Scroll down for links to my working papers and publications. For descriptions of some of my major ongoing research projects, please click here.
Submissions, revisions & working papers
C. Cotton, B. Hickman, and J. Price, Affirmative action and human capital investment: Evidence from a randomized field experiment, NBER Working Paper w20397 R&R Journal of Labor Economics
–press: Quartz, FiveThirtyEight and Chronicle of Higher Education
R. Boleslavsky, B. Carlin, and C. Cotton, Disincentive effects of evaluation
G. Canavire-Bacarreza, C. Cotton, M. Jetter, and A. Montoya Agudelo, Polarized Education Levels and Civil Unrest
R. Boleslavsky, B. Carlin, and C. Cotton, Competing for Capital: Auditing and Credibility in Financial Reporting, NBER working paper w23273
C. Cotton, B. Hickman, J. List, and J. Price, Productivity Versus Motivation: Using Field Experiments and Structural Econometrics to Better Understand Adolescent Human Capital Production
A. Nordstrom and C. Cotton, The impact of droughts on the education of at-risk youth in Zimbabwe
C. Cotton, E. Richter, J. Nanowski, and A. Nordstrom, An encouraging word: Providing information about the importance of girls’ education improves math performance
C. Cotton, B. Kashi, Z. Kurzawa, and N. Mazurkewich, The importance of health provider training for intervention success: Evidence from a prenatal supplement program in Bangladesh
C. Cotton, Z. Kurzawa, and F. Tremblay, Impact of high school employability and entrepreneurship training on the pursuit of higher education
Published & accepted articles
M. Agranov, C. Cotton, and C. Tergiman, Persistence of Power: Repeated multilateral bargaining with endogenous agenda setting authority, accepted, Journal of Public Economics
L. Corazzini, C. Cotton, and T. Reggiani, Delegation and coordination with multiple threshold public goods: experimental evidence, accepted, Experimental Economics
C. Cotton, F. McIntyre, A. Nordstrom, and J. Price, Correcting for bias in hot-hand analysis: An application to youth golf, Journal of Economic Psychology, 75b: 1-10, 2019.
C. Cotton and C. Li, Clueless Politicians: On Policymaker Incentives for Information Acquisition in a Model of Lobbying, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, 34: 425–456, 2018.
R. Boleslavsky and C. Cotton, Limited capacity in project selection: Competition through evidence production, Economic Theory, 65: 385-421, 2018.
R. Boleslavsky, C. Cotton, and H. Gurnani, Demonstrations and price competition in new product release, Management Science, 63: 2016-2026, 2017.
C. Cotton and A. Dellis, Informational lobbying and agenda distortion, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, 32: 762-793, 2016
–summary at Economics and Policy
C. Cotton, Competing for attention: Lobbying time-constrained politicians, Journal of Public Economic Theory, 18: 642–665, 2016
L. Corazzini, C. Cotton, and P. Valbonesi, Donor coordination in project funding: Evidence from a threshold public goods experiment, Journal of Public Economics, 128: 16-29, 2015
R. Boleslavsky and C. Cotton, Grading standards and education quality, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 7: 248-279, 2015
–press: AEA Research Highlight, VoxEU
R. Boleslavsky and C. Cotton, Information and extremism in elections, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 7:165-207, 2015
–press: Washington Post, International Business Times, Inverse, PsychCentral, Milenio, Discovery News
C. Cotton, C. Li, F. McIntyre, and J. Price, Which explanations for gender differences in competition are consistent with a simple theoretical model?, Journal of Behavioral & Experimental Economics, 59: 56-67, 2015
S. Campos, C. Cotton, and C. Li, Deterrence effects under Twombly: On the costs of increasing pleading standards in litigation, International Review of Law and Economics, 44: 61-71, 2015
C. Cotton and C. Li, Profiling, screening and criminal recruitment, Journal of Public Economic Theory, 17: 964-985, 2015
C. Cotton, Submission fees and response times in academic publishing, American Economic Review, 103(1): 501-09, 2013
C. Cotton, F. McIntyre, and J. Price, Gender differences in repeated competition: Evidence from school math contests, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 86: 52-66, 2013
–press: VoxEU, Forbes, Huffington Post
C. Cotton, Pay to play politics: Informational lobbying and contribution limits when money buys access, Journal of Public Economics, 96: 369-386, 2012
C. Cotton and C. Liu, 100 horsemen and the empty city: A game theoretic exploration of deception in Chinese military legend, Journal of Peace Research, 48(2): 217-223, 2011
–press: U.S. News & World Report
C. Cotton, Should we tax or cap political contributions? A lobbying model with policy favors and access, Journal of Public Economics, 93: 831-842, 2009 (lead article)
C. Cotton, Multiple bidding in auctions as bidders become confident of their private valuations, Economics Letters, 104(3): 148-150, 2009
