Short bio

I received my PhD in Economics from the University of Washington in 2000. Prior to moving to Italy in 2016, I was a Professor of Economics at the University of Otago in New Zealand. My research focuses on empirical labour economics, specialising in the behaviour of individuals and households, and the interplay between government policy and human behavior. I have done extensive work examining the impact of migration on immigrants and their families exploiting a lottery used to allocate migrant quota slots. In recent work, I have also examined voting behavior along a number of dimensions and how individuals have responded to changes in a number of policies, including minimum wages, the drinking age and doctor’s fees.
 

Forschungsschwerpunkte

Labor Econ: Gender Wage Gaps,  Impacts of Minimum Wages, Impact of Migration

Health Econ: Impacts of Doctor’s Fees on Usage and Outcomes, Stress, Pregnancy and Child Outcomes

Political Econ: How Do Voters Make Decisions about Political Parties and Political Systems

Development Econ: Parental Skills and Early Childhood Education; Civil Conflict and the Child Quality-Quantity Trade-off