We show that a June 2002 reform in Morningstar's mutual fund rating methodology led to substantial drop in the profitability of momentum-related asset pricing factors. Before the reform, funds pursuing the same investment style had correlated ratings heavily influenced by recent style...

Indoor tanning beds (ITBs) emit UV light at high intensity and have been classified as carcinogenic to humans by the World Health Organization since 2009. We are the first to study the role of state laws prohibiting youths from indoor tanning using a difference-in-differences research design. We...

We provide novel evidence on the role of negative social comparisons in population health behaviors by exploiting variation in Miss America and Miss USA beauty pageant winners. We show that there was more front-page newspaper coverage and more pageant-related internet search behavior following a...

We provide novel evidence on the role of social comparisons in shaping adolescent body misperception. Using an instrumental variables approach leveraging variation in relative age generated by school entry cutoff months and data from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study, we show...

We present causal evidence that non-fundamental correlated demand exerts a first-order impact on style returns. Mutual fund investors chase fund performance via Morningstar ratings, regardless of the rating methodology. Until June 2002, ratings depended on fund returns without any style...

We demonstrate that the funding value adjustments (FVAs) of major dealers are debt-overhang costs to their shareholders. In order to maximize shareholder value, dealer quotations therefore adjust for FVAs. Our case examples include interest-rate swap FVAs and violations of covered interest...

Using county-level data on COVID-19 mortality and infections, along with county-level information on the adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the United States, we examine how the speed of NPI adoption affected COVID-19 mortality. Our estimates suggest that advancing the date...