Ebad Ebadi
PhD Candidate in Economics
George Washington University
Welcome
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at George Washington University. My main research interests are international economics, economic development, labor economics, and applied econometrics. Currently, I am working on the impact of critical policy issues, like economic sanctions and policy reforms, on firms and individuals in developing countries. In particular, I am examining the impact of policy shocks on women in low and middle-income labor markets. Before joining George Washington University, I have taught at the University of Teran and worked for private and policy-making institutions. I received M.Sc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2014, and a BSc in Econ as well as an MSc Econ with distinction from the University of Tehran.
Job market paper
Adapting to Sanctions: Evidence from Firm Response and Market Reallocation in Iran
Abstract: How do targeted firms respond to international trade sanctions? While the macroeconomic effect of trade sanctions has been extensively studied, little is known about how trade sanctions shape firm dynamics and their asymmetric effects in a targeted country. Exploring detailed Iranian manufacturing firm surveys, I examine microeconomic effects of the 2012-2013 U.S. and EU trade sanctions against Iran due to Iran’s nuclear program. Empirical analysis shows that the sanctions cut Iranian firms’ exports in half and imports by over 30 percent and, on average, reduced firm-level productivity, profit, revenue, and employment. However, intriguingly, exporting firms were found to mitigate negative effects of sanctions through increased presence in the domestic market, transferring sanction shocks to non-exporting firms. At the same time, importing firms responded to sanctions by sourcing more domestic inputs at the expense of non-importing firms. Based on a stylized model featuring heterogeneous firms with capacity constraints, I show that the export sanctions increased consumer welfare by 4.35 percent by decreasing domestic prices for a given income level. In contrast, import sanctions led to a 7.5 percent consumer welfare loss by increasing prices. The stylized model implies alleviating exporting firm capacity constraints during adverse trade shocks increases positive impacts through export channels.
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