My research examines how information frictions shape the allocation of credit, investment, and talent. I study how institutions determine what people know, how they are evaluated, and which opportunities they can access.

In household finance, I ask why consumers in the same market obtain different outcomes. Complex contracts hinder comparison, biased beliefs distort negotiation, and screening makes eligibility uncertain. My JFE paper examines disclosure and contract design. A randomized experiment with Sean Higgins and coauthors shows that personalized price information improves borrowing terms through negotiation. Related work examines switching costs, screening standards, and search as learning about one’s own eligibility.

Information also connects credit to other markets. My research on deleting delinquencies examines how suppressing credit information affects employer screening and employment. Work on public banking studies how financial inclusion generates information that may influence subsequent access to credit. These projects ask how information policies redistribute opportunity.

In corporate finance, I study how firms learn from one another. My JCF paper provides evidence consistent with geographic proximity facilitating knowledge spillovers and investment. Research on directors’ prior professional ties examines how misconduct and ESG practices spread across firms. These projects ask when networks improve decisions and when they transmit harmful practices.

My work on cities and organizations studies how knowledge embodied in people reaches productive uses. Spatial sorting, skill–task mismatch, and organizational hierarchies shape where abilities are employed and how effectively they are used. Projects on innovation, cities as opportunity sets, and the internal organization of firms examine how access to places and organizations affects the allocation of talent.

Housing markets shape where people can live and which opportunities they can reach. I study how immigration, taxation, and local political institutions affect these markets, and develop methods for estimating property values. Related research on historical land and water markets examines how spatial externalities shape bargaining and collective action.