Emma Kate Henry
Ph.D. Candidate in Economics
Culverhouse College of Business, University of Alabama
I develop nonparametric and semiparametric methods for panel data, with a focus on correlated random effects models that let researchers work with longitudinal data without committing to a functional form for how unobserved heterogeneity relates to the covariates. I apply these methods to questions in innovation and firm dynamics.
Research interests
Primary: Econometric theory — panel data, nonparametric and semiparametric estimation, correlated random effects, interactive fixed effects.
Secondary: Applied microeconomics — innovation, R&D and firm productivity; experimental economics.
Dissertation
Nonparametric and Semiparametric Correlated Random Effects Models
My dissertation has three chapters, each relaxing a functional-form assumption that standard panel estimators impose on unobserved heterogeneity. The first develops estimation and inference for nonparametric panel models under a Mundlak-type correlated random effects specification. The second extends correlated random effects to nonlinear panel models, replacing the usual parametric device with a nonparametric one so that structural parameters stay consistent when the relationship between individual effects and covariates is unknown. The third — my job market paper — brings semiparametric estimation to panel models with interactive fixed effects, and applies it to innovation activity.
Committee: Daniel J. Henderson (chair), Soroush Ghazi, Robert Hammond, Alexandra Soberón, and Emmanuel Tsyawo.
Education
Awards and honors
Contact
Email ekhenry@crimson.ua.edu
Department of Economics, Finance & Legal Studies
Culverhouse College of Business, University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487