A PhD candidate Central European University.
An applied microeconomist, with a special interest in the topics of political economy and development.
A member of CEU’s MicroData team, where my task is developing the database of Hungarian public procurement data.
On the academic job market in 2018/19, and available for interviews at the Naples EEA Meetings in December.
Research
The public morals - public services tradeoff: theory and evidence from Sharia-regulations in Indonesa
(job market paper)
Campaigning on value-based and highly divisive issues can serve as a cheaper alternative to provision of goods and services, so politicians have an economic incentive to cater to hardliners. I use a voting model to examine this idea, and show the existence of such a mechanism using Indonesian data. About half of the district governments in Indonesia have been experimenting with Sharia-based religious policies since 2000. In line with the main prediction of the model, I identify the negative impact of policies on government expenditure and services using difference-in-differences and instrumental variables methodologies. The first IV exploits village level heterogeneity, the second exploits pre-policy regional differences in religious preferences. The conservative estimate of the impact is a 10 percent decrease in both spending and in the value of a standardized government services index. Regions which adopt Sharia-based regulations also experience an increase in poverty and in the frequency of violent incidents. The calibration of the model suggests that the total utility of the secular voters can decrease by as much as four times as the decrease in observed outcomes would justify. The evidence is consistent with the notion that politicians use divisive policies to strategically redistribute utility across voters while reducing the supply of material wellbeing.
The economics of identity changes -
name changers in Hungary
With Rita Pető (CEU)
We study how the decision to assimilate affected labor market outcomes in Hungary in the late 19th - early 20th century. We show, that identity, which often provides the grounds for labor market discrimination, is in itself endogenous to economic incentives. Using two unique datasets we built from of administrative yearbooks and archival data and an exogenous policy shock (a one-year informal campaign within the public administration to put pressure on public sector employees to “Hungarianize” their names) we study alternative economic mechanisms of selection into name changing, and the impact of the decision.
Movement at the crossroads of Europe:
Social mobility in Hungary 1840-2016
With Pawel Bukowski (LSE), Gregory Clark (UC-Davis), and Rita Pető (CEU)
Using the methodology of Clark (2014) we study social mobility in Hungary between 1840-2016 using a variety of original datasets. Hungary in these years witnessed many political and social upheavals. There were earlier struggles over language and culture within the Austrian Empire, with a population fragmented by language and religion. Later political struggles saw the ascendancy of the extreme right 1920-1945, of the extreme left, 1945-1990, and liberal democracy 1990-2010. In spite of the turbulent history, and that two regimes actively sought to generate social mobility, name frequency based estimates of deep parameters of social mobility are very similar to those found elsewhere (similarly low).
Land ownership, technological progress and hatred
With Győző Gyöngyösi (IFW-Kiel)
We build a novel dataset on land ownership and physical capital in agriculture of the 19th century Austro-Hungarian Monarchy by digitalizing administrative land registry records. We use this data to study whether the identity of the owner and the capital intensiveness help explain the evolution of extremist political attitudes over the very long run.
Teaching
@ELTE
Introductory Microeconomics, Introductory Econometrics, Introductory Economics
@UMY (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Mathematics for economists, Econometrics
@CEU (as TA)
Data Analysis, Mathematics for economists
Non-Academic Work
CEU MicroData
I am developing a database on the universe of Hungarian public procurement tenders from 1997 to present day. The primary purpose of the database is academic, as it provides input for ongoing research. The secondary purpose is to have a tractable, searchable, easy-to-use public procurement database for the general public, as the official procurement homepage is not very sympathetic to neither scientific, journalistic or civic purposes.
Scholarships, Fellowships, Awards
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CEU Doctoral Research Support Grant, 2017 (to spend the semester at Duke University)
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CEU Global Teaching Fellowship, 2016 (to teach in Indonesia)
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Review of Economic Studies Student Fellowship 2016 (for JM research)
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CERGE-EI – GDN Regional Research Competition 2016 (for JM research)
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INET The History Project Research Grant 2015 (for the Name changers project)
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CERGE-EI Teaching Fellow AY 2014/2015 (teaching at ELTE)
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Erős Gyula Award 2012 (for MA thesis at CEU )
Languages and Skills
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Hungarian: native
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English: fluent
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Spanish: fluent
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Indonesian: basic
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Stata (6 years of experience)
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Python (4 years of experience)
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R (1 year of experience)