About

David Atkin is a Professor of Economics at Yale University, affiliated with the Yale Department of Economics. His research focuses on Development Economics and International Economics. His contact email is atkin@mit.edu. The page provides information about his role within the department and his research interests, but does not include additional biographical details or a detailed narrative of his background, key contributions, or specific research achievements.

Research topics

• Economics
• Social Science
• Political Science
• Sociology
• International economics
• Monetary economics
• Statistics
• Law
• Psychology
• Cognitive psychology
• Public economics
• Mathematics
• Social psychology
• Econometrics
• Microeconomics
• International trade
• Business
• Market economy

Selected publications

• Does Streaming Undermine Mainstreaming? Finding Common Cultural Ground in Divisive Times

  Social Sciences · 2026-02-25

  articleOpen access

  This study assesses whether the mainstreaming hypothesis, derived from cultivation frameworks developed during the mass audience era, remains operative in a digital media environment characterized by fragmenting media and cultural taste publics. In particular, we consider evolving conceptions of mainstreaming that stimulated our research questions and hypotheses in four surveys conducted from 2015 to 2024. We broaden our view of media to see if entertainment content—especially film genres—can provide common ground in attracting people with little else in common. Results suggest that such “cultural mainstreaming” may occur by providing common gratifications and impact global indictors of our lives—happiness, community attachment, feelings about our quality of life, and perceived cosmopoliteness. But the results are limited to a general adult population, not the younger students studied. The findings apply only to the general adult population and not to the younger student sample examined. Overall, the results indicate that the cultivation effect is relatively weak; the small number of significant relationships observed does not appear to exceed what might be expected by chance. Taken together, these findings suggest that mainstreaming and media influence operate as more complex processes in the digital era.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Is an emoji worth a thousand words in breaking the online spiral of silence? Cross-cultural comparisons of emoji use in online political discussion

  Information Communication & Society · 2025-11-24 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Globalization and the Ladder of Development: Pushed to the Top or Held at the Bottom?

  The Review of Economic Studies · 2025-08-25 · 13 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract We study the relationship between international trade and development in a model where countries differ in their capability, goods differ in their complexity, and capability growth is a function of a country’s pattern of specialization. Theoretically, we show that it is possible for international trade to increase capability growth in all countries and, in turn, to push all countries up the development ladder. This occurs if (i) shifting employment towards more complex sectors raises capability growth and if (ii) foreign competition is tougher in less complex sectors for all countries. Empirically, we provide causal evidence consistent with (i) using the entry of countries into the World Trade Organization as an instrumental variable for other countries’ patterns of specialization. The opposite of (ii), however, holds in the data. Through the lens of our model, these two empirical observations imply dynamic welfare losses from trade that are pervasive, albeit small for the median country. The same economic forces also suggest that the emergence of China has held back capability growth for a number of African countries who are pushed away from their most-complex sectors, which China exports, and into their least-complex sectors, which China imports.

  PublisherDOI

• Examining older adults’ vulnerability to online health scams: insights from routine activity theory

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2025-04-30 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Introduction: Online health fraud has emerged as a significant digital risk for older adults in China, leading to considerable financial losses. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying health fraud targeting and victimization among older adult populations, refining Routine Activity Theory (RAT) to account for the distinct stages of fraud exposure and victimization. Methods: A survey was conducted among retired individuals in July 2022. After removing incomplete responses, the final sample consisted of 471 participants. The survey assessed digital behavior patterns, exposure to promotional messages, health conditions, and fraud-related experiences. Results: The findings revealed that older adults who installed numerous mobile applications, frequently used social networking sites, and engaged in risky online behaviors were more likely to be targeted by health fraud. Additionally, exposure to promotional messages-both online and offline-and the presence of chronic diseases were significantly associated with increased fraud exposure. Regarding victimization, younger family intervention was found to mitigate financial losses, whereas older adults with limited digital protection skills experienced a higher likelihood of falling victim after exposure. Discussion: This study refines the Routine Activity Theory by conceptualizing online health fraud as a two-stage process: exposure and victimization. The results highlight both digital behavior and offline contextual factors in shaping fraud vulnerability among older adults. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of cybercrime targeting the older adult and offer practical insights for designing preventive interventions tailored to this vulnerable population.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ideological Beliefs and Internalized Beauty Ideals as Predictors of Aesthetic Labor Among Chinese Feminists

  Sex Roles · 2025-08-20 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Reducing Carbon Emissions while Boosting Growth: an Experiment with Turkish Manufacturing Firms

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2024-01-05

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• A Meta-Analysis into the Influence of Multi-Screening on Enjoyment

  Media Psychology · 2024-09-15 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Reducing Carbon Emissions while Boosting Growth: an Experiment with Turkish Manufacturing Firms

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2024-01-05

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• Reducing Carbon Emissions while Boosting Growth: an Experiment with Turkish Manufacturing Firms

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2024-01-05

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• Trade Barriers and Market Power: Evidence from Argentina's Discretionary Import Restrictions

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024 · 7 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • International economics
  • Business
  • International trade
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Treb Allen

  Dartmouth College

  85 shared

• Amit Khandelwal

  Yale University

  76 shared

• Leo W. Jeffres

  Cleveland State University

  51 shared

• Kimberly A. Neuendorf

  Cleveland State University

  47 shared

• Eric Verhoogen

  43 shared

• Arnaud Costinot

  39 shared

• Masao Fukui

  Cambridge Econometrics (United Kingdom)

  37 shared

• Azam Chaudhry

  37 shared