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作者：Cabral, Marika; Mahoney, Neale
作者单位：University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; National Bureau of Economic Research
摘要：Most health insurance uses cost-sharing to reduce excess utilization. Supplemental insurance can blunt the impact of this cost-sharing, increasing utilization and exerting a negative externality on the primary insurer. This paper estimates the effect of private Medigap supplemental insurance on public Medicare spending using Medigap premium discontinuities in local medical markets that span state boundaries. Using administrative data on the universe of Medicare beneficiaries, we estimate that ...
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作者：Himmler, Oliver; Jaeckle, Robert; Weinschenk, Philipp
作者单位：University of Erfurt; Max Planck Society
摘要：We provide first evidence that a soft commitment device enhances progress in education and, more generally, improves the completion of complex tasks-such as passing exams. In our field experiment, students can sign a nonbinding agreement and commit to staying on track for graduation. We find that those who were offered the soft commitment device are more likely to sign up for, take part in, and pass exams. A pure reminder treatment does not change behavior, which suggests that the effects are ...
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作者：Campante, Filipe R.; Quoc-Anh Do; Guimaraes, Bernardo
作者单位：Johns Hopkins University; Johns Hopkins University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Institut d'Etudes Politiques Paris (Sciences Po); Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
摘要：We investigate the links between capital cities, conflict, and the quality of governance, starting from the assumption that incumbent elites are constrained by the threat of insurrection, and that the latter is rendered less effective by distance from the seat of political power. We show evidence that (i) conflict is more likely to emerge (and dislodge incumbents) closer to the capital, and (ii) isolated capitals are associated with misgovernance. The results hold only for relatively nondemocr...
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作者：Allcott, Hunt; Kessler, Judd B.
作者单位：New York University; National Bureau of Economic Research; National Bureau of Economic Research
摘要：Nudge-style interventions are often deemed successful if they generate large behavior change at low cost, but they are rarely subjected to full social welfare evaluations. We combine a field experiment with a simple theoretical framework to evaluate the welfare effects of one especially policy-relevant intervention, home energy social comparison reports. In our sample, the reports increase social welfare, although traditional evaluation approaches overstate gains because they ignore significan...
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作者：Chang, Tom Y.; Zivin, Joshua Graff; Gross, Tal; Neidell, Matthew
作者单位：University of Southern California; University of California System; University of California San Diego; National Bureau of Economic Research; Boston University; Columbia University
摘要：We investigate the effect of pollution on worker productivity in the service sector by focusing on two call centers in China. Using precise measures of each worker's daily output linked to daily measures of pollution and meteorology, we find that higher levels of air pollution decrease worker productivity. These results manifest themselves at levels of pollution commonly found in large cities throughout the developing and developed world.
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作者：Deserranno, Erika; Stryjan, Miri; Sulaiman, Munshi
作者单位：Northwestern University; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
摘要：In developing countries, NGOs and governments often rely on local groups for the delivery of financial and public services. This paper studies how the design of rules used for group leader selection affects leader identity and shapes service delivery. To do so, we randomly assign newly formed savings and loan groups to select their leaders using either a public discussion procedure or a private vote procedure. Leaders selected with a private vote are found to be less positively selected on soc...
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作者：de Mel, Suresh; McKenzie, David; Woodruff, Christopher
作者单位：University of Peradeniya; The World Bank; University of Oxford
摘要：A field experiment in Sri Lanka provided wage subsidies to randomly chosen microenterprises to test whether hiring additional labor benefits such firms and whether a short-term subsidy can have a lasting impact on firm employment. Using 12 rounds of surveys to track dynamics 4 years after treatment, we find that firms increased employment during the subsidy period. Treated firms were more likely to survive, but there was no lasting impact on employment and no effect on profitability or sales e...
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作者：Kleven, Henrik; Landais, Camille; Sogaard, Jakob Egholt
作者单位：Princeton University; Princeton University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of Copenhagen
摘要：Using Danish administrative data, we study the impacts of children on gender inequality in the labor market. The arrival of children creates a long-run gender gap in earnings of around 20 percent driven by hours worked, participation, and wage rates. We identify mechanisms driving these child penalties in terms of occupation, sector, and firm choices. We find that the fraction of gender inequality caused by child penalties has featured a dramatic increase over the last three to four decades. F...
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作者：Denning, Jeffrey T.; Marx, Benjamin M.; Turner, Lesley J.
作者单位：Brigham Young University; IZA Institute Labor Economics; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Bureau of Economic Research; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut
摘要：We estimate effects of the Pell Grant-the largest US federal grant for college students-using administrative data from Texas public colleges and a discontinuity in grant generosity for low-income students. Within four-year institutions, eligibility for additional grant aid significantly increases first-time students' degree completion and later earnings. Our estimated impacts on earnings alone are enough to fully recoup government expenditures within 10 years, suggesting that financial aid lik...
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作者：Celhay, Pablo A.; Gertler, Paul J.; Giovagnoli, Paula; Vermeersch, Christel
作者单位：Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; The World Bank; The World Bank
摘要：We show that costs of adjustment as opposed to low perceived value may explain why improved quality care practices diffuse slowly in the medical industry. Using a randomized field experiment conducted in Argentina, we find that temporary financial incentives paid to health clinics for the early initiation of prenatal care motivated providers to test and develop new strategies to locate and encourage pregnant women to seek care in the first trimester of pregnancy. These innovations raised the r...
