Contact Information

Email:    Phone:    Fax:    Address:

bkovak@cmu.edu (412) 268-5223 (412) 268-4487 Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Working Papers

    Wage Insurance for Displaced Workers
    (with Ben Hyman and Adam Leive) (NSF)
        (Draft: June 2024) revise and resubmit, Journal of Political Economy
        Summaries: Non-technical summary, NY Fed blog, NBER Digest
        Press coverage: NY Times, Financial Times, Marketplace Video: NBER Labor Studies

    Understanding Migration Responses to Local Shocks
    (with Kirill Borusyak and Rafael Dix-Carneiro)
        (Draft: June 2023) Video: NBER Labor Studies

    The Long-Run Labor Market Effects of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement
    (with Peter Morrow)
        (Draft: September 2024) Accepted, Review of Economic Studies
        Replication package

Journal Articles

    The International Transmission of Local Economic Shocks Through Migrant Networks
    (with Maria Esther Caballero and Brian Cadena)
        Journal of International Economics (2023) 145: 103832

    Distributional Impacts of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement
    (with Peter Morrow)
        AEA Papers and Proceedings (2023) 113: 585-589

    Social Learning along International Migrant Networks
    (with Yuan Tian and Maria Esther Caballero)
        Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2022) 195: 103-121

    Wage Insurance and Labor Market Trajectories
    (with Ben Hyman, Adam Leive, and Theodore Naff)
        AEA Papers and Proceedings, (2021) 111: 491-495
        Online appendix. ASSA slides

    The Labor Market Effects of Offshoring by U.S. Multinational Firms
    (with Lindsay Oldenski and Nick Sly)
        Review of Economics and Statistics (2021) 103(2): 381-396

    Why Has China Overinvested in Coal Power?
    (with Mengjia Ren, Lee Branstetter, Daniel Erian Armanios, and Jiahai Yuan)
        Energy Journal, (2021) 42(2): 113-134

    How do U.S. Visa Policies Affect Unauthorized Immigration?
    (with Rebecca Lessem)
        Journal of Monetary Economics, (2020) 113: 92-108

    Margins of Labor Market Adjustment to Trade
    (with Rafael Dix-Carneiro)
        Journal of International Economics, (2019) 117: 125-142
        Online appendix.
        Summary: VoxEU. NBER working paper

    Measuring Geographic Migration Patterns using Matrículas Consulares
    (with Maria Esther Caballero and Brian Cadena)
        Demography, (2018) 55(3): 1119-1145
        Press coverage: US News

    Trade Liberalization and Regional Dynamics
    (with Rafael Dix-Carneiro)
        American Economic Review, (2017) 107(10): 1908-2946
        Online appendix. Supplemental appendix focused on agriculture.
        Summaries: World Bank Research Digest, Upjohn Institute, VoxDev
        NBER working paper including related results.

    Quality-Adjusted Price Measurement: A New Approach With Evidence from
    Semiconductors (with David Byrne and Ryan Michaels)
        Review of Economics and Statistics, (2017) 99(2): 330-342
        Online appendix. VoxEU summary

    Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession
    (with Brian Cadena)
        American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (2016) 8(1): 257-290
        Online appendix
        Summaries: VoxEU, NBER Digest, IRP Focus
        Press coverage: Marginal Revolution, Slate, LA Times, Wall Street Journal,
               Washington Post, New York Post, Atlantic, Financial Times

    Trade Liberalization and the Skill Premium: A Local Labor Markets Approach
    (with Rafael Dix-Carneiro)
        American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings (2015) 105(5): 551-557
        Online appendix

    Regional Effects of Trade Reform: What is the Correct Measure of Liberalization?
        American Economic Review (2013) 103(5): 1960-1976
        Online appendix
        Recipient of the 2014 IZA Young Labor Economist Award
        Included in Trade and Inequality in the International Library of Critical Writings in
               Economics series, ed. P. Goldberg.

    Overestimating the Effect of Complementarity on Skill Demand
        B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy (2011) Vol. 11: Iss. 1 (Topics), Article 65

Other Publications

    Globalization and Inequality in Latin America (with Rafael Dix-Carneiro)
        Latin American and Caribbean Inequality Review
        International Inequalities Institute Working Paper 92, LACIR Series (2023)
        Replication files

    Assessing Price Indexes for Markets with Trading Frictions: A Quantitative Illustration
        (with Ryan Michaels) in Susan Houseman and Michael Mandel eds., Measuring
        Globalization: Better Trade Statistics for Better Policy. Upjohn, 2015.

    The Growing Problem of Disconnected Single Mothers (with Rebecca Blank)
        in Carolyn J. Heinrich and John Karl Scholz eds., Making the Work-Based Safety Net Work
        Better: Forward-Looking Policies to Help Low-Income Families. Russell Sage Foundation, 2009.
        National Poverty Center Working Paper #07-28

Work in Progress

    Emerging Technologies, Labor Outcomes, and Policy Responses (NSF)
    (with Laurence Ales, Erica Fuchs, and Kate Whitefoot)

    Housing Allocation Under the Allegheny Housing Assessment Decision Support System
    (with Lingwei Cheng, Alexandra Chouldechova, and Lowell Taylor)

    Migration Restrictions and Economic Misallocation
    (with Yuan Tian)

    The Effect of Mexican Migrants on U.S. Labor Markets: A New Approach Using Weather
    Shocks and Migrant Networks
    (with Maria Esther Caballero, Brian Cadena, and Marieke Kleemans)