The financial crisis has brought about dramatic consequences for economies and societies. Questions emerge about responsibility for the crisis and, implicitly or explicitly irresponsibility; the obligations to take responsibility for the costs and other adverse effects of the recession; and the...

We exploit the Great Recession of 2008 to study how firms view corporate social responsibility (CSR). When confronted with an adverse exogenous shock, firms are forced to prioritize. Our results show that, during the Great Recession, firms do not lessen their overall CSR investments, suggesting...

We study the grocery industry in Washington, DC, during the Great Depression using data from the 1929 Census of Distribution, a 1929-1930 survey by the Federal Trade Commission, and a 1935 business directory. We first document the differences between chains and independents in the Washington,...

This paper asks whether funding for public schools affects parents' decision to send their children to private schools. In the wake of the Great Recession, funding for public K-12 education fell precipitously in the United States and stayed low for several years. Critically, states with greater...