Working Papers
Railroads, Economic Development, and the Demographic Transition in the United States (Job Market Paper)
This paper estimates the impact of railroads in the United States between 1850 and 1910 on economic development, fertility, and human capital. A novel identification strategy, which relies on a dynamic instrument, allows me to control for unobservables using county fixed effects. I find that railroads shifted the distribution of occupations and industries, had a large positive effect on human capital levels, and a large negative effect on fertility rates. Further analysis suggests that the impact of railroads was larger in counties that were initially more developed. I examine possible mechanisms that drive the effects and lead to this heterogeneity
Work in Progress
Inclusive Institutions and Long-Run Misallocation
(Joint with Oded Galor)
This research advances the hypothesis that resource abundant economies characterized by a socially cohesive workforce and network externalities triggered the emergence of efficiency-enhancing inclusive institutions designed to restrict mobility and to enhance the attachment of community members to the local labor market. However, the persistence of these institutions, and the inter-generational transmission of their value, ultimately resulted in the misallocation of talents across occupations and a reduction in the long-run level of income per capita in the economy as a whole.
The Mobility of Immigrants in Israel: A Surname-based Approach
This study examines the socioeconomic advantage of pre-WWII immigrants to Israel and their descendants over later migrants. I identify descendants of migrants from different origin countries and different time periods by using the distribution of surnames in the Israeli society. Comparing immigrants from the same source countries, I find that the initial advantage of pre-WWII immigrants disappeared after a generation. I also find that the intergenerational mobility rate in Israel declined during the second half of the 20th century, and that the intergenerational mobility of “elite” groups was lower than the mobility in the general population.
Economic Mobility and The Sorting Hypothesis
This study examines the factors that determine intergenerational income mobility, using an overlapping generations model of parents who transfer resources and inherit abilities to their children. After a change in the abilities needed in the job market or in the equality of opportunity there is a “sorting process” in which the correlation between ability and income grows. During the sorting process both the potential for upward mobility in the low income quantiles and the potential for downward mobility in the high income quantiles declines. As a result mobility may decline even while equality of opportunity rises, and cross-country comparisons or time-trends of mobility cannot tell us anything about the equality of opportunity in a given country at a specific time. This study also suggests empirical strategies that may identify the existence of a sorting process, by comparing mobility patterns of immigrants and natives, and an extension that relates the sorting process to growth.
Railroads, Economic Development, and the Demographic Transition in the United States (Job Market Paper)
This paper estimates the impact of railroads in the United States between 1850 and 1910 on economic development, fertility, and human capital. A novel identification strategy, which relies on a dynamic instrument, allows me to control for unobservables using county fixed effects. I find that railroads shifted the distribution of occupations and industries, had a large positive effect on human capital levels, and a large negative effect on fertility rates. Further analysis suggests that the impact of railroads was larger in counties that were initially more developed. I examine possible mechanisms that drive the effects and lead to this heterogeneity
Work in Progress
Inclusive Institutions and Long-Run Misallocation
(Joint with Oded Galor)
This research advances the hypothesis that resource abundant economies characterized by a socially cohesive workforce and network externalities triggered the emergence of efficiency-enhancing inclusive institutions designed to restrict mobility and to enhance the attachment of community members to the local labor market. However, the persistence of these institutions, and the inter-generational transmission of their value, ultimately resulted in the misallocation of talents across occupations and a reduction in the long-run level of income per capita in the economy as a whole.
The Mobility of Immigrants in Israel: A Surname-based Approach
This study examines the socioeconomic advantage of pre-WWII immigrants to Israel and their descendants over later migrants. I identify descendants of migrants from different origin countries and different time periods by using the distribution of surnames in the Israeli society. Comparing immigrants from the same source countries, I find that the initial advantage of pre-WWII immigrants disappeared after a generation. I also find that the intergenerational mobility rate in Israel declined during the second half of the 20th century, and that the intergenerational mobility of “elite” groups was lower than the mobility in the general population.
Economic Mobility and The Sorting Hypothesis
This study examines the factors that determine intergenerational income mobility, using an overlapping generations model of parents who transfer resources and inherit abilities to their children. After a change in the abilities needed in the job market or in the equality of opportunity there is a “sorting process” in which the correlation between ability and income grows. During the sorting process both the potential for upward mobility in the low income quantiles and the potential for downward mobility in the high income quantiles declines. As a result mobility may decline even while equality of opportunity rises, and cross-country comparisons or time-trends of mobility cannot tell us anything about the equality of opportunity in a given country at a specific time. This study also suggests empirical strategies that may identify the existence of a sorting process, by comparing mobility patterns of immigrants and natives, and an extension that relates the sorting process to growth.