Research Papers

We developed a theory of social class based on workplace ownership and authority relations and examined its link to growth in personal income inequality since the 1980s.

We aimed to establish a theoretical framework linking social class to income inequality trends and empirically investigate these dynamics over time. By focusing on between-class income differences, class size variations, and income dispersion within classes, we sought to identify key factors driving the growth in personal income inequality.

Our findings reveal a significant increase of about 60% in between-class income differences since the 1980s, with the relative size of different social classes remaining stable. Decomposition analysis indicates that these income differences substantially contributed to rising personal income inequality, underscoring the importance of class-based perspectives in understanding economic disparities.

We examined the impact of verbal ability on racial attitudes, including anti-black prejudice, beliefs about racial equality in principle, and support for racial policies.

We aimed to test competing theories about the role of cognitive abilities in shaping racial attitudes. Specifically, we assessed whether higher verbal ability fosters genuine racial tolerance and support for equality or merely facilitates a refined, yet ultimately supportive, ideology that maintains racial inequalities.

Our findings indicate that high-verbal-ability whites are less likely to hold prejudiced attitudes and more likely to support racial equality in principle. However, they are not more inclined to support policies aimed at addressing racial inequality, suggesting that while verbal ability contributes to ideological refinement that rejects overt prejudice, it does not translate into support for substantive policies.

We investigated the impact of “shall-issue” right-to-carry laws, which guarantee concealed carry permits to qualified applicants, on violent and property crime rates.

Our findings can inform policy decisions on gun control and potential consequences of changes to gun laws.

We contribute to ongoing debates about gun violence and provide nuanced evidence on the complex relationship between gun laws and crime rates.

We investigated how the timing of exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods during childhood versus adolescence affects high school graduation and if these effects differ by family income. Tracking 6,137 children from the PSID from childhood through adolescence, we used a structural nested mean model via two-stage regression with residuals to address the joint endogeneity of neighborhood context and family income.

We aimed to understand the nuanced effects of disadvantaged neighborhoods on educational outcomes, considering that these effects might vary depending on the timing of exposure and family economic resources. By identifying critical periods and vulnerable populations, we sought to inform targeted interventions and policies to mitigate the negative impacts of disadvantaged neighborhoods on children’s education.

We find that exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods, especially during adolescence, negatively impacts high school graduation rates, particularly for children from poor families. This emphasizes the need for policy interventions addressing neighborhood disadvantage and economic support for families, particularly during critical developmental periods, to improve educational outcomes and promote social mobility.

We critically examined Thomas Piketty’s book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” and its arguments about rising wealth inequality.

We wanted to provide an alternative perspective on wealth inequality and assess the validity of Piketty’s claims and policy prescriptions.

We offer a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate about wealth inequality and challenges some of Piketty’s central arguments.

We examined the exclusion restriction assumption in interpreting IV estimates as a local average treatment effect (LATE) and highlighted cases where this assumption may be violated among inframarginal agents.

We aimed to identify and address potential biases in IV estimates due to violations of the exclusion restriction, which can affect the validity of LATE interpretations, especially among always- and never-takers.

Our findings underscore the need for careful consideration and potential adjustments in IV estimates to ensure accurate interpretations, thereby improving the reliability of econometric analyses involving heterogeneous treatment effects.

We proposed a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of policies in the face of model uncertainty, where different economic models may yield conflicting predictions.

Our goal was to address challenges in policy evaluation when relying on models with inherent limitations and improve the reliability of policy recommendations.

We offer a novel approach to policy evaluation that acknowledges model uncertainty and promotes robust, evidence-based policy decisions.

We conducted a field experiment to test theories of time-inconsistency, specifically the “Beta-Delta” model of present bias, in the context of saving decisions made by low-income tax filers.

We aimed to understand how present-biased preferences influence the decision to deposit tax refunds into illiquid accounts, providing insights into the tradeoff between immediate and delayed payments.

Our findings provide evidence of significant present bias in financial decisions, with an estimated annual discount rate of 164%, offering valuable implications for designing policies and interventions to encourage saving among low-income individuals.

We introduced and analyzed linear social interactions models, which capture how individual decisions are influenced by the behavior of others in their social networks.

Our goal was to understand the dynamics of social interactions and their impact on economic phenomena like cultural diffusion and collective behavior.

We provide a powerful tool for analyzing social interactions and their consequences for various economic and social issues.

We explored the limitations of dynamic policy analysis, which uses models to evaluate the long-term effects of policy changes.

We aimed to understand the challenges of using models for long-term forecasting and policy planning in a complex and evolving economic environment.

We raise important concerns about the limitations of models and emphasize the need for caution in relying on them for long-term policy decisions.