Publications
“The Canary in the Coal Decline: Appalachian Household Finance and the Transition from Fossil Fuels” (with Joshua Blonz and Erin Troland) Journal of Financial Economics, 2026, Vol. 175, 104167, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104167.
Media: Energy Institute Blog, BLS Monthly Labor Review
“The Local Economic Impact of Natural Disasters” (with Daniel J. Wilson) in Journal of Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025, Vol. 23, No. 6, 1667-1704. https://doi.org/10.1086/735533.
Media: Wall Street Journal
“Pricing Poseidon: Extreme Weather Uncertainty and Firm Return Dynamics“, (with Mathias Kruttli and Sumudu W. Watugala), in Journal of Finance, 2025, Vol. 80, No. 2, 783-832. https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13416.
“Sellin’ in the Rain: Weather, Climate, and Retail Sales“, in Management Science, 2023, Vol. 69, No. 12, 7151-7882.
Final accepted working paper, online appendix
“Divest, Disregard or Double Down? Philanthropic Endowment Investments in Objectionable Firms“, in American Economic Review: Insights, 2019, Vol. 1, No. 2, 241-256.
Press Mentions: Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist
“Discounting Behavior and Environmental Decisions” (with Richard T. Carson), in Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 2009, Vol. 2, No. 2, 112-130.
Working Papers
“Flooding the Market? How hurricanes impact home listings” (with Brian Seok)
ABSTRACT: The lack of consensus regarding home price responses to natural disasters presents a puzzle: Why do some papers find increases while others find decreases? We develop a model illustrating how composition shifts in transactions from “risky” to “safe” market segments can yield positive price estimates and declining quantities even when prices broadly decline. Using property-level disaster risk, treatment, listing, and sales data, we find hurricanes shift compositions of listings and sales away from risky homes. A novel analysis that focuses on listings started shortly before hurricane forecasts indicates flooded homes are nine percent less likely to sell whereas elevated homes in the broader region are 2 percent more likely to sell. Non-elevated flooded homes sell more slowly and at larger discounts. Extreme weather events can thus introduce transaction bias to price effect estimates that could help explain some of the disagreement in price effect research.
Brigitte Roth Tran, Ph.D. 