Early twentieth century efforts to overhaul the quality of medical education in the United States (principally between 1905 and 1915 - the "Flexner Report Era") led to a steep decline in the number of medical schools and medical school graduates. In this paper, we examine the consequences of...

This paper documents the evolution of US carbon emissions and discusses the main factors that contributed to the historical carbon emissions rollercoaster. We divide the discussion into four periods - up to 1920, 1920-1960, 1960-2005 and after 2005. For each period, we discuss the main drivers...

This paper draws on a new state-level panel dataset and a model of domestic Dutch disease to examine the short-run and long-run effects of oil & natural gas, coal, and agricultural land endowments on state economies during 1936-2015. Using a flexible shift-share estimation approach, where the...

The passage of landmark government regulation is often the culmination of evolving social pressure and incremental policy change. During this process, firms may preemptively adjust behavior in anticipation of impending regulation, making it difficult to quantify the overall economic impact of...

The passage of landmark government regulation is often the culmination of evolving social pressure and incremental policy change. During this process, firms may preemptively adjust behavior in anticipation of impending regulation, making it difficult to quantify the overall economic impact of...

This paper studies how better access to public health insurance affects infant mortality during pandemics. Our analysis combines cross-state variation in mandated eligibility for Medicaid with two influenza pandemics - the 1957-58 "Asian Flu" pandemic and the 1968-69 "Hong Kong Flu" - that...