I study the economics of information, mass media, and networks in development. I use field experiments, natural experiments, administrative records, and survey data to examine technology adoption, political behavior, social connection, gender, health, and wellbeing. I teach and build tools that make complex systems inspectable.
The standard is simple: define the world, identify the load-bearing elements, state the mechanism, test it against data. The purpose is simpler: advance the frontier and improve society.
Studying and Writing
My research is on the economics of information, mass media, and networks in development. Most of the evidence comes from India: randomized campaigns and programs, the staggered arrival of radio and cable television, and administrative records.
Instructing and Advising
I teach microeconomics, econometrics, and development economics through current research, empirical reasoning, and hands-on analysis. Students learn to use economic models and causal evidence, then judge precisely what those tools can–and cannot–establish about the social world.
Designing and Building
I build tools that make difficult systems inspectable: opening the computations inside a transformer, exploring Unicode, translating concepts across disciplines, resolving disputes, and playing with hieroglyphs.
Appreciating and Reviewing
I keep a dated record of films with compact reviews that treat cinema as argument, craft, and social world. Each review is written close to the viewing; together they trace what I keep returning to across genres, countries, and periods.
In my spare time, I referee for economics and interdisciplinary journals and have served on the scientific committee of the Midwest International Economic Development Conference since 2024.