Conference Agenda

The past three decades have witnessed a dramatic expansion of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASgM), transforming the economic and spatial opportunities of tens of millions of people. We show how this transformation has shaped urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1975. Our empirical strategy exploits plausibly exogenous variation in ASgM activity generated by the interaction between international gold-price shocks and local geological suitability for artisanal extraction, which we combine with new continent-wide data on urban population, nighttime lights, and household welfare. Although ASgM is commonly viewed as a rural activity, we find that ASgM exposure significantly accelerates urbanization, accounting for roughly five percent of total urban population growth. This expansion takes the form of extensive, decentralized urbanization: new towns emerge in remote, infrastructure-poor areas, while the growth of pre-existing towns and cities does not accelerate. Both new and existing urban entities exposed to ASgM exhibit lower living standards and limited industrial activity. Overall, ASgM contributes to a fragmented pattern of urbanization without structural transformation.

This paper examines the effects of state-level building codes on housing development

in wildfire-prone areas of California. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design

around regulatory boundaries, I find a significant decrease in housing development and

taxable property value in regulated areas. Next, I examine why state intervention is

necessary, given that climate adaptation is typically implemented by local governments.

I propose a conceptual model that illustrates how the perverse incentive to gain property tax revenue can lead to a distortion in the decision making of local governments. Empirically testing the model, I find that the effects of the state regulation are larger where local jurisdictions have a higher dependency on property tax revenue. The study results shed light more generally on the challenges of climate adaptation (e.g. managed retreat) when property tax incentives may create inefficient local government policies to correct housing market failures.

Standard growth models investigating if lower income countries catch up with higher income countries consider only physical and human capital. We explore theoretically and empirically whether natural capital also affects the speed of convergence and thus the partial correlation between growth and initial income. A panel analysis for 124 countries from 1996 to 2019 examines the influence of natural capital on convergence. The results indicate that including natural capital impacts convergence directly and indirectly through its interaction with initial levels of income per capita. Convergence paths based on these estimations illustrate how the inclusion of natural capital affects these paths to the steady state. We also consider additional interactions with initial income per capita, nonlinear speeds of convergence, and consideration of the natural capital income share of GDP. Future research should explore further the potential mechanisms and influences of natural capital on the economy and its growth.

Households in the United States face compounded risks when high energy burdens intersect with heightened exposure to climate extremes. This study introduces a methodological framework to systematically identify and analyze these dual-vulnerability households. Using the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) linked with high-resolution NASA Daymet climate data, I spatially match households to localized measures of extreme climates like heatwaves and cold spells. Geospatial hotspot analysis reveals regions where economic and climatic risks converge, while Local Linear Forest models are employed to identify the primary drivers of household energy expenditures. The results show that climate-related variables, such as extreme temperature events and degree days, together with housing characteristics have a stronger influence on energy costs than income. Policy simulations of interventions, including appliance upgrades, weatherization, smart home technologies, and financial assistance programs, demonstrate heterogeneous effects across household types, with technology-based strategies delivering the largest reductions in energy expenditures. These findings highlight the importance of regionally tailored, climate-responsive policies that integrate technical upgrades with socioeconomic support to enhance resilience among households at the intersection of energy poverty and climate risk.