Research

Publications

• “Debt Restrictions and Municipal Indebtedness in American Cities: Evidence from the Roaring Twenties” (w/ Samara Gunter), forthcoming in Journal of Institutional Economics. [link]
• “Firms, Fires, and Firebreaks: The Impact of the 1906 San Francisco Disaster on Business Agglomeration,” Regional Science and Urban Economics, 88 (2021): 103659. [link]
• “Debt and Taxes: Fiscal Strain and U.S. City Budgets during the Great Depression,” Explorations in Economic History, 76 (2020): 101328. [link]
• “Clean Slate: Land-Use Changes in San Francisco after the 1906 Disaster,” Explorations in Economic History, 65 (2017): 1-16. [link]
  • Awarded the 2018 Larry Neal Prize for best article in EEH
  • Mentioned on Marginal Revolution (April 21, 2017)
• “Razing San Francisco: The 1906 Disaster as a Natural Experiment in Urban Redevelopment,” Journal of Urban Economics, 89 (2015): 48-61. [link]
  • Featured on Skynomics Blog (October 2, 2018)
  • Featured on LSE USAPP (December 15, 2015)

Working Papers and Selected Works in Progress

• “The Long-Run Impact of Historical Mining Districts on Economic Activity” (w/ Jason Dunn, former student)
• “Municipal Socialism in the United States, 1900-1940” (w/ Tate Twinam)