Tarikua Erda

PhD Candidate, Columbia University

School of International and Public Affairs

tarikua.erda@columbia.edu | @tarikuaerda



Research

Working Papers

  • Spillovers that Pay Dividends: The Indirect Impact of Federal Disaster Loans on Firm Entry (Submitted)
  • Disasters increase affected firms’ credit demand. I examine bank lending, firm entry, and recovery following rare flood shocks. After flooding, banks reallocate loan supply toward established incumbents, away from new firms. This reduces region-wide firm entry, entrant job creation, and wages, highlighting young firms’ disproportionate contribution to growth. Low-interest federal loans to disaster-hit incumbents indirectly offset entrants’ credit constraints. This increases firm entry without hurting firm performance and sustains wages. Consequently, tax revenues compensate for upfront federal spending on business recovery loans. Positive spillovers onto firm entry demonstrate a novel, substantial channel through which government spending supports post-disaster recovery.

Work in Progress

  • Disasters, Machine Upgrading, and Productivity
  • The On-campus Recruiting Labor Market (with Laura Caron)
    (In field)
    • Support: NSF Dissertation Grant in Economics, RSF Dissertation Grant
  • Appearance and Perception in Academia (with Jeffrey Shrader)
    (Draft coming soon)
    • Support: ISERP Seed Grant, CELSS Seed Grant

Pre-Doctoral Work

  • Erda, T. Do Remittances Boost Savings and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Thirty-Four Countries. Cornell Undergraduate Economics Review, Spring 2017, Vol. XXV, No. I, pp. 27-41.