Previous studies have found evidence that experiencing a traumatic event during childhood or adolescence can interfere with the acquisition of human capital. Drawing on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate the effects of being the victim of forced...

Using data drawn from the March Current Population Survey, we find that state and federal minimum wage increases between 2003 and 2007 had no effect on state poverty rates. When we then simulate the effects of a proposed federal minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour, we find that...

A recent study by Cawley found consistent evidence of a negative relationship between body weight and wages for white women, even after controlling for fixed individual-level unobserved heterogeneity and reverse causality. Building on this work, I estimate the relationship between adolescent...

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines the relationship between adolescent virginity and four measures of school attachment: out-of-school suspensions, unexcused absences from school, affinity for school, and preference to attend college....

Recent studies in the public health literature and a June 2006 Surgeon General's report have cited a link between exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and childhood asthma. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this paper explores the sensitivity of this relationship to...

Prescription drug expenditures are the fastest growing component of health care spending, rising threefold over the 1995–2007 period. Coinciding with this growth has been a surge in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), made feasible by the Food and Drug Administrations's (FDA's)...