Welcome


I am a PhD candidate in economics at the University of California, Irvine. My research interests are in Monetary Economics and Behavioral Macroeconomics. My current work focuses on how economic sentiments interact with fiscal policy in a currency union.

A summary of my most recent working paper can be accessed at: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

I am also a teaching assistant at the Economics department at UCI. I will be on the job market in Fall 2022.

Research

Working Papers


Fiscal Policy and Sentiments in a Monetary Union.
Members of a monetary union have limited control over monetary policy. This can elevate the role of fiscal policy as the primary macroeconomic tool against country-specific shocks. Using data for the European Economic and Monetary union, I argue that fiscal policy is more effective at stimulating the economy in peripheral European countries through its impact on economic sentiments. Due to their limited influence over monetary policy, agents in European periphery respond more strongly to fiscal policy shocks resulting in higher and more persistent multipliers. The effectiveness of fiscal policy vary significantly for core countries during periods of monetary accommodation vs normal times, but the non-linearity is not important for peripheral countries.

Unconventional Monetary Policy and Consumption.
This paper provides empirical evidence on the role played by home mortgages in transmission of unconventional monetary policy. Using household level panel data on consumption, I show that the ability of households to refinance their mortgages and extract home equity, determines the efficacy of monetary policy in stimulating consumption. Homeowners who refinance their loan in response to an expansionary monetary policy shock consume more than other households. This heterogeneity is conditioned by local home prices. I find that mortgage owners who refinance their loan in states with higher house prices have higher consumption growth following an expansionary shock.


Work in Progress


Understanding the Effects of Sentiments in a Monetary Union.
(Job Market Paper)

Do Weather Extremes Make Inflation Harder to Forecast?
(with Gunes Kamber and Roland Meeks)

Curriculum Vitae

To access my CV, scroll down or download:

Last Updated: 10th December 2021