Publications
Female Labor Participation in Iran : A Structural Model Estimation (with Mohammad Rahmati), 2020. Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 1-19.
The purpose of this study is to determine why female labor force participation in Iran has been less than 20 percent. The authors estimate a structural dynamic matching model of female participation using individual panel data in Iran. The study incorporates many factors such as wage, child cost, education, spouse employment and job market search parameters. The study finds that gender discrimination in job finding has the biggest effect in reducing the rate of women's participation. If all market differences disappear, the female participation rate will increase by 12 percentage points to almost 27 percent, which is still much lower than that of developed countries with the average of 60 percent. This study provides the first structural search model using a developing country's microdata to study female labor participation.
Working papers
Discrimination Shocks and Intermarriage Preferences: Muslim Marriage Market in the US after 9/11
The terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001 generated negative sentiment towards Muslims in the United States. This led to a rise in bias and discrimination that affected the economic and social aspects of Muslim communities. One market that is not regulated and can provide insight into the consequences of this discrimination is the marriage market. This paper examines the effect of 9/11 on the Muslim intermarriage market by developing an intermarriage market model that decomposes the effect into extensive and intensive margins. An econometric specification is provided for measuring the change in the prices of intermarriage as well as the change in the intermarriage rate. The estimation is done using data from the Current Population Survey. The results indicate that Muslim women are less likely to intermarry after 9/11, while Muslim men experience a decline in their marriage rate. Furthermore, the lower prices of intermarriage after 9/11 suggest a downward shift in the intermarriage demand of Muslims.
Work in progress
Ethnic Segregation in Schools and Educational Attainment in the UK
The educational attainment gap between ethnic groups in the UK persists, and it is possible that ethnic segregation is one contributing factor. While progress has been made in narrowing this gap over the past two decades, it remains for some minority groups. School segregation may be one pathway through which this gap occurs. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of school segregation on educational outcomes for ethnic minorities while distinguishing it from neighbourhood segregation. In the UK, admission to schools is typically based on catchment areas, which are subject to unpredictable changes. To isolate the effect of school segregation from neighbourhood segregation, we will employ a spatial regression discontinuity design (spatial RDD) that uses variation in catchment areas. By analyzing the National Pupils Database (NPD), this study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between school segregation and educational outcomes for ethnic minorities.