Research

Working papers

"The Confederate Diaspora" (with Samuel Bazzi, Andreas Ferrara, Martin Fiszbein, and Thomas Pearson), Revise & Resubmit at the Review of Economic Studies.
- Download: Draft (with appendices).
- Summary: Former Confederates, including former slaveholders, migrated into positions of power throughout the postbellum U.S., diffusing and entrenching exclusionary norms.
“New Area- and Population-based Geographic Crosswalks for U.S. Counties and Congressional Districts, 1790-2020” (with Andreas Ferrara and Liyang Zhou), Revise & Resubmit at Historical Methods.
- Download: Draft (with appendices), Crosswalks and replication files.
- Summary: We develop new geographic crosswalks for the U.S. based on relative population size, which account for heterogeneities in urbanization within counties.
"Political Foundations of Racial Violence in the Post-Reconstruction South" (with Jhacova Williams).
- Download: Draft (with appendices).
- Summary: Lynchings of Black people in the post-Reconstruction U.S. South were closely tied to the local political performance of the Democratic Party.
"National Identity, Public Goods, and Modern Economic Development" (with Stergios Skaperdas).
- Download: Draft (with appendices).
- Summary: In modern states, national identity facilitates consensuses between elites and the masses behind taxes and public goods that boost national economic status.

Publications

"The Other Great Migration: Southern Whites and the New Right," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2023, 138, 1577–1647 (with Samuel Bazzi, Andreas Ferrara, Martin Fiszbein, and Thomas Pearson).
- Download: Draft, Supplemental material, Replication files.
- Summary: Mass migration out of the U.S. South during the 20th century catalyzed major shifts in national policy coalitions.
"Churches as Social Insurance: Oil Risk and Religion in the U.S. South," Journal of Economic History, 2023, 83, 786–832 (with Andreas Ferrara).
- Download: Draft, Supplemental material, Replication files.
- Summary: Religious communities grew throughout the U.S. South in the early 20th century as a form of social insurance against oil volatility.
"Sundown Towns and Racial Exclusion: The Southern White Diaspora and the 'Great Retreat'," American Economic Association: Papers and Proceedings, 2022, 112, 234–8 (with Samuel Bazzi, Andreas Ferrara, Martin Fiszbein, and Thomas Pearson).
- Download: Draft, Replication files.
- Summary: All-white sundown towns spread throughout the Western U.S. in the 1900s, led in part by white Southern migrants and causing a "Great Retreat" of Blacks.
"The Economic Legacy of Expulsion: Lessons from Post-war Czechoslovakia," The Economic Journal, 2021, 131, 2233–71.
- Download: Draft, Supplemental material, Replication files.
- Summary: Expelling millions of Germans after World War II permanently impaired economic development in the Czech Republic.
"Shocks and the Spatial Distribution of Economic Activity: The Role of Institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, 183, 791–810.
- Download: Draft, Supplemental material, Replication files.
- Summary: When it comes to whether or not historical shocks have persistent effects, institutions matter (for migratory response patterns).
"Education and Propaganda: Tradeoffs to Public Education Provision in Nondemocracies," Journal of Public Economics, 2018, 160, 66–81.
- Download: Draft, Supplemental material, Replication files.
- Summary: The use of propaganda in educational content can induce nondemocracies to invest more in education, making citizens better off.

Works in progress

"The Origins and Diffusion of Sundown Towns: Uncovering a History of Racial Exclusion" (with Samuel Bazzi, Eric Chyn, Andreas Ferrara, Martin Fiszbein, and Thomas Pearson).
"National Identity and Capital Accumulation" (with Stergios Skaperdas).