Using a unique data set, we test whether households' deductible choices in auto and home insurance reflect stable risk preferences. Our test relies on a structural model that assumes households are objective expected utility maximizers and claims are generated by household-coverage specific...

Newspaper critics' movie reviews are often used by potential movie viewers as signals of expert quality assessment. We investigate the existence and revenue impact of racial bias in these reviews. Using an expansive, novel dataset spanning 2003-2007, we find ratings for movies with a black lead...

Motivated by widely publicized concerns that there are “too many” plans, we structurally estimate (and validate) an equilibrium model of the Medicare Part D market to study the welfare impacts of two feasible, similar-sized approaches for reducing choice. One reduces the maximum number of...

We study the effect of hospital adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) on health outcomes, particularly patient safety indicators (PSIs). We find evidence of a positive impact of EMRs on PSIs via decision support rather than care coordination. Consistent with this mechanism, we find an...

Motivated by widely publicized concerns that there are "too many" plans, we structurally estimate (and validate) an equilibrium model of the Medicare Part D market to study the welfare impacts of two feasible, similar-sized approaches for reducing choice. One reduces the maximum number of firm...

This paper estimates a structural model of demand for the personal computer (PC) by repeat purchasers. Taking advantage of a large dataset on household-level PC purchases, the econometric model uses variation in PC holdings among PC owners to identify households' marginal values of quality...

In this paper we measure the effect of Internet adoption on consumers' propensity to adopt a wide range of diffusing products. To do this, we utilize a rich panel of household surveys on purchases of relatively new technology products. Our results indicate that the Internet accelerates product...

We examine the effects of the regulation of dual agency in residential real estate transactions, for 10,888 transactions in Long Island, New York in 2004-2007. We find that dual agency has an overall null effect on sale price, but includes two opposing forces where buyer and seller interests...

This paper empirically analyzes how households' PC purchasing behaviors change with market experience. We find that: households generally exhibit inertia in their PC purchases, the level of inertia is increasing as a function of experience on the PC market, and, for households switching brands,...

Using data on mobile Internet usage of thousands of individuals, we provide some of the first analyses linking mobile usage to key demographics such as income. We find a reverse-U relationship between mobile Internet usage and income – notably different than the monotonically declining...