Despite the large costs of covering flood losses, little is known about whether flood insurance availability affects the decision to live and stay in more flood-prone areas. In this paper, we test whether subsidized flood insurance alters residency …
I determine whether pressure from upcoming elections affects an effort-based measure of government performance -- evacuations in preparation for tropical cyclones in the Philippines. Unlike measures used in previous studies, this isolates politician …
Many countries rely on a system of fiscal transfers to support local governments. We examine the effect of such transfers on local budgets and economic development by exploiting a 1991 decentralization reform in the Philippines that resulted in newly …
Election fraud is considered pervasive throughout developing countries, raising concerns it can facilitate corruption and inhibit economic growth by preventing voters from holding elected officials accountable. This paper examines whether reducing …
Do high taxes cause superstars to work less? We test this hypothesis using complete data on Hollywood movie stars' labor supply from 1927 to 2014. Changes to marginal tax rates in high tax brackets have no significant effect on the number of films a …
Racially charged rhetoric often surrounds layoff events, with specific minorities often blamed for the loss of "American jobs." We examine whether information about impending mass layoffs causes racial animus. Our data consist of information on mass …
Objective information from credible sources is critical for efficient policy that involves uncertain outcomes. This paper presents evidence that scientific projections are under-utilized in decisions involving dynamic risks. We leverage the COVID-19 …
We examine whether mosques depress home values in Michigan, which forms the basis for opposition to new mosques. We link administrative data on the universe of property transactions in Detroit and Hamtramck to the opening dates of new mosques. We …