Research

Work in progress

Sacking the sales staff: Weather shocks to labor productivity, complementary input adjustments, and their climate policy implications [Latest version] [World Bank Development Impact blog] [David Dollar Memorial Prize winner 2025]
Weather shocks reduce firms’ labor productivity. I show that firms react by adjusting complementary inputs (e.g., rented capital or space and non-production personnel). This further decreases overall firm productivity. I use machine learning estimates of the impact of climate change and a structural model to highlight policy implications. Larger firms matter a lot in this context, and adaptation to climate change becomes more effective.

Climate change increases bilateral trade cost [Working paper]
I show that decade to decade climate change over the last 200 years has increased trade cost. This is driven by ocean-based trade. The climate welfare impact through trade cost is about ten percent as large as its impact through productivity. We miss this when ignoring this channel. My methodology is easy to embed in any gravity-based trade model.

Optimal climate weights

Sectoral composition and climate resilience

Information frictions, demand for quality, and welfare in the market for antimalarials (with Russell Morton) [PEDL Grant] [NSF Grant]
Though Nigeria sees a third of global malaria deaths, take-up of highest-quality antimalarials is relatively low. We study whether quality concerns affect take-up. Using an RCT providing quality information and a structural model, we can disentangle quality beliefs from true drug quality.

Information frictions and firm behavior: Evidence from the African Continental Free Trade Area (with Yewande Olapade and Socrates Majune) [Summary of pilot results]
Many firms are unaware of the AfCFTA. We design an information intervention to study whether awareness of lower tariff rates improves take-up of the AfCFTA.

The heterogeneous impacts of weather shocks on households in poor countries (with Hoyt Bleakley)

Quality, contracting, and competition in developing country supply chains (with Lauren Falcao Bergquist and Meredith Startz)

Publications

Bensch, G., Grimm, M., Huppertz, M., Langbein, J., & Peters, J. (2017). Are promotion programs needed to establish off-grid solar energy markets? Evidence from rural Burkina Faso. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 90, 1060-1068. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.11.003