Federal Statistical System

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The 13 principal U.S. statistical agencies and their coordination

Under the cover of disaster

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In the immediate aftermath of natural disasters, members of Congress become more likely to adopt the positions of special interest donors.

Reexamining the Contribution of Public Health Efforts to the Decline in Urban Mortality

By D. Mark Anderson, Kerwin Kofi Charles, and Daniel I. Rees

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, April 2022

Using data on 25 major American cities for the period 1900⁠–⁠1940, we explore the effects of municipal-level public health efforts that were viewed as critical in the fight against foodborne and waterborne diseases. In addition to studying intervent...

Reexamining the Contribution of Public Health Efforts to the Decline in Urban Mortality: Comment

By David M. Cutler and Grant Miller

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, April 2022

We address points raised by Anderson, Charles, and Rees (2022), which comments on our prior work. After correcting unambiguous data mistakes, our revised estimates suggest that municipal water disinfection (filtration) explains 38 percent of the total mor...

Reexamining the Contribution of Public Health Efforts to the Decline in Urban Mortality: Reply

By D. Mark Anderson, Kerwin Kofi Charles, and Daniel I. Rees

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, April 2022

This rejoinder is written in response to the comment by Cutler and Miller (hereafter CM) on our paper, "Reexamining the Contribution of Public Health Efforts to the Decline in Urban Mortality" (Anderson, Charles, and Rees 2022). In their comment, CM ackno...

Don't miss the AEA sessions on how research can inform policy at ASSA 2026!

[News]

September 04, 2025

What Drives the Recent Surge in Inflation? The Historical Decomposition Roller Coaster

By Drago Bergholt, Fabio Canova, Francesco Furlanetto, Nicolò Maffei-Faccioli, and Pål Ulvedal

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics

What drives the recent inflation surge? To answer this question, one must decompose inflation fluctuations into the contribution of structural shocks. We document how whimsical an historical shock decomposition can be in standard vector autoregressive ...

Adjustable Product Attributes, Indirect Network Effects, And Subsidy Design: The Case of Electric Vehicles

By Kevin Remmy

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

This paper develops a structural model of endogenous product attribute choice in the presence of indirect network effects to study electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. Using data on the German EV market, I find that a support scheme almost doubled EV sales...

Guaranteed Employment in Rural India: Intra-Household Labor and Resource Allocation Consequences

By Jorge Luis García

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

I investigate the intra-household labor and resource allocation consequences of an employment guarantee targeting rural households in India. The guarantee insures household earnings, replacing women as added workers and shutting down a motive for savin...

The Welfare Effects of Eligibility Expansions: Theory and Evidence from SNAP

By Jenna Anders and Charlie Rafkin

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

We study how eligibility expansions in the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program affect take-up among previously eligible households and social welfare. Using an event study with administrative take-up data, we document a “woodwork effect”:...

Inclusive Teaching: Spotting Social Isolation in the Classroom

By Sule Alan, Michela Carlana, and Marinella Leone

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

We evaluate an intervention aimed at addressing social isolation in classrooms. The treatment provides teachers with their students’ social networks and information on developmental risks associated with social exclusion. Using friendship data and in...

Cooking, Health, and Daily Exposure to Pollution Spikes

By Susanna B. Berkouwer and Joshua T. Dean

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

Many routine daily activities—such as cooking and commuting—cause large recurring pollution spikes that may impact health without significantly affecting average exposure. We study pollution spikes by combining experimental variation in cooking tec...

A Guide to the Job Market for New Economics PhDs

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Watch A Guide to the Job Market for New Economics PhDs (2025)

The Theory of Financial Stability Meets Reality: A Unifying Framework for Bank Regulation and Accounting Discretion

By Nina Boyarchenko, Kinda Hachem, and Anya Kleymenova

Journal of Economic Literature

A large literature at the intersection of economics and finance offers prescriptions for regulating banks to increase financial stability. This literature abstracts from the discretion that accounting standards give banks over financial reporting, creatin...

Which Reference Groups Matter and How? A Relative Income Information Experiment with Administrative Data

By Xiaogeng Xu, Satu Metsälampi, Michael Kirchler, Kaisa Kotakorpi, Peter Hans Matthews, and Topi Miettinen

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Call for nominations for CSWEP’s Carolyn Shaw Bell Award

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April 21, 2025

Nominations are due by September 19, 2025.

Call for nominations for CSWEP’s Elaine Bennett Research Prize

[News]

April 21, 2025

Nominations are due by September 19, 2025.

Tax breaks and the composition of religious markets

[Research Highlight]

September 19, 2025

The effect of tax exemptions on Brazil's religious and political landscape.

Long Wars

By Sandeep Baliga and Tomas Sjöström

American Economic Review: Insights

We study whether the Coase conjecture holds for bargaining during war. Two players, A and B, contest a divisible resource until one side collapses or agreement is reached. If player B is militarily strong then he insists on getting a large share. Howev...