2017 Summer Institute Methods Lectures Focus
on Research Avenues Opened by Data Linking
The increasing availability of large administrative data sets from both the public and private sectors has placed new emphasis on the tools and techniques for linking data from multiple sources. NBER Research Associates Martha Bailey (above) of the University of Michigan, John M. Abowd of Cornell University and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and Joseph Ferrie of Northwestern University explained the possibilities and challenges of data linking in the Methods Lectures series at the 2017 NBER Summer Institute. Videos of the full presentations
Offering consumers commitment devices is commonly proposed to encourage investment in preventive health care in low-income countries, but in a field experiment in India, Liang Bai, Benjamin Handel, Edward Miguel, and Gautam Rao find that they do not affect doctor visits or individual health outcomes. Many individuals pay for commitments but fail to follow through, losing money without experiencing any health benefit.
Charles Courtemanche, Andrew Friedson, Andrew P. Koller, and Daniel I. Rees estimate that the expansions of private and Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act slowed ambulance response times by an average of 19 percent by extending coverage to individuals who otherwise would not have availed themselves of emergency medical services.
Prices of identical goods in a given geographic market and time period vary widely, but only a small fraction of this dispersion arises because some stores are more expensive than other stores. In the current edition of The NBER Reporter Greg Kaplan writes about research into some of the other factors in play. Also featured in the quarterly publication are economists’ reports on their work on the impacts of air pollution, the development of the American economy, energy efficiency policies, and the asset management industry.
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Focus on Hurricanes and Climate Change Echoes
Decade-old Research on Storms' Economics
The recent devastation spread by hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the Caribbean, Texas, and Florida, has revived public and media attention to the possible impacts of climate change on weather. (Read about it in The New York Times and The Washington Post.) In a 2006 analysis of the numerous hurricanes and record damage 2005,
William D. Nordhaus, in NBER Working Paper No. 12813,
documented a rise in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic, found "substantial vulnerabilities" to intense hurricanes along America's Atlantic coast, and projected billions of dollars in increased costs of annual U.S. hurricane damage.
In the months preceding and following the purchase of a new home, buyers increase spending on home-related durables and home improvement projects. A study in the latest edition of The NBER Digest finds that this translated into a $14.3 billion annual decline in household spending during the Great Recession. Other studies featured in the monthly Digest include an analysis of the roles of scientists and engineers in U.S. industry, a calculation of which colleges best prepare students from low-income families for high-earning careers, an examination of the impact of high-speed internet's arrival in Africa, a look at hiring of women in venture capital firms whose senior partners have more daughters, and a study of the video gaming and work hours of young American men.
The U.S. Acid Rain Program introduced in 1995 initially regulated sulfur dioxide output of only the 110 highest emitting power plants, making it possible for researchers to identify long-term effects of pollution exposure on otherwise similar populations. A study summarized in the current edition of the NBER's Bulletin on Aging and Health finds that trends in mortality changed significantly after the onset of the Acid Rain Program between populations near to and far from affected plants, linking reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions to a decline in mortality.
Robert Merton, Pioneer in Continuous-Time Finance,
Speaks at Long-Term Asset Management Conference
Nobel laureate Robert Merton delivered the keynote address at the second annual NBER Conference on New Developments in Long-Term Asset Management. The conference series, sponsored by Norges Bank Investment Management, the asset management unit of Norway's central bank, explores issues of risk measurement and portfolio selection facing long-horizon investors such as pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds.
