Claim OwnershipBackstory: How Research Papers in Economics Get Made
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© Riccardo Di Cato, Aakash Bhalothia, and Santiago Cantillo
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Tune into the Backstory Podcast with hosts Riccardo Di Cato, Aakash Bhalothia, and Santiago Cantillo for a deep dive into the behind-the-scenes process of economic research. Each episode unpacks the hidden journey from a paper's conception to its publication, sharing the challenges and triumphs scholars face along the way. Conceptualized by Paul Niehaus and brought to life by UCSD grad students, Backstory gives voice to the stories that academia often leaves untold.
24 Episodes
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Ellora Derenoncourt talks with Santiago about her research on the impact of past incarceration status on labor market outcomes in the US. Ellora shares how her interest in inequality and the ladder of opportunities led her to focus on the criminal justice system as an underlying mechanism.
Ellora also shared her "one-stop shop" to look for archival data: https://www.hathitrust.org/. It's a consortium of libraries that recollects and digitizes data and great place to start looking for new data.
Ellora is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Princeton. The coauthors of the project are Desmond Ang (Harvard), Kyle Hancock (Princeton), and Jing Wu (Princeton).
Join Maddison as she speaks with Susanna Berkouwer, Assistant Professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, they discuss Susanna's paper with Joshua Dean, "Cooking, Health, and Daily Exposure to Transient Air Pollution Peaks" in Kenya. Tune in to hear how Susanna started this project as a grad student and how it evolved into two different papers, including their job market paper. Susanna shares insight into their experimental design, the development of their research questions in this area, and the formation of their ongoing coauthorship collaboration. Here is the link to the working paper: https://sberkouwer.github.io/BerkouwerDean_Health.pdf
In this episode, Aakash talks to Erin Kelley about her project titled “Long-Range Forecasts as Climate Adaptation: Experimental Evidence from Developing-Country Agriculture." Erin shares some fascinating insights about developing and maintaining relationships in research, different types of field projects, and a great idea for testing early ideas: pitch it to your parents! Here is the link to the working paper, co-authored with Fiona Burlig, Amir Jina, Gregory V. Lane & Harshil Sahai: https://www.nber.org/papers/w32173
Join Riccardo as he talks with Jared Rubin about the backstory of his paper, "Enlightenment Ideals and Belief in Progress in the Run-up to the Industrial Revolution: A Textual Analysis." The discussion explores various topics, including the innovative tools used for textual analysis of numerous archival books, the inspiration behind his research, and advice for young researchers. Truly inspiring! Don't miss out. Here’s a link to the working paper, co-authored with Ali Almelhem, Murat Iyigun, and Austin Kennedy: [https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/esi_working_papers/393/]
In this episode of backstory, host Aakash Bhalothia interviews development economists Edward Miguel and Paul Niehaus about their Frisch award-winning paper, "General Equilibrium Effects of Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence from Kenya." They discuss the paper's groundbreaking findings on the macroeconomic impacts of cash transfers in rural Kenya. The conversation delves into how the authors started working together, designing long-term experiments, and the broader motivations behind Ted and Paul's research. The paper is co-authored with Dennis Egger, Johannes Haushofer, and Michael Walker. Here is the link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3982/ECTA17945
In this episode, Salma Mousa, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UCLA, discusses her paper "Players, Performance, and Prejudice: Are Minorities Punished More Harshly for Having a Bad Day?" with Riccardo. Tune in for insights into the development of this paper and Salma's broader research agenda, including her perspective on the research process as a political scientist. The paper is coauthored with Ala Alrababah, William Marble, and Alexandra Siegel. You can find an abstract on Salma's website: https://www.salmamousa.com/working-papers.
In this episode, Duncan Thomas shared insights from his paper on the aftermath of large-scale disasters. Duncan and Aakash discussed the significance of collecting high-quality data, highlighting the importance of teamwork and collaboration. The paper is titled: " Longer-term impacts of exposure to a large-scale natural disaster on health, cognition and well-being."
