Working Papers

From Tribe to State: A Case of Nagaland  (link)

What happens when a state absorbs a historically stateless, tribal society? This paper uses a spatial regression discontinuity design to study the long-run effects of state exposure in a region in northeast India. In the late 19th century the British Empire in the eastern front of India drew an imperial border that divided a tribal people into administered versus un-administered regions. I find that regions falling within the former British administrative border have 14 percentage points higher rates of literacy and 13 percentage points lower share of their labor force in agriculture. Furthermore these gaps do not appear to be converging even into recent years. Looking at channels of persistence, I find that villages in the formerly administered regions also have better public goods provision as measured by road connectivity and school availability. In uncovering deeper channels, I find evidence of the emergence of pro-social traits: those formerly under the British state identify more strongly with non-kin members, reflecting an expansion of the in-group. This paper thus contributes to our understanding of the changes that occur in a society being exposed to a state at the extensive margin.

Consequences of Forced Urbanization via Village Groupings in Mizoram (link)  

This paper examines the impact of a forced urbanization program in Mizoram, India, in response to a guerrilla uprising. Over 500 villages were relocated into one of 103 existing villages called “Grouping Centers” (GCs), while about 110 remained ungrouped. Using a difference-in-differences approach, this study finds lasting population divergence and a reduction in agricultural employment in GCs, alongside increased labor-force participation, suggesting structural change. Furthermore, the availability of amenities in the GCs at baseline played a role in their capacity to absorb refugees, emphasizing the importance of pull factors in successful agglomeration. 

Is Geography Always Exogenous? Culture and Migration in Southeast Asia (link) 

Studies often trace the roots of various institutions to traditional livelihood practices, which in turn are shaped by the geography or ecology societies inhabit. This paper provides historical evidence in the opposite direction, that pre-existing agricultural practices may sometimes dictate the geography groups migrate to over time. In doing so, however, they also carry with them a bundle of institutions to these new locations. Thus an alternate way to interpret geography's role in historical institutional development is that rather than it being the root cause of endogenous, independent institutional formation, it might instead have an attractive force for pre-existing institutions developed elsewhere but with similar environmental features.  

Federally-Funded Science as Engines of Regional Innovation and Prosperity with Susan Helper and Daniel Shoag (link)

Can federal science funding spur local innovation and prosperity? After WWII, the U.S. built 16 national labs, mostly outside existing innovation hubs. Compared to runners-up and synthetic controls, we show lab locations experienced lasting boosts in patenting by nearby, unrelated inventors. Spillovers appear in citation patterns and research area shifts. Newly digitized county-level data from 1937–1971 reveal large, heterogeneous economic gains. Matched census records show benefits accrued to both existing and new residents. These findings suggest science funding can shape innovation ecosystems and support broad-based local development.  

Work in Progress

Chiefs, Customs, and Colonies  

Traditional ways of organizing society often interact with modern government policies in ways unexpected. This paper studies the heterogenous effects of a nationwide rural employment program in a state in Northeast India and finds economic divergence among tribes with a chief-based system of land ownership versus those with an individual/clan-based ownership system. In the former type, only one son of the village chief inherits land causing the other sons to set up villages of their own.  Preliminary findings suggest a mechanism linked to this aspect of spatial sorting among the former type as potential future chiefs face new incentives toward village creation.   

Agricultural Policy and Cultural Mismatch: Evidence from Laos