Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, University of Michigan, expected Spring 2009.

M.A. in Economics, University of Michigan, 2005.

B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Swarthmore College, 2001.

Labor Economics, Public Finance, Applied Econometrics, Consumer Finance

Title: Three Essays on Labor and Credit Markets (Abstract)

Chapter 1: "The Credit Market Consequences of Job Displacement" (pdf)

Chapter 2: "Did Securitization Lead to Lax Screening? Evidence from Subprime Loans" (link)
(with Tanmoy Mukherjee, Amit Seru, and Vikrant Vig), Forthcoming, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(1), 2010.

- Best Paper Award at the Mitsui Conference on Credit Risk, 2008
- Citigroup Best Paper Award at the CAF Summer Research Conference, 2008
- EuroBank Best Paper Award at the European Finance Association Conference, 2008
- Recipient of BSI Gamma Foundation Grant, "The Credit Crisis: Causes, Effects, and Lessons," 2008

Chapter 3: "Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money? Evidence from Interest-Free Student Loans" (pdf)
(with Brian C. Cadena), Under Review.

"Financial Regulation and Securitization: Evidence from Subprime Mortgage Loans"
(with Tanmoy Mukherjee, Amit Seru, and Vikrant Vig), Forthcoming, Journal of Monetary Economics, 56(5), July 2009. (link)

"Has Exposure to Poor Neighbourhoods Changed in America? Race, Risk, and Housing Locations in Two Decades"
(with Xavier de Souza Briggs), Urban Studies, 46(2), p. 429-458, February 2009. (pdf)

"Hurt the Worst: The Risk of Unemployment Among Disadvantaged and Advantaged Male Workers, 1968-2003"
(with Sheldon Danziger), in K. Newman, ed., Laid Off, Laid Low: Political and Economic Consequences of Employment Insecurity,
Social Science Research Council / Columbia University Press, 2008.

"Trends in Income and Consumption Volatility, 1970-2000,"
in D. Joliffe and J. Ziliak, eds., Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2008. (pdf)

"Dollars and Sense: What a Tennessee Experiment Tells us about Merit Pay"
(with Thomas S. Dee), Education Next, 5(1), p. 60-67, Winter 2005. (pdf)

"Does Merit Pay Reward Teachers? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment"
(with Thomas S. Dee), Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 23(3), p. 471-488, 2004. (pdf)

"Increased Life Expectancy: A Global Perspective"
(with Barry P. Bosworth), in H. Aaron and W. B. Schwartz, eds., Coping with Methuselah: Molecular Medicine and the Problems of an Aging Society. Brookings Press, 2004.

"Borrowing in the Alternative Financial Services Market"
(with Michael S. Barr and Jane K. Dokko), April 2007.
- To be presented at the Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, September 2008

"Who Gets Lost in the Subprime Mortgage Fallout? Homeowners in Low- and Moderate-Income Neighborhoods"
(with Michael S. Barr and Jane K. Dokko), April 2007.

"Credit Card Debt and Labor Supply," May 2006.

"Implications of the Bush Commission Pension Reforms for Married Couples"
(with Barry P. Bosworth and Gary Burtless), Center for Retirement Research Working Paper 2003-03, February 2003. (pdf)

"And Banking For All?" (with Michael S. Barr and Jane K. Dokko).
- To be presented at the American Economics Association Annual Meetings, January 2009

"Helping the `Unbanked': A Proposal to Increase the Use of Banking and Direct Deposit Services among Low- and Moderate-Income Households"
(with Michael S. Barr, Gustavo J. Bobonis, and Philip Oreopoulos).
- Funding from the SSHRC, Casey Foundation, and the National Poverty Center

"The Value of Life Reconsidered -- A Test of the Economic Theory of Suicide" (with Patrick Kline).

"'Til Debt do Us Part?" (with Kerwin Kofi Charles).

Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2008 - 2009

Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, U.S. Department of Education, 2004 - 2008

Moore Dissertation Research Prize for Applied Microeconometrics, Department of Economics, University of Michigan, 2008

Parker Memorial Prize for Outstanding Written Contribution to Labor Economics, Department of Economics, University of Michigan, 2006

Letter of Commendation for Teaching Excellence, Department of Economics, University of Michigan, Fall 2006
(For my teaching evaluations, go here, search for "Keys" in Fall 2006)