Publications

“Corporate Engagement in the Political Process and Democratic Ideals” Political Economy and Justice ed. Danielle Allen, Yochai Benkler, and Rebecca Henderson. University of Chicago Press. 2022.

Reviewing literature on corporate governance and deliberative democracy, this paper argues that existing theories for corporate engagement in public processes insufficiently account for corporate capture and offers potential remedies.

Working papers

"The Need for Speed: The Impact of Capital Constraints on Strategic Misconduct." June 2024. Minor Revision at Management Science.

I examine the impact of capital constraints on strategic misconduct and firm performance in minibus taxi industry in South Africa. I find that lower capital constraints lead to less strategic misconduct and increased firm performance. My findings suggest that these measures might be important for understanding how firms respond to capital constraints and their impact on public welfare.



"Easy Doesn't Do it: Imprinting, Early Strategy Selection, and Small Firm Performance." May 2024. Major Revision at Strategic Management Journal.

I investigate the impact of early strategy selection on firm performance in the minibus taxi industry in South Africa. I find that firms that experience lower than anticipated fuel prices in the first three months of operation drive less and work fewer days. These patterns persist long after the founding months and lead to worse firm performance. My findings suggest that early imprinting influences strategy selection and firm performance amongst small firms in emerging markets. 


"Loan Maturity and Borrower Effort: Evidence from Small Businesses in Financial Distress" (with Apoorv Gupta). May 2024. 

We analyze the effects of a debt restructuring program that relaxed liquidity constraints for financially distressed small firms in South Africa's minibus taxi industry. We find that one year later firm owners have higher repayments, increase asset utilization, and have improved overall financial health. Our findings present payment reduction as a potential low cost tool that benefits both borrowers and creditors, at least in the short run. 


"Exploring Boundaries: How Firms Choose Informality in Emerging Markets" (with Tommy Pan Fang). June 2021. 

We investigate how firms choose between formal and informal strategies in emerging markets examining the impact of their external environment. Through spatial regression analysis, we find that firms blend these strategies depending in response to demand and availability of public infrastructure.


"Who Wins When the Power Goes Out: Digital Technology, Exogenous Shocks, and Firm Performance" (with Rowan Clarke, Zachary Kuloszewski, and Jun Wong). Manuscript in Progress

We leverage a proprietary dataset from a digital payment platform in South Africa to examine the impact of power outages on digital sales. Using a spatial two way fixed effect model, we find that high performing firms increase sales while lower performing decrease sales in response to an additional outage. Mechanism tests suggest these results are driven by differential firm resources and consumer substitution. 


"Hidden Gazelles: Uncovering strategy traits and behavior amongst entrepreneurs in Ethiopia" (with Simon Quinn, Marcel Fafchamps, Michael Kolle and Girum Abebe). Manuscript in Progress

Through qualitative research and field surveys, we aim to understand how prospective entrepreneurs consider strategic decisions and whether their stated preferences and values determine their strategic outlook.