About Me
I am an economist working at the intersection of spatial/urban and cultural economics, with a strong emphasis on economic history and causal inference. My work studies how perceptions and cultural environments shape development, housing markets, social connectedness, and political outcomes.
PhD in Economics, UCLA Anderson. Currently Visiting Academic & Guest Teacher at the London School of Economics (Economic History).
Research
Research Agenda
Using applied-micro tools, I study how cultural change and perceived space affect socioeconomic mobility, spatial development, and politics. My dissertation spans 1930s London, late-20th-century U.S. religion, and 1960s cultural backlash.
Mind the Map: How the 1933 Tube Diagram Shaped London (JMP)
I exploit the 1933 London Tube Diagram as a natural experiment in perceived geography. Stations made to appear closer to the center saw more 1930s housing development, higher list prices, and greater newspaper attention. I assemble new data using manual, ML, and AI pipelines and estimate effects with appropriate continuous-treatment estimators.
Paper Slides Dissertation Chapter
Worshiping Alone: Religious Networks and Social Connections
Using blue-law repeals as a shock to religious participation, I show declines in cross-class economic connectedness, concentrated in high-adherence and evangelical counties.
Moral Panics and Electoral Backlash: Evidence from Beatlemania
Counties where newspapers framed the Beatles with “hysteria/craze/frenzy” swung more Republican from 1962 to 1964, consistent with backlash to cultural moral panics.
Teaching
At LSE (current)
- EH427 Time Series & Spatial Econometrics (MSc), Guest Teacher / Lecturer, 2025
At UCLA
- MGMT 405 Economic Analysis for Managers, Head TA (6 sections), 2024
- MGMT 458 Global Immersion, TA (Voigtländer), 2024
- MGMT 180-1 Entertainment Business Models, TA (Sood), 2024
- MGMT 180-2 Entertainment Marketing, TA (Sood), 2024
- MGMT 405 Economic Analysis for Managers, TA (Voigtländer), 2021–2023
- MGMT 298 Global Trends, TA (Wacziarg), 2023
- MGMTSA 412 Business Analytics Capstone, TA (Zeithammer), 2023
- MGMTEX 421 International Business Residency, TA (Voigtländer), 2022–2024
Contact
Email: logan.spencer.phd@anderson.ucla.edu
Office: LSE (Economic History) · Previously Anderson School of Management, UCLA
For working papers, data, and code, see the links above.