Welcome!

I am a 6th year Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Columbia University. My primary fields of interest are development economics, political economy, and public economics. I am also interested in labor economics.

My research topics revolve around the formation of state capacity and the accumulation of human capital under adverse shocks. In my job market paper, I investigate how political violence targeting local politicians affects the fiscal and personnel capacity of local governments. I also have ongoing projects that study how educational attainment is impacted by religious violence in Nigeria and how birth outcomes are influenced by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia.

Starting August 2025, I will be an Assistant Professor at Taipei School of Economics at National Tsing Hua University. From August 2024 to July 2025, I will be a HKUST-SNU Postdoctoral Fellow.

For more information, please see my CV. You can also contact me at sl4436@columbia.edu.