We present results from a randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh that introduced operational practices to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in 276 "zigzag" brick kilns. 65% of intervention kilns adopted the improved practices. Treatment assignment reduced energy use by 10.3%...

We estimate the effects of privatization on zombie versus healthy state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China, extending our analysis beyond TFP to a broad array of financial and economic indicators. Privatizing zombie SOEs enhances labor productivity and TFP, reduces bank and government subsidies,...

We investigate the relationship between physical attractiveness and the time people devote to video/computer gaming. Average American teenagers spend 2.6% of their waking hours gaming, while for adults this figure is 2.7%. Using the American Add Health Study, we show that adults who are...

Globally, coercive labor (i.e., forced, bonded, and/or trafficked labor) and child labor are disproportionately prevalent in environments with weak regulatory enforcement and state capacity. Effective strategies for addressing them may therefore need to align with the private incentives of...

Research on the causal effects of online advertising on consumer welfare is limited due to challenges in running large-scale field experiments and tracking effects over extended periods. We analyze a long-running field experiment of online advertising in which a random 0.5% subset of all users...

What happens to children during the early years is recognized to be very important for their long run development. It is also increasingly clear that the skills that are relevant for economic success and more generally well-being are multidimensional, including different types of socioemotional...

We measure the impacts of vertical integration between insurers and hospitals. In the Chilean market, where half of private hospital capacity is vertically integrated, integration increases inpatient care spending by 6 percent and decreases consumer surplus and total welfare. Integrated insurers...

This study uses administrative health insurance records in Taiwan to examine changes in child mental health treatment around four school milestones including: Primary and middle school entry, high stakes testing for high school, and high stakes testing for college entry. Leveraging age cutoffs...

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the accessibility of abortion services and incidences of child maltreatment across the United States, using data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Myers abortion facility database from 2011...

Several states have recently attempted to boost retirement saving by adopting "auto-IRA" policies that require employers not currently offering an employer-sponsored retirement plan (ESRP) to either (1) establish an ESRP or (2) enroll employees in state-facilitated Individual Retirement Accounts...