The Douglass North Best Book Award
Monika Nalepa, "After Authoritarianism"
The committee recognized that the book provides an important institutional perspective on transitional justice mechanisms. Nalepa identifies two distinct institutional approaches: purging authoritarian regime members from government, and uncovering collaborators through transparency mechanisms like truth commissions and lustration.
The award citation notes that "new democracies embarking on transitional justice ought to tread lightly when it comes to purging their anciens régimes of known collaborators," while transparency mechanisms can be employed more expansively when addressing secret collaboration.
The Ronald H. Coase Dissertation Award
Virginia Minni, "Essays on the Allocation, Coordination, and Selection of Workers" (London School of Economics)
The committee highlighted three major contributions:
Worker Allocation: Using data from 200,000 workers and 30,000 managers across 100 countries over a decade, Minni demonstrated that high-performing managers significantly improve worker productivity and career trajectories through better labor-job fit matching.
Organizational Leadership: Field experiments with Myanmar labor unions showed union leaders coordinate worker expectations and consolidate consensus around organizational priorities.
Labor Force Participation: Administrative data from multinational firms revealed determinants of gender differences in workforce participation across countries.
Honorable Mentions:
- Martin Castillo-Quintana (New York University, Department of Politics): Three essays on the political economy of organized crime
- Deniz Sanin (Georgetown University, Department of Economics): Essays in development, labor, and gender economics
The Oliver E. Williamson Best Conference Paper Award
Jacob Kohlhepp (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), "The Inner Beauty of Firms"
Using beauty salon data, Kohlhepp examined how worker specialization affects firm productivity and coordination costs. The paper demonstrates that understanding productivity effects requires accounting for reorganization costs alongside market shocks.