In this episode, Riccardo speaks with Francesco Amodio, Associate Professor of Economics at McGill University, about his paper titled "Labor Market Power, Self-employment, and Development." We explore the process of generating ideas for projects and identification strategies. Additionally, we discuss structural modeling and what initially sparked Francesco's interest in labor markets within developing countries. Here is a link to the paper, co-authored with Pamela Medina and Monica Morlacco: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c1Rv6vTKz0g6FEZ19VsK8fa_fSrF-niT/view
In this episode, Aakash talks to Girija Borker, an Economist at DIME, World Bank. They discuss her paper titled "Safety First: Perceived Risk of Street Harassment and Educational Choices of Women". Dive in to learn how Girija went about identifying important problems related to gender, and her perspectives on learning the best tools to answer questions, risk mitigation strategies, and motivation for research.
Join Santiago as he delves into conversation with Martin Mattsson from the National University of Singapore about his working paper titled "Formalizing Dispute Resolution: Effects of Village Courts in Bangladesh". Martin tells us the backstory of a large-scale RCT covering 6 million people, the value of trust in overcoming challenges when dealing with multiple government branches, and some of the experiences that prepared him to conduct such an intervention. He also shares his perspective on how to start research projects and ensure their relevance for policy. You can find the working paper here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4740074
In this episode, join Riccardo as he engages with Doug Gollin, a Professor at Tufts University, discussing his paper “High-Frequency Human Mobility in Three African Countries”. This conversation uncovers the intricacies of approaching data-driven projects, maximizing the potential of research ideas, and the complexities involved in managing large datasets. Doug also shares valuable insights on the critical considerations necessary when preparing to share findings with academic audiences. Here is the link to the working paper: https://economics.ucr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/11-30-2020-Gollin.pdf
Santiago talks to Vincent Pons, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, about his paper: 'Keep your Enemies Closer: Strategic Platform Adjustments during U.S. and French Elections'. Vincent shares his thoughts on deciding to make upfront investments in data collection, how his political curiosity took him to be a national field coordinator for a presidential campaign and how he has used that experience in his research.
In this episode, Santiago sits down with Teresa Molina, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and current visitor at UCSD. They delve into her paper, 'An Examination of Intergenerational Mobility in the Philippines.' The discussion highlights the paper's origins, the crucial role of having the right collaborators, and the valuable contributions of motivated undergraduate students. They also explore the evolution of a research agenda from graduate school through the early years as an assistant professor. The episode concludes with invaluable advice for graduate students. Tune in to hear more!
Join us in conversation with Bryce Steinberg, Assistant Professor of Economics at Brown University, as we delve into her paper, "Family Planning, Now and Later: Infertility Fear and Contraception Take-Up." This discussion offers a comprehensive look into the fieldwork process from start to finish. Along the way, we uncover intriguing research questions that surfaced during the study and share anecdotes that provide a unique glimpse into the world of field research.
In this episode, Associate Professor Pauline Rossi from Ecole Polytechnique-CREST discusses her paper, "Drivers of Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Burkina Faso." She shares practical insights from conducting field research, including managing the challenges of data collection and responding to unexpected hurdles. We also explore the process behind developing research ideas and Rossi's journey to becoming an economist.
In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Diana Martinez, a job market candidate at UC San Diego. Diana shares the backstory of her job market paper, "How Does Immigration Affect Incumbent Students? The Case of the Venezuelan Migration to Peru." She provides valuable insights into the process of developing a paper during a Ph.D. program, detailing the highs and lows, as well as the challenges of acquiring the necessary data to answer her research question. Don't miss out on this informative conversation!
In this episode we spoke with Ernest Liu, Assistant Professor at the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton's Department of Economics. He discussed the backstory of his research on "Innovation Networks and R&D Allocation", how he got the idea for his job market paper, and the challenges he overcame during his research journey.
In this episode we have a conversation with Jeff Weaver, an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, about his paper titled Polity Size and Local Government Performance: evidence from India. The interview has very useful advice on identification strategies motivated by a question, forming teams, picking research projects, and some other great perspectives from Jeff.
In this episode, we're joined by Garima Sharma, currently a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University and soon-to-be Assistant Professor at Northwestern. She discusses her paper, Monopsony and Gender, which served as her job market paper. Dive in to explore not only the backstory of her paper but also insights on balancing modeling with empirics, selecting the right tools for structural modeling, and the distinction between a single research paper and a broader research agenda
Pascaline Dupas talks about her paper titled Colonial Origins of Fertility Behaviors: Evidence on the Role of Forced Labor Migration in Burkina Faso. Riccardo and Pascaline discuss the background of her paper and her advice for graduate students in economics.
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