We analyze the interaction of race with physical and socioeconomic characteristics in the U.S. marriage market, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1999 to 2009 for black, white, and inter-racial couples. We consider the anthropometric characteristics of both spouses, together with...

We design an infrastructure experiment in Mexico to evaluate the impact of street pavement on housing values and household outcomes. We find that the provision of street pavement raises housing values by 16% and land values by 54%, according to professional appraisals. Using homeowner...

Urban peripheries in many developing country cities lack basic local public goods like pavement, water, sewerage and electricity. We estimate the impacts of slum infrastructure upgrading using an experiment in urban road pavement provision in Mexico. Our findings show that homes in streets that...

We empirically analyze the marriage market aspects of body size, weight and height in the US using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on anthropometric characteristics of both spouses. Gender-asymmetric tradeoffs arise within couples between physical and socioeconomic traits, but also...

This paper provides suggestive evidence of financial contagion between regions by fluctuations in international investors' attention allocation. Using Financial Times news stories about Thailand as a proxy for attention allocated to Southeast Asia, we find that the increase in uncertainty about...

Brazilian health authorities have recommended that pregnant women take meticulous precaution to avoid mosquito bites, and use contraceptive methods to postpone/delay pregnancies. In this article, we present new estimates on the Zika virus prevalence, its correlates and preventive behaviors in...

We use the UK Household Longitudinal Study and compare pre- (2017-2019) and post-COVID-19 data (April 2020) for the same group of individuals to assess and quantify changes in mental health among ethnic groups in the UK. We confirm the previously documented average deterioration in mental health...

We use a unique data set of linked birth records from Florida to analyze the intergenerational transmission of health at birth by parental gender. We show that both paternal and maternal birth weights significantly predict the child's birth weight even after accounting for all genetic and...

We study the determinants of season of birth of the first child, for white married women aged 25-45 in the US, using birth certificate and Census data. We also analyze stated preferences for season of birth using our own Amazon Mechanical Turk survey.The prevalence of quarters 2 and 3 is...

We analyze how attractiveness rated at the start of the interview is related to weight (controlling for height), and BMI, separately by gender and also accounting for interviewer fixed effects, in a nationally representative sample. We are the first to show that height, weight, and BMI all...