Research
Working Papers
"Non-Tariff Trade Barriers in the U.S.-China Trade War," with Chen Tuo and Song Zheng, 2022.
"Romer or Ricardo?" with Peter Klenow and Kazuatsu Shimizu, 2021
"The Rise of State-Connected Private Owners in China," with Bai Chong-En, Song Zheng, and Wang Xin, 2021.
Press: Bloomberg 2/6/2022; The Economist 11/20/2021
Published Papers
"Contract Labor and Firm Growth in India," with Marianne Bertrand and Nick Tsivanidis, Econometrica, forthcoming, 2024.
"Measuring the Cost of Living in Mexico and the US," with David Argente and Munseob Lee, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, July 2023.
"A Global View of Creative Destruction," with Peter Klenow and Ishan Nath, 2023. Journal of Political Economy, Macroeconomics, June 2023 (lead article)
"The Industrial Revolution in Services," with Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2023. Journal of Political Economy, Macroeconomics, May 2023 (lead article)
Press: Wall Street Journal 2/5/2020
"Gains from Trade Liberalization with Flexible Extensive Margin Adjustment," with Nicholas Li, Ralph Ossa and Mu-Jeung Yang, Journal of International Economics, May 2023.
"The Cost of Privacy: Welfare Effects of the Public Disclosure of COVID-19 Cases," with David Argente and Munseob Lee, Review of Economics and Statistics, January 2022
Press: New York Times 6/6/2020
"Accounting for the New Gains from Trade Liberalization," with Nicholas Li, Ralph Ossa and Mu-Jeung Yang, Journal of International Economics, November 2020.
"The Allocation of Talent and U.S. Economic Growth," with Erik Hurst, Chad Jones and Peter Klenow, Econometrica, September 2019 (lead article).
Press: New York Times 5/17/2012; The Economist 2/16/2019
Replication Files: Instructions; Files
"How Destructive is Innovation?" with Daniel Garcia-Macia and Peter Klenow, Econometrica, September 2019.
Press: Financial Times 3/24/2017
"Special Deals with Chinese Characteristics," with Bai Chong-en and Zheng Song, NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2019.
Press: The Guardian 6/9/2016; Wall Street Journal 3/12/2019; Wall Street Journal 11/1/2019
"A Forensic Examination of China's National Accounts," with Zheng Song, Chen Wei and Chen Xilu, Brookings Papers in Economic Activity, Spring 2019.
Press: The Economist 3/9/2019
"Housing Constraints and Spatial Misallocation," with Enrico Moretti, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, April 2019 (lead article).
Press: The Economist 10/4/2014; Bloomberg 5/7/2015; New York Times 7/11/2017; New York Times 9/6/2017; New York Times 12/6/2017; The Economist 4/11/2018; Bloomberg 8/27/2018; Bloomberg 7/31/2019
"The Reallocation Myth," with Peter Klenow, in Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium, Fostering A Dynamic Market Economy, 2017.
"The Long Shadow of China's Fiscal Expansion," with Bai Chong-en and Zheng Song, Brookings Papers in Economic Activity, Fall 2016.
Press: Wall Street Journal 9/15/2016
"A Global View of Productivity Growth in China," with Ralph Ossa, Journal of International Economics, September 2016.
"Grasp the Large, Let Go of the Small," with Zheng Song, Brookings Papers in Economic Activity, Spring 2015.
"The Life Cycle of Plants in India and Mexico," with Peter Klenow, Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 2014 (lead article).
"The Missing Missing Middle," with Ben Olken, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2014.
"International Prices, Costs and Markup Differences," with Gita Gopinath, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and Nicholas Li, American Economic Review, October 2011.
"The Price of Political Opposition: Evidence from Venezuela's Maisanta," with Edward Miguel, Francisco Rodriguez and Daniel Ortega, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, April 2011.
"Did Japan's Shopping Coupon Program Increase Spending?" with Satoshi Shimizutani and Masahiro Hori, Journal of Public Economics, August 2010.
"Development Accounting," with Peter Klenow, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, January 2010.
"Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," with Peter Klenow, Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2009 (lead article).
"Growth and Structural Transformation in China," with Loren Brandt and Zhu Xiaodong, in Loren Brandt and Thomas Rawski, editors, China's Great Economic Transformation, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
"Taxes and Growth in a Financially Underdeveloped Country: Evidence from Chile’s Investment Boom," with Jonathan Parker, Economia, Fall 2007.
"Relative Prices and Relative Prosperity," with Peter Klenow, American Economic Review, June 2007 (lead article).
"The Return to Capital in China," with Bai Chong-en and Qian Yingyi, Brookings Papers in Economic Activity, Fall 2006.
"Did Iraq Cheat the UN? Underpricing, Bribes, and the Oil for Food Program," with Enrico Moretti, Quarterly Journal of Economics, October 2006.
Press: New York Times 7/21/2005; The Economist 3/18/2016
"The Effect of Generalized School Choice on Stratification and Achievement: Evidence from Chile’s School Voucher Program," with Miguel Urquiola, Journal of Public Economics, October 2006.
"Was the Federal Reserve Constrained by the Gold Standard During the Great Depression? Evidence from the 1932 Open Market Purchase Program," with Christina Romer, Journal of Economic History, March 2006.
Press: Financial Times 7/29/2012
"The Impact of Outsourcing to China on Hong Kong’s Labor Market," with Keong Woo, American Economic Review, December 2005.
"Can Free Entry be Inefficient? Fixed Commissions and Social Waste in the Real Estate Industry," with Enrico Moretti, Journal of Political Economy, October 2003.
Press: Wall Street Journal 2/6/2006; The Economist 5/5/2012; New York Times 10/24/2019
"Do Consumers React to Anticipated Income Shocks? Evidence from the Alaska Permanent Fund," American Economic Review, March 2003.
"What Explains the Industrial Revolution in East Asia? Evidence from the Factor Markets," American Economic Review, June 2002 (lead article).