"TAPping into homeowners’ decision making and emotions: A think-aloud experimental study of homeowner responses to flood buyouts" with Polina Dineva, Christina McGranaghan, Kent D. Messer, Leah H. Palm-Forster, Laura Paul, and A.R. Siders (International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2026, link)
Voluntary home buyouts are a central but often contentious strategy for reducing flood risk. Coordination mechanisms have been shown to increase participation and improve buyout outcomes in laboratory settings, yet their real-world effectiveness remains uncertain. This study extends prior experimental work by pairing different buyout strategies with think-aloud protocols (TAPs) to capture the cognitive and emotional reasoning of homeowners facing simulated buyout offers. Among homeowners, acceptance rates increase from 51% under a baseline posted-price mechanism to 65% when coordination incentives are introduced. Verbal data reveal that homeowners’ decisions are shaped not only by financial incentives and place and community attachment, but also by moral reasoning and perceived social tension. Some participants describe accepting a buyout out of concern for neighbors, while others reject it due to ethical discomfort or emotional resistance to leaving their community. These findings highlight that incentive-based coordination can encourage participation in buyouts but may also trigger feelings of guilt. Misinterpretation of flood probabilities further complicates decision-making, underscoring the importance of risk communication. By integrating behavioral and verbal data, this study offers a more nuanced foundation for designing equitable, community-centered buyout programs aligned with climate adaptation goals.
Heat Beneath the Waste: Rising Temperatures and Subsurface Landfill Fires (Revise & Resubmit)
As global temperatures rise, the frequency of landfill fires is expected to increase, yet their effects remain understudied. This research focuses on subsurface landfill fires, which smolder for long periods and cause land subsidence. Using EPA and satellite data, I find that consecutive high temperatures, starting from as early as one week and continuing up to four weeks, significantly increase the likelihood of subsurface fires. These results suggest that monitoring extended periods of heat can serve as an early warning system, prompting timely interventions to protect vulnerable communities.
"Experimental testing of the Nash Bargaining Solution’s Properties in Externality Provision Problems" with Ailin Leng, Ozlem Tonguc, Ce Wang, and Zili Yang
This study examines the effectiveness of Nash bargaining solutions in addressing externalities in environmental economics through a lab experiment. Participants formed coalitions and shared costs to mitigate pollution, using a 5×5 Latin square to assign skills across five projects. The findings show that initial success leads to stable rankings and continued success, supporting Yang's (2021) theoretical propositions on the Lindahl equilibrium's stability and efficiency. The results highlight the importance of stable smaller coalitions, which can grow into larger, stable coalitions, providing empirical evidence for cooperative strategies in environmental agreements and contributing to the literature on the Lindahl equilibrium's application.
Clearing the Air, Unequally: Disparities in the Long-term Air Quality Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdowns in the U.S., with Neha Khanna
The COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 yielded unexpected environmental benefits, including dramatic improvements in U.S. air quality. Using a two-stage difference-in-differences design, we examine whether these air quality gains endured through 2022, with particular attention to racial disparities in exposure. While air quality in most areas returned to pre-pandemic levels, improvements persisted in rural and low-traffic regions. Notably, predominantly non-white census tracts in areas with low traffic density maintained their reduced PM₂.₅ levels after lockdowns ended. These findings reveal how broad policy changes can have lasting, demographically varied environmental impacts, suggesting opportunities for targeted interventions to advance environmental justice.
A Qualitative Study of Climate Change Perceptions and Emotions in the Broome-Tioga Community with David Mixter, Rory Eckhardt, George Homsy, Barrett Brenton, and Abigail Pepples
Lost Opportunities: How Large-Scale Land Acquisitions Affect Children’s Potentials in Cambodia, with Louisa Poco (Duke-NUS)
From Belief to Action: How Worldviews Shape Climate Responsibility in Binghamton with Pamela Mischen and Andreas Pape
Inocencio, Arlene, Inocencio, Ancilla, and Baulita, Alexis. (In Press). Accelerating Philippine Agricultural Productivity Growth through Sustainable Irrigation. In The Economics of Agricultural Development in Asia and the Philippines: Essays in Honor of Cristina C. David.
Park, Cyn-Young and Inocencio, Ancilla (2020). COVID-19, Technology, and polarizing jobs. In Susantono, B., Sawada, Y., & Park, C. Y. (Eds.). Navigating COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific (pp.21 - 31). Manila: Asian Development Bank.
COVID-19 Is No Excuse to Regress on Gender Equality. Park, Cyn-Young and Inocencio, Ancilla. (2020). ADB Briefs, No. 157. Manila: Asian Development Bank.
COVID-19, Technology, and polarizing jobs. Park, Cyn-Young and Inocencio, Ancilla. (2020). ADB Briefs, No. 147. Manila: Asian Development Bank.