For decades, farmers in the most marginalised regions of Mexico have depended for survival on the illicit cultivation of opium poppy for the US heroin market. In 2017 they could earn up to 20,000 pesos ($950-$1,050 dollars) per kilo of opium, which channelled around 19 billion pesos ($1 billion...

This paper provides the first estimates of the effect of unemployment insurance (UI) on drug overdose deaths. Exploiting both time-series and cross-sectional variation in UI generosity generated by federal and state UI laws, we estimate that a one standard deviation increase in UI generosity...

Overdose deaths involving opioids have increased dramatically since the mid-1990s, leading to the worst drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history, but there is limited empirical evidence on the initial causes. In this paper, we examine the role of the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin as...

Overdose deaths involving opioids have increased dramatically since the mid-1990s, leading to the worst drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history, but there is limited empirical evidence on the initial causes. In this paper, we examine the role of the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin as...

The opioid crisis in the United States has resulted in a dramatic increase in overdose deaths in the last two decades. This crisis has created an economic ripple that has affected an important engine of growth: research and development (R&D). Using patent data from the United States Patent and...

This study examines the effect of the opioid epidemic on bank mortgage lending decisions. We find that mortgage loan applications of risky borrowers with larger local opioid exposure are less likely to be approved. We use various fixed effects and matched loan analysis to identify consistent...

This study examines the effect of the opioid epidemic on bank mortgage lending decisions. We find that mortgage loan applications from risky borrowers with greater local opioid exposure are less likely to be approved. We use various fixed effects and matched loan analysis to identify any...