Hello!
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at the University of Michigan.
My research is in energy and environmental economics, labor economics, and macroeconomics. I use quasi-experimental methods to study how household and family dynamics influence climate change through consumption pattern changes.
I also regularly contribute to the quarterly U.S. economic outlook at RSQE, an economic forecasting and modeling unit at the University of Michigan.
Email: nnyou@umich.edu
Abstract: While fertility decline’s climate implications spark considerable discussion, causal evidence on the fundamental relationship between fertility and emissions remains limited. I examine how household composition, an underexplored aspect in environmental economics, affects carbon footprint through consumption pattern changes. I document a concave relationship between household carbon footprint and the number of children using the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey. Using instrumental variables based on twin births and same-sex sibling composition, I find that an additional child increases household carbon emissions by only 10-20% of average per-capita emissions. This small effect emerges from economies of scale through two channels. First, while carbon-intensive expenditures rise with additional children, household consumption sharing makes proportional scaling inappropriate. Second, families with more children substitute away from some carbon-intensive expenditures such as air travel. I formalize the carbon footprint impact of household composition through a household consumption model. Back-of-the-envelope calculations using empirical estimates suggest that ignoring household composition leads to a 23% overestimation of lifetime emission reductions resulting from fertility decline. Meanwhile, decarbonization can achieve far larger reductions (36-61%) in lifetime emissions compared to the household composition effect. These results underscore the importance of considering household composition in climate policy design, particularly for carbon pricing and fertility-related interventions.
Abstract: I analyze intergenerational transmission of environmental behaviors using carbon footprint data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) spanning 1999-2021. Employing log-log intergenerational elasticity specifications as the primary analytical framework, I find significant behavioral transmission across family members using 17,356 sibling pair observations. Raw sibling carbon footprint elasticities reach 0.170, indicating that a one percent increase in older siblings' carbon footprints associates with a 0.17 percent increase in younger siblings' environmental impacts. When controlling for age, income, and educational characteristics, the elasticity estimate attenuates to 0.123, suggesting that approximately 28 percent of the behavioral transmission operates through observable demographic channels while 72 percent reflects family-specific factors beyond measurable socioeconomic variables. Alternative rank-rank slope coefficient specifications demonstrate consistent patterns, with raw correlations of 0.154 declining to 0.108 after comprehensive controls, indicating that a 10 percentile increase in older sibling carbon footprint rank associates with a 1.1 percentile increase in younger sibling rank. The findings provide empirical evidence for substantial family-specific influences on environmental behaviors operating through unobserved preference transmission mechanisms, with implications for climate policy design emphasizing family-based intervention strategies that leverage intergenerational behavioral spillovers.
Abstract: Climate change poses significant challenges to energy transition policies through extreme weather events that disrupt renewable energy generation. This paper examines how droughts affect the trade-off between grid reliability and carbon emissions in the U.S. Western Interconnection. Using hourly electricity generation data from 35 balancing authorities between July 2018 and December 2022, I estimate the effects of exceptional drought conditions on the regional generation mix. I find that a one percentage point increase in drought-affected area raises fossil fuel generation share by 0.19 percentage points while reducing hydropower share by 0.11 percentage points. Solar and wind generation partially compensates, but the net effect increases carbon intensity. Substantial regional heterogeneity suggests inefficient risk pooling across balancing authorities, with hydropower-dependent regions showing the strongest substitution toward fossil fuels during droughts. I develop a stylized optimization model incorporating correlated capacity shocks to understand welfare implications. The results suggest that achieving renewable energy targets while maintaining grid reliability during extreme weather requires enhanced inter-regional coordination and strategic investment in transmission capacity and energy storage.
Transmission for Climate Adaptation: Power Outages during Hurricanes (with Jessica Lyu)
The U.S. Economic Outlook (2024 Q3-Q4, 2025 Q1-Q4, 2026 Q1)
Intermediate Macroeconomics (Fall 2023, Winter 2024)
Introduction to Macroeconomics (Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023)