Research

In this paper, we study the effects of gasoline content regulations on consumers' product choices in China. Our empirical design leverages a unique market structure and policy-induced changes in gasoline standards. Using detailed station-level data, we compare sales volumes of gas stations located near city borders before and after one side's government implements stricter gasoline standards, which raise both the price and quality of gasoline. We find that the relative market share of stations located on the side implementing stricter standards increases, and we recover consumers' underlying preference for higher fuel quality. Based on the estimated demand, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for the upgrade from China III to China IV gasoline standards is approximately 5.2% of the retail price. Our simulation shows that government subsidies for the upgraded gasoline product create unintended behavioral distortions, which diminish the overall environmental benefits and welfare gains.

In applied historical research, geographic units often differ in level of aggregation across datasets. One solution is to use crosswalks that associate factors located within one geographic unit to another, based on their relative areas. We develop an alternative approach based on relative populations, which accounts for heterogeneities in urbanization within counties. We construct population-based crosswalks for 1790 through 2020, which map county-level data across U.S. censuses, as well as from counties to congressional districts. Using official census data for congressional districts, we show that population-based weights outperform area-based ones in terms of similarity to official data.

With household emissions contributing a significant two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, understanding the drivers behind consumer shifts towards sustainable behaviors is crucial for reducing individual carbon footprints. This paper analyzes the role of external shocks like eco-movements in enhancing consumer awareness and adoption of sustainable practices, specifically investigating the influence of Greta Thunberg's 2019 environmental activism. Utilizing device-level mobile GPS location data and analyzing Places of Interest (POI) information, we employ a unique approach to track consumer participation and exposure to these events and explore how and where consumers engage in sustainable activities. Our findings reveal the potential of eco-movement events as a strategic tool to foster sustainable consumerism, offering valuable insights for policymakers and marketers in promoting environmental sustainability.

Excuse-seeking behavior that facilitates replacing altruistic choices with self-interested ones has been documented in several domains. In a laboratory study, we replicate three leading papers on this topic: Dana et al. (2007), and the use of information avoidance; Exley (2015), and the use of differential risk preferences; and Di Tella et al. (2015), and the use of motivated beliefs. The replications were conducted as part of a graduate course, attempting to embed one answer to the growing call for experimental replications within the pedagogic process. We fully replicate the simpler Dana et al. paper, and broadly replicate the core findings for the other two projects, though with reduced effect sizes and a failure to replicate on some secondary measures. Finally, we attempt to connect behaviors to facilitate the understanding of how each fit within the broader literature. However, we find no connections across domains.