Published and Forthcoming Papers

 

"Froebel's Gifts: How The Kindergarten Movement Changed the Immigrant Family", [CEPR dp] [CRC dp] (joint with Francesco Cinnirella). Journal of Economic Growth, 2026, accepted for publication. 

 

"Medical Technology and Life Expectancy: Evidence from the Antitoxin Treatment of Diphtheria", [CEPR dp] (joint with Casper Worm Hansen and Peter Z. Lin). American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2026, vol. 18 (2), pp. 441-76.

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"Gender-biased technological change: Milking machines and the exodus of women from farming", [CEPR dp] [CRC dp] [IZA dp] (joint with Marc Goni and Kjell G. Salvanes). American Economic Review, vol 116 (1), pp. 246-86. Media: [SWR1 (in German)] [Press Release (in German)]

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"How the Other Half Died: Immigration and Mortality in US Cities", [CEPR dp] [NBER wp] (joint with James Feigenbaum, Casper Worm Hansen, and Hui Ren Tan). Review of Economic Studies, 2024, 94 (1), pp. 1-44. Media: [Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (in German)]

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"School Closures During the 1918 Flu Pandemic", [CEPR dp] [NBER wp] (joint with Katherine Eriksson, Ezra Karger, Peter Nencka, and Melissa Thomasson). Review of Economics and Statistics,  2024, 106 (1), pp. 266-276.

 

"The Effect of Immigration Restrictions on Local Labor Markets: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure", [CEPR dp] [NBER wp] (joint with Ran Abramitzky, Leah Boustan, Elior Cohen, and Casper Worm Hansen). American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2023, vol. 15 (1), pp. 164-91. Media: [Bloomberg] [Economist] [Forbes], Video: [Econimate] (permanent working papers: Ager and Hansen (2016, 2017): Media: [The Conversation] [Bloomberg])

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​"Killer Incentives: Rivalry, Performance and Risk-Taking among German Fighter Pilots, 1939-45", (joint with Leonardo Bursztyn, Lukas Leucht, and Joachim Voth). Review of Economic Studies, 2022, vol. 89 (5), pp. 2257-92. Media: [Voxeu] [NBER Digest] [The Times] [Weekendavisen (in Danish)]

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"The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners After the Civil War​", [Online Appendix] [CEPR dp] [NBER wp] (joint with Leah Boustan and Katherine Eriksson). American Economic Review, 2021, vol. 111 (11), pp. 3767-94. Media: [Bloomberg] [Citylab] [Economist] [ProMarket] [Voxeu] [Wall Street Journal] [Washington Post] 

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"Structural Change and the Fertility Transition", [CEPR dp] [Online Appendix] (joint with Benedikt Herz and Markus Brueckner). Review of Economics and Statistics, 2020, 102 (4), pp. 806-822. Media: [Voxeu] [The Barcelona GSE Voice]

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"How the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Shaped Economic Activity in the American West", [CEPR dp] [NBER wp] [Online Appendix] (joint with Katherine Eriksson, Casper Worm Hansen, and Lars Lønstrup). Explorations in Economic History, 2020, vol. 77 (July), pp. 101342. Media: [Los Angeles Times] [Voxeu]

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"Agricultural Risk and the Spread of Religious Communities", [Online Appendix] (joint with Antonio Ciccone). Journal of the European Economic Association, 2018, 16 (4), pp.1021-68. Media: [Nada es gratis] [EHES Blog]

 

"Fertility and early-life mortality: Evidence from smallpox vaccination in Sweden", [Online Appendix] [Poster] (joint with Casper Worm Hansen and Peter Sandholt Jensen). Journal of the European Economic Association, 2018, 16 (2), pp. 487-521. Media: [EHES Blog]

 

"Immigrants' Genes: Genetic Diversity and Economic Development in the US", [Online Appendix] (joint with Markus Brueckner). Economic Inquiry, 2018, vol. 56 (April), pp. 1149-64

 

"The Boll Weevil Plague and its Effect on the Southern Agricultural Sector, 1889-1929", (joint with Markus Brueckner and Benedikt Herz). Explorations in Economic History, 2017, vol. 65 (July), pp. 94-105 

 

"Cultural Diversity and Economic Growth: Evidence from the US During the Age of Mass Migration", [Online Appendix] (joint with Markus Brueckner). European Economic Review, 2013, vol. 64 (November), pp. 76-97

 

Working Papers

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"Liberation Technology? The Impact of the Sewing Machine on Women", [CEPR dp] [CRC dp] (joint with Davide Coluccia)

 

"The Long-term Effects of Charity Nurseries: Evidence from Early 20th Century New York", [CEPR dp] [CRC dp] (joint with Viktor Malein)

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​​​"Religion as Social Insurance: Evidence from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927", [CEPR dp], (joint with Casper Worm Hansen, Ezra Karger, and Lars Lønstrup)

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"Urban Resilience and Reorganization: The Economic Impact of the Great Fire of London", [CEPR dp] (joint with Maja U. Pedersen, Paul Sharp, and Xanthi Tsoukli)

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"Bank Entry Regulation and Financial Development: The US Free Banking Experience", (joint with Fabrizio Spargoli) 

 

"The Persistence of de Facto Power: Elites and Economic Development in the US South, 1840-1960"

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Non-Refereed Articles/Other Publications

"Kindergartens and Intergenerational Mobility", (joint with Francesco Cinnirella, Katherine Eriksson, and Viktor Malein). AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2025, vol. 115, pp. 415-20.

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"The accuracy and efficiency of the Consensus Forecast: A further application and extension of the pooled approach", (joint with Marcus Kappler and Steffen Osterloh). International Journal of Forecasting, 2009, vol. 25 (1), pp. 167-181.