Unlike most developed countries, the U.S. lacks a federal paid sick leave policy. As a result, many workers must choose between losing earnings and attending to childcare responsibilities. To date, 14 states and the District of Columbia have adopted paid sick leave mandates that provide up to...

We estimate the effect of granting access to driver licenses to undocumented immigrants on their offspring's access to early childhood education (ECE). Using individual-level data from the ACS, we find that granting driving privileges to undocumented immigrants leads to a 6% increase in ECE...

We study a far-reaching episode of demagoguery in American history. From the late 1940s to 1950s, anti-communist hysteria led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and others gripped the nation. Hundreds of professionals in Hollywood were accused of having ties with the communist. We show that these...

Using the quasi-random assignment of 760,000 children in U.S. military families, we show that neighborhood attributes experienced during childhood have powerful impacts on SAT scores, college-going and earnings. For earnings and college going outcomes, location during high school is twice as...

Recent academic research findings on topics relating to taxation and social insurance policy, including the implicit tax imposed by Medicaid on private long-term care insurance benefits, an alternative system of unemployment insurance, and federal energy tax policy.

Leading American and European economists discuss monetary and fiscal policy from an international macroeconomic perspective in a companion volume to the NBER Macroeconomics Annual: cutting-edge research on macroeconomic issues and topical questions concerning the eastward expansion of the...

Social insurance programs shield individuals from specific risks, but these programs are not necessarily independent of each other. The existence and scope of one program can potentially influence the use of others, especially when the risks covered by the programs are related. This study...