Research

Spillovers and the Direction of Innovation

Submitted

Typical models of directed innovation exclude cross-technology knowledge spillovers. Such spillovers imply that a big push is neither necessary nor desirable for the energy transition.

Transition to Green Technology along the Supply Chain

with Philippe Aghion, Lint Barrage, David Hémous, and Ernest Liu

Submitted; NBER Working Paper 33934

The adoption of green technology along the supply chain involves strategic complementarity, implying the need for policy beyond a carbon price. When policy instruments are restricted, policy should target downstream sectors.

Unpacking Aggregate Welfare in a Spatial Economy

with Masao Fukui and Yuhei Miyauchi

Revise & Resubmit, Review of Economic Studies; NBER Working Paper 34075

In a spatial economy, we characterize the welfare impact of regional productivity shocks and how it deviates from the Fogel-Hulten benchmark. Our formula recovers this benchmark whenever second-best spatial transfers are in place.

Optimal Taxation with Automation

Most policy recommendations to address automation call for the taxation of capital. This Pigouvian view of automation oversimplifies capital's pecuniary externality on labor. 

Optimal Dynamic Spatial Policy

with Masao Fukui and Yuhei Miyauchi

Spatial transfers must balance consumption smoothing against efficient migration incentives. By using dynamic incentives, the planner can both increase consumption and lower population in poor regions, relative to the status quo.