ABOUT
As a Senior Environmental Economist at Rethink Priorities, my research seeks to identify high-impact and cost-effective interventions for philanthropic spending. This research covers a range of subject areas, including anti-deforestation initiatives, carbon capture technologies, and the future cost of clean energy. I am also helping to think about optimal strategies for philanthropic giving in the climate change context.
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My academic research combines field experimental and behavioral economics to discover cost-effective climate change mitigation strategies at the microeconomic level, particularly in the contexts of commercial fuel efficiency (especially aviation), residential energy use and renewable energy adoption, and smart technology adoption and engagement. I am a former AXA Research Fellow (Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics) and BITSS Catalyst.
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Outside of work, I am a climber, yogi, vegetarian foodie, scuba diver, amateur photographer, world traveler, feminist, social justice advocate, and animal lover. Feel free to get in touch below !
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PUBLICATIONS
PATHWAYS TO NET-ZERO EMISSIONS FROM AVIATION
MARKET FAILURES AND WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT THE ENERGY TRANSITION: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM THE UK (WITH DAIRE MCCOY)
THE IMPACT OF MANAGERIAL PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY: A FIELD EXPERIMENT WITH AIRLINE CAPTAINS (WITH ROBERT METCALFE, JOHN LIST)
The Journal of Political Economy (2020) 128.4: 1195-1233.
HOW DEVELOPED COUNTRIES CAN LEARN FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE (WITH STEFANO CARATTINI AND ALESSANDRO TAVONI)
World Development 127 (2020).
COMMUNICATING RESOURCEFULLY: A NATURAL FIELD EXPERIMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL FRAMING AND COGNITIVE DISSONANCE IN GOING PAPERLESS
Ecological Economics 154 (2018): 128-144.
A RISK-SEEKING FUTURE
A BARGAINING EXPERIMENT ON HETEROGENEITY AND SIDE DEALS IN CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS (WITH ALESSANDRO TAVONI)
Climatic Change 142.3-4 (2017): 575-586.
EVALUATING IMPACTS IN THE DISTANT FUTURE: COST–BENEFIT ANALYSIS, DISCOUNTING AND THE ALTERNATIVES (WITH CAMERON HEPBURN)
Handbook of Sustainable Development (2014): 140-159.
PUBLISHED WORKING PAPERS
CONSUMER-DRIVEN VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS: A FIELD EXPERIMENT ON THE ADOPTION AND USE OF A PROSOCIAL TECHNOLOGY
WITH ZEYNEP GURGUC, RALF MARTIN, MIRABELLE MUULS, AND QUENTIN COUTELLIER
This research uses a series of randomized controlled trials to understand the appetite for and feasibility of a prosocial technology, namely remotely controlled smart plugs, as a means to generate cost-efficient and low-touch energy demand response solutions.
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Twitter: @EnergyPowbal
OBSERVING THE UNOBSERVABLE: A FIELD EXPERIMENT ON EARLY ADOPTERS OF A CLIMATE-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR
WITH STEFANO CARATTINI AND ALESSANDRO TAVONI
Motivated by non-experimental literature on social signaling and contagion of visible environmental behaviors, we study residential energy customers' motivation to display their 'invisible' green behaviors (here, renewable energy tariff adoption) and subsequent social contagion from such visibility in a field experiment with over 20,000 customers.