Handbook Chapters

Gender and Collaboration with Lorenzo Ductor and Sanjeev Goyal
Chapter in Women in Economics A CEPR Vox eBook, edited by Shelly Lundberg 2020

Religious and Cultural Leaders
Chapter in Advances in the Economics of Religion, Palgrave Macmillan 2019

Working Papers

Value Design in Optimal Mechanisms with Francesco Nava, reject and resubmit AEJ: Micro
A principal allocates a single good to one of several agents whose values are privately and independently distributed, employing an optimal mechanism. The principal shapes the distribution of the agents' values within general classes of constraints. Divisive product designs, which are either highly favored or met with indifference, can simultaneously enhance surplus and diminish information rents by making agents' values more readily discernible. However, such designs also reduce competition among agents. Divisive designs are optimal under various design constraints, as the main drivers of revenue lie in increasing surplus and minimizing information rents, while competition plays a secondary role.
A previous version of the paper received media coverage at Die Presse

An Organizational Theory of Unionization with Francesco Squintani
Motivated by the recent surge in union drives, we present a theoretical model of unionization. A leader assembles an organizational team to persuade coworkers to vote for unionization. If unionization benefits workers, it more likely succeeds when the organizers are credible. Credibility depends on the organizers not being overly pro-union biased and/or bearing significant organizational costs. Hence, we explain why grassroots action is often more effective than professional campaigners in unionizing workplaces. The likelihood of unionization is non-monotonic in organizational costs. With low costs, firms targeting organizers may unintentionally boost unionization. However, sufficiently strong firm opposition renders unionization efforts ineffective.
Additional Mathematica Files: Equilibrium Characterization, Ranking Probabilities, Comparative Statics