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作者：Cantoni, Enrico
作者单位：University of Bologna
摘要：I study the effects of voting costs-specifically, distance to polling location-using geographic discontinuities. Opposite sides of boundaries between voting precincts are observationally identical, except for their assigned polling locations. This discontinuous assignment produces sharp changes in voters' travel distance to cast their ballots. In nine municipalities in Massachusetts and Minnesota, a 1 standard deviation (0.245 mile) increase in distance reduces ballots cast by 2 to 5 percent a...
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作者：Gerber, Alan; Hoffman, Mitchell; Morgan, John; Raymond, Collin
作者单位：Yale University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Toronto; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Purdue University System; Purdue University
摘要：During the 2010 gubernatorial elections, we elicit voter beliefs about the closeness of the election before and after showing different polls, which, depending on treatment, indicate a close or not-close race. Subjects update their beliefs in response to polls, but overestimate the probability of a very close election. However, turnout is unaffected by beliefs about election closeness. A follow-up RCT, conducted during the 2014 gubernatorial elections at much larger scale, also points to littl...
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作者：Bohlmark, Anders; Willen, Alexander
作者单位：Stockholm University; Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)
摘要：We analyze how neighborhood ethnic population composition affects the short- and long-run education and labor market outcomes of natives and immigrants. To overcome the problem of nonrandom sorting across neighborhoods, we borrow theoretical insights from the tipping point literature and exploit estimated tipping thresholds as instruments for changes in ethnic population composition. Our results provide little evidence in support of the idea that living in a neighborhood with a higher immigran...
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作者：del Valle, Alejandro; de Janvry, Alain; Sadoulet, Elisabeth
作者单位：University System of Georgia; Georgia State University; University of California System; University of California Berkeley
摘要：Government provision of disaster transfers is typically hampered by liquidity constraints and by weak rules and administrative capacity to disburse reconstruction resources. We show that by easing these hurdles, Mexico's indexed disaster fund (Fonden) considerably accelerates economic recovery after a disaster. To estimate Fonden impact on recovery, as measured by night lights, we exploit the heavy rainfall index that determines program eligibility. We find that for one year after a disaster, ...
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作者：Ward, Zachary
作者单位：Baylor University
摘要：How persistent are economic gaps across ethnicities? The convergence of ethnic gaps through the third generation of immigrants is difficult to measure because few datasets include grandparental birthplace. I overcome this limitation with a new three-generational dataset that links immigrant grandfathers in 1880 to their grandsons in 1940. I find that the persistence of ethnic gaps in occupational income is 2.5 times stronger than predicted by a standard grandfather-grandson elasticity. While p...
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作者：Zeltzer, Dan
作者单位：Tel Aviv University
摘要：I assess the extent to which the gender gap in physician earnings may be driven by physicians' preference for referring to specialists of the same gender. Analyzing administrative data on 100 million Medicare patient referrals, I provide robust evidence that doctors refer more to specialists of their own gender. I show that biased referrals are predominantly driven by physicians' decisions rather than by endogenous sorting of physicians or patients. Because most referring doctors are male, the...
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作者：Feng, Josh; Jaravel, Xavier
作者单位：National Bureau of Economic Research; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
摘要：We show that examiner-driven variation in patent rights leads to quantitatively large impacts on several patent outcomes, including patent value, citations, and litigation. Notably, Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) overwhelmingly purchase patents granted by lenient examiners. These examiners issue patents that are more likely to be litigated by both PAEs and conventional companies, and that also have higher invalidity rates. PAEs leverage a specific friction in the patent system that stems fro...
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作者：Drago, Francesco; Mengel, Friederike; Traxler, Christian
作者单位：University of Catania; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; University of Essex; Lund University; Hertie School
摘要：This paper studies the spread of compliance behavior in neighborhood networks in Austria. We exploit a field experiment that varied the content of mailings sent to potential evaders of TV license fees. The data reveal a strong treatment spillover: untreated households are more likely to switch from evasion to compliance in response to mailings received by their network neighbors. Digging deeper into the properties of the spillover, we find that it is concentrated among close neighbors of the t...
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作者：Carey, Colleen M.; Miller, Sarah; Wherry, Laura R.
作者单位：Cornell University; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; New York University
摘要：Some states have not adopted the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions due to concerns that the expansions may impair access to care and utilization for those who are already insured. We investigate such negative spillovers using a large panel of Medicare beneficiaries. Across many subgroups and outcomes, we find no evidence that the expansions reduced utilization among Medicare beneficiaries and can rule out all but very small changes in utilization or spending. These results indicate...
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作者：Myers, Kyle
作者单位：Harvard University
摘要：This paper identifies the degree to which scientists are willing to change the direction of their work in exchange for resources. Data from the National Institutes of Health are used to estimate how scientists respond to targeted funding opportunities. Inducing a scientist to change their direction by a small amount - to work on marginally different topics - requires a substantial amount of funding in expectation. The switching costs of science are large. The productivity of grants is also est...
