Research

Research Interests

Development Economics · Labor Economics · Law and Economics

Job Market Paper

“When Colleges Come Closer: The Effects of Local Higher Education Expansion on Educational Outcomes in India” [PDF]

India has experienced rapid growth in higher education over the past two decades. However, access remains uneven across regions. This paper examines whether expanding local college access improves students educational outcomes. I study the impact of Model Degree Colleges established under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a higher education reform program launched in 2013 to expand access in underserved areas. The program targeted Educationally Backward Districts (EBDs) with low college availability, low female enrollment, and high shares of marginalized populations. Using Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data from 2017 to 2023, I exploit variation in the timing of college establishment across districts and estimate the effects using a staggered difference-in-differences design. I find that opening a Model Degree College increases educational attainment. Years of formal education increase by 0.63 years for individuals who were 18 when the college opened, with the gains driven by men, while women show positive but statistically insignificant effects. The effects are also larger among individuals from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) groups, who gain 0.88 years, and Other Backward Class (OBC) groups, who gain 0.84 years. I also find suggestive evidence that college opening increases graduation and delays marriage among younger women.

Working Papers

“Impact of Sexual and Reproductive Health Education on Adolescent Well-being” [PDF]

This paper evaluates the causal impact of the Peer Educator initiative under the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) on adolescents’ knowledge of HIV, teenage pregnancy, and attitudes toward gender-based violence in India. Implemented in selected High Priority Districts (HPDs) across each state, the program allows for a quasi-experimental analysis us- ing a difference-in-differences framework. The results indicate that the program significantly increased HIV awareness by 11.7 percentage points and the use of modern contraception by 2.33 percentage points. However, it did not lead to significant improvements in comprehen- sive knowledge of HIV or attitudes toward gender-based violence.

(JEL I18, J13, J16, O15)

Work in Progress

“How Common are Romeos and Juliets? Evidence from Indian Court Cases” (with Laura Zimmermann)

We study how the design of sexual assault law shapes the composition of the cases that courts process. Using a large language model and a codebook validated against human coding, we classify the near-universe of Delhi High Court sexual assault judg- ments from 2006 to 2023. About one fifth of cases involve consensual relationships, elopements or disputed promises of marriage, and parents rather than the woman are the complainants of record in over a third. Both patterns strengthen markedly under the related abduction provision. Where the woman herself describes the relationship as consensual, a family member filed the case in 62 percent of instances. Long adjudi- cation delays also let us compare cases governed by the same law but decided before and after 2013, when a high-profile case triggered a major reform and intense public scrutiny of the courts. Perhaps surprisingly, courts became more skeptical rather than more punitive where they had room for judgment: acquittals and expressed doubt rose sharply in consent-based cases, while age-based cases, where the law leaves no discretion, were unchanged. Keywords: crime, criminal law, court cases, measurement, India, sexual assault, cultural norms JEL: Codes: D63, J12, J16, K14, K42

“Labor Law Changes and Their Effect on Women’s Work in India”

Other Papers

“National Lok Adalat: Solution for Clearing Backlogs in Subordinate Courts of India?” Master’s Paper, McGill University, 2018 — Advisor: Prof. Matthieu Chemin

Conference Presentations

• Annual Meeting, Southern Economic Association — Tampa, FL (2025); Houston, TX (2026, upcoming)
• Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management — Boston, MA (2026, upcoming)
• Annual SEEDS Conference, Georgia Tech — Atlanta, GA (2026)
• Annual Conference of the American Society of Health Economists — Minneapolis, MN (2026)
• Economics Seminar, John Munro Godfrey, Sr. Department of Economics, University of Georgia (2024, 2025)