Research

My research focuses on causal identification strategies to understand how large economic shocks shape regional economies and labor markets. The setting of my research is primarily centered on the Florida context.

Conference Presentations

This year I had the great opportunity to present my research at the Southern Regional Science Association (SRSA), the conference program can be found here.

Martin, G.E. (2026, March). The Impact of Hurricane Ian on the Unemployment Rate: Evidence from Lee County, FL. Paper presented at the Southern Regional Science Association (SRSA), Louisville, KY.

_{ABSTRACT. Lee County, Florida was devastated by Hurricane Ian on September 28, 2022, with an estimated $3.22 billion in property damage. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Local Area Unemployment Statistics, county-level controls, and a synthetic Lee County counterfactual, this paper found a 1.7 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate a month after impact, and the unemployment rate remained elevated until September 2023. These results contribute evidence of the short-term impacts of hurricanes on local labor markets, contributing to both the labor economics literature and the natural disaster literature.}