All Outputs (6)

Covid-19 and the Media (2022)
Book Chapter

This chapter describes the growing literature on the effects of media on Covid-19-related outcomes. First, it discusses the papers related to traditional media. In particular, it discusses the literature that studies the effect of public messages, mi... Read More about Covid-19 and the Media.

Regime Stability and the Persistence of Traditional Practices (2021)
Journal Article

This paper investigates the role of national institutions on the persistence of cultural norms and traditions. In particular, I examine why the harmful tradition of fe-male genital mutilation persists in certain African countries while in others it h... Read More about Regime Stability and the Persistence of Traditional Practices.

Do dictators signal strength with electoral fraud? (2021)
Journal Article

What role does electoral fraud play in nondemocracies? In this paper, we offer an empirical test of a popular idea that authoritarian governments use elections to engineer overwhelming victories with electoral fraud thus deterring potential oppositio... Read More about Do dictators signal strength with electoral fraud?.

The safest time to fly: pandemic response in the era of Fox News (2021)
Journal Article

We document a causal effect of the conservative Fox News Channel in the USA on physical distancing during COVID-19 pandemic. We measure county-level mobility covering all US states and District of Columbia produced by GPS pings to 15–17 million smart... Read More about The safest time to fly: pandemic response in the era of Fox News.

Rules versus norms: How formal and informal institutions shape judicial sentencing cycles (2021)
Journal Article

Existing research on electoral sentencing cycles consistently finds that elected judges levy longer sentences when they are up for re-election. However, this research finding had previously drawn exclusively on data from four states. Using newly coll... Read More about Rules versus norms: How formal and informal institutions shape judicial sentencing cycles.

Christian missions and anti-gay attitudes in Africa (2021)
Journal Article

We argue that colonial Christian missions had a long-term impact on anti-gay attitudes in Africa. We use a geo-coded representative survey of African countries and the location of historical Christian missions to estimate a significant and economical... Read More about Christian missions and anti-gay attitudes in Africa.