Hello! I am a PhD student in Finance at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Previously, I worked at the Center for Global Development after graduating from Boston University.
My current research focuses on household finance, labor economics, innovation & venture capital.
Email: dsalman@uw.edu
End of the Road? Autonomous Vehicles and Displacement Risk
Abstract
New technologies have motivated renewed concerns about job displacement. In this paper, I link workers' subjective displacement expectations to their social exposure to a disruptive technology. I find that the share of commercial driver licenses and employment in truck driving fall disproportionately in areas that are more socially connected to Phoenix and San Francisco, cities with large-scale autonomous vehicle testing. The remaining drivers extend their work hours and decrease participation in mortgage markets relative to less connected, neighboring drivers. The results suggest that welfare or policy assessments evaluating the impact of automation should account for an anticipatory channel.Relief Beliefs: Effects of Anticipated Student Loan Forgiveness
(with Xuan Xie)
Abstract
Political support for student loan forgiveness has been growing, particularly on the left, but evidence regarding its effects remains limited. We evaluate the immediate consumption response to President Biden's 2022 loan forgiveness announcement which promised debt relief of $10,000 to $20,000 for approximately 42 million borrowers. We find that retail stores located in counties with a 1% higher share of eligible student loan borrowers saw a persistent 0.1% increase in weekly sales. The positive spending response was absent in counties with high shares of delinquent households. Novel data on debt relief eligibility and applications suggest that student loan borrowers anticipated relief they ultimately did not receive.Institutional and Political Determinants of Statutory Tax Rates: Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
(with Sanjeev Gupta, Carlos Mulas-Granados, Jianhong Liu and Kelsey Ross)
Journal of African Development, 2021
The Future of Central America: Challenges for Sustainable Development
Inter-American Development Bank, 2019