections and friendships that gave him access to the inner circles of Congolese armed groups. What...

In this episdode, Maddison interviews Natalie Bau, Professor of Economics at UCLA, about the backstory behind her paper, "The Long-Term Effects of School Quality in a Low-Income Country: Evidence From 15 Years of Data" with Jishnu Das and Catherine Michaud-Leclerc. Natalie discusses how she and her coauthors conduct a unique panel survey in Pakistan, so that they can carefully study long...

In this episode, Aakash speaks with David McKenzie about how he identifies research problems across his various agendas. David also discusses the differences between working as a researcher at the World Bank versus in academia, and shares the private and external benefits of creating public goods. Tune in to learn more!

In this episode, Aakash speaks to Francis Annan (UC Berkeley) about his paper titled "Randomized Entry", exploring how the entry of financial services firms impacts local economies. Francis shares the backstory of his collaboration with key industry stakeholders, his innovative approach to measuring economic outcomes, and insights on working with firms in challenging contexts. The workin...

In this episode Santiago talks with Gani Aldashev, professor of Economics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, about the backstory of his paper, "Relationships in the Wild: How Institutions Affect the Governance of Firms", that discusses how the “best practices” for firm governance vary according to the strength of political institutions [Working paper =  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/...

Join Riccardo as he talks to Kelsey Jack, Associate Professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, about the backstory of her paper, "Dodging Day Zero: Drought, Adaptation, and Inequality in Cape Town," which she coauthored with Alexander Abajian, Cassandra Cole, Kyle C. Meng, and Martine Visser. The working paper can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dbtb0k1v9ausmqh...

In this episode, Santiago sits down with Gedeon Lim, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Hong Kong, to explore his research on migration, ethnic diversity, and nation-building. They delve into his paper "Ethnic Proximity and Politics: Evidence from Colonial Resettlement in Malaysia", which examines the long-term political impacts of a British colonial resettlement program in Mala...

Join Maddison as she speaks with Gaurav Khanna, Associate Professor of Economics at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. In this episode, Gaurav discusses his paper, “The IT Boom and Other Unintended Consequences of Chasing the American Dream,” coauthored with Nicolas Morales. Gaurav shares the backstory behind this paper, which started when he was in grad school. In this episode,...

In this episode, Michela Giorcelli, Associate Professor of Economics at UCLA, discusses her paper, “The Effects of Business School Education on Manager Career Outcomes,” with Maddison. Tune in to learn about the development of this paper and the story behind how Michela collected unique historical data for this project and several of her other projects.

Steven Brownstone, a job market candidate at UC San Diego, discusses his job market paper, “Labor Market Effects of Agricultural Mechanization: Experimental Evidence from India” with Maddison. Steven shares the insights he gained through developing his job market paper and running an RCT in India. Steven dives into the specifics about what goes into organizing an RCT and doing field work as a PhD...