Anya Marchenko

Welcome! I am a third-year PhD student in Economics at Brown University. I received my BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Chicago and am supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

My research interests lie in applied microeconomics.

During 2023 — 2024, I served as the President of the Economics Graduate Student Association at Brown.

Working Papers

Firm location, childcare, and the gender profit gap
(with Solène Delecourt, Anne Fitzpatrick, Layna Lowe)
R&R at Strategic Management Journal
Abstract There is a significant gender profit gap among small firms in developing countries. How do a firm's initial conditions contribute to this disparity? If men and women start different businesses – operating in different locations or sectors – and those initial conditions are hard to change, it could limit overall profitability for women. In our representative sample of 3,077 businesses in Kenya, women's profits are 47% lower than men's. We identify two initial and sticky conditions contributing to this gap. First, women locate their businesses in less profitable locations, closer to home. Second, women operate in crowded sectors, whereas men are over five times more likely to be monopolists than women. These constraints are more binding for women with greater childcare responsibilities, emphasizing the importance of initial conditions in perpetuating the gender profit gap.

Publications

The impact of host race and gender on prices on Airbnb
Journal of Housing Economics, 2019
Abstract This study investigates the impact of host race and gender on Airbnb property prices. I use an existing dataset of Airbnb listings and visually inspect 70,000 host profile pictures to code host demographics. I estimate that Asian hosts earn 4–5%, and Black male hosts 3%, less than White males for the same type of property. However, controlling for more observables weakens the effects, requiring a cautious interpretation of these point estimates. I use two proxies for the number of bookings a listing has to estimate whether a demand or supply shift is responsible for the price disparity. I find that despite the lower prices they charge for listings, minority hosts face lower demand. These findings are consistent with, but not conclusive of, the presence of discrimination.