Kathryn Cassavell McDonald

Working Papers

• Growth, Firm Scale, and the Energy Intensity of Production
  Working Paper  ·  2026
  with Noémie Pinardon-Touati and Conor Walsh
  We uncover a new mechanism linking economic growth and a decline in the energy intensity of production, observed globally since 1990. Using firm-level data from India and a causal research design, we show that the energy expenditure share, and thereby energy intensity, declines steeply with firm scale. Because average firm size increases with development, growth reduces the aggregate energy intensity of production. We develop a general equilibrium model of this mechanism, and find that it explains much of the recent decline in India’s energy intensity. Projecting forward, energy use in 2050 is about 50% lower than it would be without scale-dependent energy demand.
  PDF

Work in Progress

• Interest Rate Inattention and the Heterogeneous Transmission of Monetary Policy
  European Central Bank Lamfalussy Research Fellowship Award
  Vickrey Award for best 3rd year paper, Columbia University
• Uncertainty About Borrowing Constraints
  Harriss Award for best 2nd year paper (runner-up), Columbia University
• Economic Mobility, Returns to Effort and Narratives on the American Dream
  with Nicholas Zevanove
• Price versus Quality Dispersion in General Equilibrium
• Place-based Policy in Endogenous Production Networks
  with Xianglong Kong, Kieran Marray, Peter Öhlinger, and Ruochen Dai
  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minor Research Grant
• Trade Protectionism and Infant Industry Development: Evidence from the 1807 Jefferson Trade Embargo

Teaching Experience

• PhD Frontiers of Macroeconomics
  Teaching Assistant  ·  Columbia University, Economics Department  ·  Fall 2025
• PhD Macroeconomics I
  Teaching Assistant  ·  Columbia University, Economics Department  ·  Fall 2024
• Undergraduate Intermediate Macroeconomics
  Teaching Assistant  ·  Columbia University, Economics Department  ·  Spring 2024
• Undergraduate Development Economics
  Course Assistant  ·  New York University, Economics Department  ·  Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021
• Undergraduate International Economics
  Guest Lecturer  ·  Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business  ·  January 2018, 2019, 2020