Economics News

None of the 19 states that implemented statewide COVID-19 vaccine lotteries this summer saw an increase in vaccination rates as a result of the incentive programs, according to a study published this month in Jama Health Forum . The study is the first to examine the effectiveness of 19 state-run...

“Limited childcare access is harmful for parents and particularly for mothers with young preschool-age kids,” said Assistant Professor of Economics Chloe East. “If we were to reopen childcare more than we have, I would expect to see an increase in work effort among parents, but again especially mothers.” Amid Staff...

“There are a lot of flaws and gaps in the unemployment insurance system that were revealed in COVID but have always been there,” said Assistant Professor of Economics Chloe East. Automatic Aid for the People? How Jobless Benefits Can Fit the Economy. The New York Times , April 27

A literature review, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research and authored by D. Mark Anderson of Montana State University and Economics Professor Daniel I. Rees, covers The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana . This working paper focuses on studies from leading economics, public policy, public...

Findings from a first-of-its-kind study by Associate Dean and Professor of Economics Laura Argys show light pollution can increase the likelihood of preterm birth. She said, "We discovered that increased light pollution is linked to some pretty severe health challenges, In pregnant women, this includes a higher chance of delivering...

President Joe Biden said a $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan would cut child poverty in half, which would be the largest reduction in recent history. “This seems reasonable,” said Chloe East, Assistant Professor of Economics. “If all these things Biden proposed passed, we might expect [poverty reduction] to be even...

“I think the levels of hardship we see right now, in terms of food insecurity and other measures, is at historic highs,” said Chloe East, Economics Assistant Professor. Additionally, because unemployment benefits are based on pre job loss earnings, unemployment insurance is smaller for people who were earning less. Unemployment...

“We've been seeing traffic accidents and spending continuing to crawl up during a time period where cases were crawling up at the same time,” said Andrew Friedson, Associate Professor of Economics, whose work has increasingly focused on the effect of COVID-19 on consumer behavior. “So it's a little unclear to...

UnitedHealth and other insurers set rates prior to the pandemic and are the happy recipients of gobs of cash resulting from fewer claims being filed. “I see this as a case where insurance companies may have been handed a windfall, as money in was based on a high projection of...

New research from a team, including Economics Professor and Associate Dean Laura Argys, shows that living in a flight path can increase the chance of having a child born underweight by approximately 20%. “For people who live right on along the runway…and experienced increases in exposure to airplane noise, there’s...