We estimate the long-term effect of public R&D on growth in manufacturing by analyzing new data from the Cold War era Space Race. We develop a novel empirical strategy that leverages US-Soviet rivalry in space technology to isolate windfall R&D spending. Our results demonstrate that public R&D...

The U.S. shale boom of the mid-2000s traded off possible environmental damage and negative quality-of-life impacts against income gains and rents captured by workers and property owners. This study measures the effect of local shale oil and gas extraction on local land prices and wages. Using...