Twisha Asher
Twisha Asher
I earned my PhD in economics at the CUNY Graduate Center in February 2026. My expertise is in applied microeconomics and causal inference. I am interested in topics related to wealth inequality and household well-being.
My dissertation is titled "Essays on Inheritance: Household Finances, Labor Supply, and Tax Policies", which I have worked on under the supervision of my advisor, Prof. Miles Corak.
Research
Job Market Paper
The Effects of Gifts and Inheritances on Consumption, Homeownership, and Wealth
Presented at UMass Amherst (March 2026), the PAA Annual Meeting (July 2026), and the 39th IARIW Conference (Aug 2026)
Scheduled for oral presentation at the PSID Annual User Conference 2026
Abstract: Americans aged 70 and over own about a third of U.S. wealth, much of which will transfer to younger households over the next decade. However, comprehensive causal evidence explaining how households allocate gifts and inheritances remains absent. In this study, I use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1997–2023) and a modern Difference-in-Differences estimator to assess the effects of such transfers on household finances. I find that households most commonly spend transfers on durable goods expenditures (such as home repairs), which increase by up to $8,200 in the year of receipt across the income and wealth distributions. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that $10.6 billion is spent on durable goods annually due to inheritances alone.
Publications
Wealth Composition, Distribution, and Transmission: The GC Wealth Project
Scientific Data, 2026
with Maximilian Longmuir, Franziska Disslbacher, Frincasco Di Biase, Giacomo Rella, Francesca Subioli, Adam Rego Johnson, Severin Rapp, Matteo Targa, Salvatore Morelli, Manuel Schechtl, Luca Giangregorio, Ignacio Flores
Post-Pandemic Changes in Household Food Expenditure: Heterogeneity by Income
Accepted at the Economics Bulletin, Forthcoming
Accepted for Poster Session at PAA 2026
Nursing Facilities, Food Manufacturing Plants and COVID-19 Cases and Deaths
Economics Letters, 2021
with Partha Deb and Anjelica Gangaram
Working Papers
Inheritance Tax Around the Globe Over Two Centuries: Revenue and Distributional Implications
Submitted to the Review of Economic Studies
with Salvatore Morelli, Luca Giangregorio, Manuel Schechtl, Francesca Subioli
The GC Wealth Project Data Warehouse v.1.2 – Documentation
Stone Center Working Paper Series no. 99, 2024
with Maximilian Longmuir, Franziska Disslbacher, Frincasco Di Biase, Giacomo Rella, Francesca Subioli, Adam Rego Johnson, Severin Rapp, Matteo Targa, Salvatore Morelli, Manuel Schechtl, Luca Giangregorio, Ignacio Flores
The GC Wealth Project Data Warehouse v.1 - Documentation
Stone Center Working Paper Series no. 75, 2023
with Salvatore Morelli, Frincasco Di Biase, Franziska Disslbacher, Ignacio Flores, Adam Rego Johnson, Giacomo Rella, Manuel Schechtl, Francesca Subioli, Matteo Targa
Work in Progress
The Evolution of Federal and State-Level Wealth Transfer Tax Policies in the U.S.
Preparing for submission to the Economic History Review
Inheritance and Labor Supply: A Replication and Two Extensions
PPreparing for submission to the Journal of Comments and Replications in Economics
Overview of Major Estate Tax Revenue Estimation Models
Preparing for submission to the International Journal of Microsimulation
Background
I am primarily an applied microeconomist with experience in quasi-experimental design and staggered treatment timing. I study the effects of economic shocks on household finances and well-being. I have also worked with estate tax policies and health economics.
As a researcher at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, I built a cross-country and cross-state database (historical panel) on estate, inheritance, and gift taxes taxes in collaboration with Dr. Salvatore Morelli (Director of the G.C. Wealth Project).
While working as a Substitute Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College for the 2024-2025 academic year, I helped evaluate the impacts of medical interventions on sepsis-related mortality. I also taught two courses a semester of ECO 321: Introduction to Econometrics.
