A main goal of health insurance is to smooth out the financial risk that comes with health shocks and health care. Nevertheless, there has been relatively sparse evidence on how health insurance affects financial outcomes. The few studies that exist focus on the effect of gaining health...

Exploiting recent concentration of flight patterns under a new Federal Aviation Administration policy (called NextGen), we examine the impact of exposure to excessive noise levels on birth outcomes. Using birth records that include mothers’ home addresses to measure airport proximity, we find...

In response to a high incidence of motor vehicle accidents among teens, states have adopted policies that broadly mandate restrictions on novice teen drivers, including more prelicensure education and supervised driving as well as postlicensure curfews and restrictions on the number of...

Increasing trends in obesity have driven policymakers around the US to examine factors associated with lower Body Mass Index (BMI) and improved health. Our research examines the relationship between an individual's health and their environment. Specifically, we examine whether moving to a state...

This is the first study that uses a direct measure of skyglow, an important aspect of light pollution, to examine its impact on infant health at birth. We find evidence of reduced birth weight, shortened gestational length and even preterm births. Specifically, increased nighttime brightness,...

We examine whether women exposed to China's one-child policy (OCP) change their fertility decisions when they migrate to a country without fertility restrictions. Using American Community Survey data (2010-2020), we compare the childbearing decisions of Chinese-born women with varying degrees of...