Do Ordeals Work for Selection Markets? Evidence from Health Insurance Auto-Enrollment

By Mark Shepard and Myles Wagner

American Economic Review, March 2025

Are application hassles, or "ordeals," an effective way to limit public program enrollment? We provide new evidence by studying (removal of) an auto-enrollment policy for health insurance, adding an extra step to enroll. This minor ordeal has a major impa...

Hassle costs and take-up

[Research Highlight]

April 01, 2025

Is paperwork an effective way to limit public program enrollment?

ASSA 2022 Webcasts of Select AEA Sessions

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Call for Papers: Institutions, Trade and Economic Development (InsTED) Workshop

[News]

April 07, 2025

The submission deadline is May 1, 2025.

About the AEA

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Learn more about the America Economic Association (AEA)

Still too big to fail?

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How bank bailout expectations changed after the global financial crisis

Call for Proposals: 2025 PCAOB/Management Science Registered Reports Conference

[News]

January 23, 2025

The deadline for proposal submissions is May 15, 2025.

AEA Membership

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Join more than 17,000 of your colleagues who are committed to the advancement of economics and its enduring contributions to society.

Call for Applications: Financial Literacy Research Boot Camp 2025

[News]

March 12, 2025

April 30, 2025 is the application deadline.

Clean Identification? The Effects of the Clean Air Act on Air Pollution, Exposure Disparities, and House Prices

By Lutz Sager and Gregor Singer

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, February 2025

We assess the US Clean Air Act standards for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Using high-resolution data, we find that the 2005 regulation reduced PM2.5 levels by 0.4 μg/ m3 over five years, with larger effects in more po...

Reexamining air quality regulations

[Research Highlight]

April 15, 2025

Lutz Sager and Gregor Singer discuss the Clean Air Act and how to estimate its impact on air quality.

AEA Submission Portal Still Open for Sessions – Deadline Extended to April 20

[News]

April 16, 2025

View the AEA Member Announcement from April 16, 2025.

What Is a Barrier to Entry?

By R. Preston McAfee, Hugo M. Mialon, and Michael A. Williams

American Economic Review, May 2004

Susan M. Collins, Distinguished Fellow 2025

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Stefanie Stantcheva, Clark Medalist 2025

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American Economic Association Announces Award Recipients for 2025

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April 02, 2025

View recipients of the 2025 awards, including the Clark Medalist, Distinguished Fellows, and AEJ Best Paper Awards.

The 2025 AEJ Best Paper Awards Have Been Announced

[News]

April 02, 2025

Learn more about the papers chosen as the 2025 AEJ Best Papers.

American Economic Association Announces Award Recipients for 2025

[News]

April 21, 2025

View the AEA Member Announcement from April 22, 2025.

Working Remotely? Selection, Treatment, and the Market for Remote Work

By Natalia Emanuel and Emma Harrington

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, October 2024

How does remote work affect productivity and how productive are workers who choose remote jobs? We decompose these effects in a Fortune 500 firm. Before COVID-19, remote workers answered 12 percent fewer calls per hour than on-site workers. After offices ...

Earnings-Based Borrowing Constraints and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

By Thomas Drechsel

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, April 2023

Microeconomic evidence reveals a direct link between firms' current earnings and their access to debt. This paper studies macroeconomic implications of earnings-based borrowing constraints. In a macro model, firms with earnings-based constraints borrow mo...