I am an economist and an assistant professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

My research is about how households build wealth over their lives and how government programs shape that process. It is organized along three themes:

• Household risk-taking: My work tries to make sense of puzzles in how people invest. Why do most households shy away from the stock market despite its strong historical returns? And why do so many nonetheless take on the much larger risks of starting a business?
• Role of public policy: I also study how government programs fit into household balance sheets. Using the lens of a financial economist, I seek to value government programs from households’ perspective, viewing promises of pensions and medical services as implicit assets. On the liability side, I also study households’ liabilities to the government, such as student debt.
• Implications for inequality: These two themes come together in a third: understanding wealth inequality. I study how household portfolios shape trends in wealth inequality, but also how the measurement of these trends dramatically depends on the inclusion of government promises, like accrued Social Security benefits.