Publications
Does Precise Case Information Limit Precautionary Behavior? Evidence from COVID-19 in Singapore; Online Appendix
Economic Analysis and Policy (December 2021) with Aljoscha Janssen
Abstract:
Limiting the spread of contagious diseases can involve both government-managed and voluntary efforts. Governments have a number of policy options beyond direct intervention that can shape individuals’ responses to a pandemic and its associated costs. During its first wave of COVID-19 cases, Singapore was among a few countries that attempted to adjust behavior through the announcement of detailed case information. Singapore’s Ministry of Health maintained and shared precise, daily information detailing local travel behavior and residences of COVID-19 cases. We use this policy along with device-level cellphone data to quantify how local and national COVID-19 case announcements trigger differential behavioral changes. We find evidence that individuals are three times more responsive to outbreaks in granularly defined locales. Conditional on keeping infection rates at a manageable level, the results suggest economic value in this type of transparency by mitigating the scope of precautionary activity reductions.
Economic Analysis and Policy (December 2021) with Aljoscha Janssen
Abstract:
Limiting the spread of contagious diseases can involve both government-managed and voluntary efforts. Governments have a number of policy options beyond direct intervention that can shape individuals’ responses to a pandemic and its associated costs. During its first wave of COVID-19 cases, Singapore was among a few countries that attempted to adjust behavior through the announcement of detailed case information. Singapore’s Ministry of Health maintained and shared precise, daily information detailing local travel behavior and residences of COVID-19 cases. We use this policy along with device-level cellphone data to quantify how local and national COVID-19 case announcements trigger differential behavioral changes. We find evidence that individuals are three times more responsive to outbreaks in granularly defined locales. Conditional on keeping infection rates at a manageable level, the results suggest economic value in this type of transparency by mitigating the scope of precautionary activity reductions.
Working Papers
Density of Demand and the Benefit of Uber (under review)
Job Market Paper
Abstract:
Uber has attracted the attention of economists and policy makers for its innovations in the taxicab market and its potential for significant consumer welfare gains. The size of this gain depends in part on whether these innovations permit transactions previously costly or infeasible. Using New York City — the largest taxi market in the country — as its context, this paper estimates the level of any technological advantage Uber has over hail taxis in matching to consumers. I combine publicly available transportation data with data scraped from Uber and traffic cameras to estimate a model of the demand for transportation services and imbed it in a spatial equilibrium framework in which Uber and taxis compete for customers. I find that Uber’s matching advantage depends on the density of the market and translates into highly heterogeneous benefits to customers across the city. In consumer welfare terms, I estimate that the introduction of Uber added only $0.10 per ride in the densest parts of New York but up to $1.00 in the least dense. These results, combined with the high volume of substitution from taxis to Uber in central Manhattan, imply Uber’s appeal in its densest market has depended significantly on advantages independent from its matching technology, including its lower regulatory burden.
Cash or Charge: Assessing Charging Station Build Out and Incentive Programs' Roles in Electric Vehicles Adoption (will be updated to paper below as soon as ready for circulation)
with Boyoung Seo
Minimizing Fleet Emissions Through Optimal EV Subsidy Design and Vehicle Replacement
with Boyoung Seo
Abstract (updated version):
The bulk of federal- and state-level subsidy programs for electric vehicles (EV) offer these funds at a flat rate. If the goal of these initiatives is to minimize vehicle emissions, the flat subsidy design ignores several issues a more efficient program should feature. The first is that funds should target marginal consumers whose likelihood to purchase EVs increase most with the vehicle subsidy. The second that the subsidies are directed toward consumers most likely to impact emissions by replacing less energy efficient vehicles. The goal of the work is to propose a subsidy design which maximizes the expected reduction of emissions per dollar spent by target- ing marginal consumers with the highest impact on vehicle emissions. In this version we exploit spatial discontinuities in California’s local subsidy programs and zip code-level vehicle purchase and registration data to characterize consumers along key demographics, such as income and vehicle ownership, in describing their responsiveness to EV incentives. Using vehicle stock and replacement behavior, we can then sort these consumers by how much their vehicle replacement would reduce emissions.
Heterogeneous Effects of Subsidy and Infrastructure Investment in Electric Vehicles Adoption
with Boyoung Seo
Job Market Paper
Abstract:
Uber has attracted the attention of economists and policy makers for its innovations in the taxicab market and its potential for significant consumer welfare gains. The size of this gain depends in part on whether these innovations permit transactions previously costly or infeasible. Using New York City — the largest taxi market in the country — as its context, this paper estimates the level of any technological advantage Uber has over hail taxis in matching to consumers. I combine publicly available transportation data with data scraped from Uber and traffic cameras to estimate a model of the demand for transportation services and imbed it in a spatial equilibrium framework in which Uber and taxis compete for customers. I find that Uber’s matching advantage depends on the density of the market and translates into highly heterogeneous benefits to customers across the city. In consumer welfare terms, I estimate that the introduction of Uber added only $0.10 per ride in the densest parts of New York but up to $1.00 in the least dense. These results, combined with the high volume of substitution from taxis to Uber in central Manhattan, imply Uber’s appeal in its densest market has depended significantly on advantages independent from its matching technology, including its lower regulatory burden.
Cash or Charge: Assessing Charging Station Build Out and Incentive Programs' Roles in Electric Vehicles Adoption (will be updated to paper below as soon as ready for circulation)
with Boyoung Seo
Minimizing Fleet Emissions Through Optimal EV Subsidy Design and Vehicle Replacement
with Boyoung Seo
Abstract (updated version):
The bulk of federal- and state-level subsidy programs for electric vehicles (EV) offer these funds at a flat rate. If the goal of these initiatives is to minimize vehicle emissions, the flat subsidy design ignores several issues a more efficient program should feature. The first is that funds should target marginal consumers whose likelihood to purchase EVs increase most with the vehicle subsidy. The second that the subsidies are directed toward consumers most likely to impact emissions by replacing less energy efficient vehicles. The goal of the work is to propose a subsidy design which maximizes the expected reduction of emissions per dollar spent by target- ing marginal consumers with the highest impact on vehicle emissions. In this version we exploit spatial discontinuities in California’s local subsidy programs and zip code-level vehicle purchase and registration data to characterize consumers along key demographics, such as income and vehicle ownership, in describing their responsiveness to EV incentives. Using vehicle stock and replacement behavior, we can then sort these consumers by how much their vehicle replacement would reduce emissions.
Heterogeneous Effects of Subsidy and Infrastructure Investment in Electric Vehicles Adoption
with Boyoung Seo
Works in Progress
Estimating Choice Models with Revealed and Stated Preference Data (Draft Soon)
Mitigating Preference Externalities through Digitization: An Application to Transit Markets
Competition for Land in a Market for Control with Economies of Density
with Thomas J. Holmes and Boyoung Seo
Mitigating Preference Externalities through Digitization: An Application to Transit Markets
Competition for Land in a Market for Control with Economies of Density
with Thomas J. Holmes and Boyoung Seo
Current Active Project Areas
Pricing Power in Multi-Service Platforms
External Margin of Consumption Behavior following Infrastructure Improvement
Local Spatial Substitution Patterns
Pricing Power in Multi-Service Platforms
External Margin of Consumption Behavior following Infrastructure Improvement
Local Spatial Substitution Patterns
Miscellaneous
Identifying Import Destinations in Census Data (methodology for internal census work) with Thomas J. Holmes and Ethan Singer