Brooke Wang 王佳瑋

I study how political partisanship imposes interstate job-to-job flow frictions in the United States. I find that interstate job flows decline significantly among politically misaligned states. Sub-period analysis reveals that partisan barriers to mobility were modest in 2001–2011 but have intensified dramatically since 2012, consistent with deepening polarization. These partisan-induced mobility frictions generate a feedback loop where partisanship reduces interstate job moves, leading to deeper sorting. That, in turn, further intensifies polarization and discourages interstate job mobility. This mechanism links ideology-driven labor mobility frictions to the long-run partisan landscape of the country.

[4] Exit After Violence: Household Migration and the Economic Costs of Mass Shootings

with Feng Jiang

This paper examines the economic consequences of mass shootings for local communities. Using a stacked difference-in-differences design, we find that mass shootings lead to a deterioration in local economic activity. Affected counties experience declines in entrepreneurship and in the number of medium-sized and large business establishments. We also find that local bank deposits decline, small-business lending falls, and borrowing costs rise. We identify household out-migration as an important channel. Following a mass shooting, households are more likely to leave affected counties, especially for destinations outside the state. The migration is stronger when shootings are more severe, receive greater public attention, and occur in politically liberal counties.

[3] AI Exposure, Job Insecurity, and Household Financial Risk-taking

with Feng Jiang and Yiming Qian

We examine how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) affects household financial decisions through labor market insecurity by exploiting the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 as an exogenous technological shock. We find that workers in more AI-exposed occupations experience greater job insecurity, while households in more exposed areas respond by reducing equity investments, lowering debt, and decreasing mortgage borrowing. Overall, our findings suggest that AI-driven labor market uncertainty induces more conservative household financial behavior.

[2] Asymmetric Information and Asset Sales versus Mergers and Acquisitions

with Anand Vijh

We propose average absolute value of cumulative abnormal returns around earnings announcements (ACARE) as a measure of asymmetric information about a firm’s value.

Media coverage: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog

Revise & Resubmit

[1] To Innovate or Not To Innovate When Times Are Bad

with Petra Sinagl

How are managerial incentives to innovate affected by financial crises? We study the role of managerial long-term compensation in inducing innovative output. We document that awarding managers with options during crises substantially increases their incentives to invest in risky projects and produce innovation.

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