Research statement available here:
| research_statement.pdf |
Job Market Paper I
(Link to paper page here.)
"Hitting Capacity: Implications for the Valuation of Outdoor Recreation"
with James Hilger
Choices are often limited as the most popular alternatives reach capacity and sell out; thereafter, selection is over less preferred choices. In the context of nonmarket goods, willingness to pay (WTP) welfare measures provide an estimate of the value of characteristics -- often calculated through the modeling of preferences using a random utility model (RUM) framework. RUM preference parameter estimation is based on the choice attributes and the observed choices consumers make from a set of options. Such models are estimated under the implicit assumption that all options are available to all consumers. If choices can "sell out," the properly specified choice model would drop unavailable alternatives from the set of options; however, actual availability is almost never observed at the individual consumer level. Ignoring capacity constraints can result in biased parameter and WTP estimates. A solution to this problem that can be implemented using only aggregate level data is provided. We provide an empirical application of modeling vessel choice in the recreational overnight fishing trip market in San Diego -- where particular boats are often sold out. We find the estimates for WTP for proportion of highly migratory species fish catch on these trips increase when we account for sellouts. Since RUM models are often used in fishery management decisions, not accounting for sellouts may lead to an undervaluation of important fishery resources.
Job Market Paper II
(Link to paper page here. Former version available on AgEcon search here. [Opens in new window.])
"Pollution Whack-a-Mole: Ambient Acetaldehyde and the Introduction of E-10 Gasoline in the Northeast"
Google Map of acetaldehyde monitor locations here.
(Opens in New Window.)
This paper uses a complicated set of phase-ins and phase-outs of oxygenated motor fuel in the Northeast to determine whether E-10 ethanol-enhanced fuel contributes to acetaldehyde air pollution over the pre-ethanol methyl tertiary-buthyl ether (MTBE) fuel. Oil companies phased out MTBE because of groundwater pollution concerns, and now E-10 is the standard fuel in EPA reformulated gas areas. Using a difference-in-difference approach, I find a large percentage increase in acetaldehyde pollution is associated with the switch from MTBE to E-10. Using EPA carcinogenic estimation techniques, I find that the cost of this increase in acetaldehyde pollution is around $3 million annually for the New York City Metropolitan area. This smaller cost estimate comes from a pollution increase that -- while large in percentage terms -- is small in level terms.
Education Paper
(Link to paper page here.)
"An Analysis of the Cost of an Undergraduate Degree and the Incentives of the State, the University, and the Student"
with Richard Carson and Melissa Famulari
To expand undergraduate enrollments or to make decisions regarding rule changes for degrees, administrators need information on how much expansions and contractions in each department cost. This paper presents several methods of accounting for per-credit hour cost across departments. Using internal data from UCSD, we find that most social sciences are relatively cheap and engineering is relatively expensive.
This paper then simulates the university's allocation of funding to undergraduate departments and the student response. We find that a university with static undergraduate fund-per-student preferences will allocate funds-per-student away from departments with large number of students to discourage them from majoring in those departments and instead majoring in a less-filled field. Using data from UCSD, we show that departments with large numbers of graduates are cheaper per degree, have higher modified student-to-faculty ratios, and graduate sooner than their colleagues in a different program at the university.
(Link to paper page here.)
"Hitting Capacity: Implications for the Valuation of Outdoor Recreation"
with James Hilger
Choices are often limited as the most popular alternatives reach capacity and sell out; thereafter, selection is over less preferred choices. In the context of nonmarket goods, willingness to pay (WTP) welfare measures provide an estimate of the value of characteristics -- often calculated through the modeling of preferences using a random utility model (RUM) framework. RUM preference parameter estimation is based on the choice attributes and the observed choices consumers make from a set of options. Such models are estimated under the implicit assumption that all options are available to all consumers. If choices can "sell out," the properly specified choice model would drop unavailable alternatives from the set of options; however, actual availability is almost never observed at the individual consumer level. Ignoring capacity constraints can result in biased parameter and WTP estimates. A solution to this problem that can be implemented using only aggregate level data is provided. We provide an empirical application of modeling vessel choice in the recreational overnight fishing trip market in San Diego -- where particular boats are often sold out. We find the estimates for WTP for proportion of highly migratory species fish catch on these trips increase when we account for sellouts. Since RUM models are often used in fishery management decisions, not accounting for sellouts may lead to an undervaluation of important fishery resources.
Job Market Paper II
(Link to paper page here. Former version available on AgEcon search here. [Opens in new window.])
"Pollution Whack-a-Mole: Ambient Acetaldehyde and the Introduction of E-10 Gasoline in the Northeast"
Google Map of acetaldehyde monitor locations here.
(Opens in New Window.)
This paper uses a complicated set of phase-ins and phase-outs of oxygenated motor fuel in the Northeast to determine whether E-10 ethanol-enhanced fuel contributes to acetaldehyde air pollution over the pre-ethanol methyl tertiary-buthyl ether (MTBE) fuel. Oil companies phased out MTBE because of groundwater pollution concerns, and now E-10 is the standard fuel in EPA reformulated gas areas. Using a difference-in-difference approach, I find a large percentage increase in acetaldehyde pollution is associated with the switch from MTBE to E-10. Using EPA carcinogenic estimation techniques, I find that the cost of this increase in acetaldehyde pollution is around $3 million annually for the New York City Metropolitan area. This smaller cost estimate comes from a pollution increase that -- while large in percentage terms -- is small in level terms.
Education Paper
(Link to paper page here.)
"An Analysis of the Cost of an Undergraduate Degree and the Incentives of the State, the University, and the Student"
with Richard Carson and Melissa Famulari
To expand undergraduate enrollments or to make decisions regarding rule changes for degrees, administrators need information on how much expansions and contractions in each department cost. This paper presents several methods of accounting for per-credit hour cost across departments. Using internal data from UCSD, we find that most social sciences are relatively cheap and engineering is relatively expensive.
This paper then simulates the university's allocation of funding to undergraduate departments and the student response. We find that a university with static undergraduate fund-per-student preferences will allocate funds-per-student away from departments with large number of students to discourage them from majoring in those departments and instead majoring in a less-filled field. Using data from UCSD, we show that departments with large numbers of graduates are cheaper per degree, have higher modified student-to-faculty ratios, and graduate sooner than their colleagues in a different program at the university.