Felix Samy Soliman
I am a PhD student in Economics at the
University of Zurich.
My research focuses on macroeconomics, environmental economics, and trade.
I will join Stanford GSB as a Postdoc (AY 2026-2027) before starting as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick.
You can download my CV
here. Feel free to
reach me at
felix.samysoliman@econ.uzh.ch.
Papers
Job Market Paper
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Capital Replacement and the Demand for Clean Technology – 2025
PDF |
Abstract
I study why clean technologies are adopted slowly and how slow adoption undermines clean innovation. Using an event study around large energy price swings, I provide evidence that industries with short-lived assets see greater increases in energy efficiency and green patenting, consistent with lock-in among users of long-lived assets. To assess policy implications for the green transition, I embed the feedback between irreversible investment and energy saving innovation in an integrated assessment model. Slow adoption delays the pass-through of clean innovation to energy demand relative to benchmark models. The sluggish uptake of innovation justifies higher carbon taxes if the social cost of carbon rises with cumulative emissions. These higher taxes decrease investment, which negatively affects R\&D incentives, further limiting the power of green innovation in facilitating emissions reductions in the short to medium run. Replacement subsidies can partially substitute for carbon taxes. Uniform subsidies improve fuel efficiency but raise emissions via scale effects. Redirecting these subsidies to electrification is a more effective second best when the electricity mix is sufficiently clean.
Working Papers
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Slack and Economic Development – 2025
PDF | Reject & Resubmit Journal of Political Economy
Abstract
Slack – the underutilization of factors of production – varies systematically with economic development. Using novel firm-level measures from Kenya, we show that utilization is increasing in firm size and market access. We present a model where indivisibility of inputs leads to endogenous steady-state slack and elastic aggregate supply. We empirically validate model predictions against the general equilibrium effects of cash transfers from a large-scale RCT. Consistent with the evidence, the calibrated model predicts a real multiplier of 1.6 and limited in- flation. The findings suggest that input indivisibilities and slack are quantitatively important for macroeconomic dynamics in developing countries.
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The Geographic Leakages of Environmental Regulations: Evidence from the Clean Air Act – 2025
PDF |
Abstract
How large is geographic leakage resulting from place-based environmental policy? We study this question in the context of the landmark US Clean Air Act Amendments. Our paper makes three primary contributions. First, using modern event-study tech- niques and confidential US Census data, we revisit seminal results characterizing the effects of this environmental regulation on directly regulated plants and industries. Second, we extend prior research by quantifying leakage to unregulated regions and identifying multi-unit firm networks as a key conduit for this leakage. Third, we in- tegrate these findings into an industry spatial equilibrium model that captures both within-firm and cross-location leakage. The model quantifies the economic cost of the regulation, evaluates the contribution of multi-unit firms to regional leakage, and high- lights the role of the Clean Air Act in redistributing industrial production across the US. Our analysis reveals that approximately 40% of the geographic leakage we observe is driven by within-firm reallocation, highlighting the critical role of multi-unit firms in shifting economic activity across regions.
Publications
- Democratization, Contracts and Comparative advantage – 2018