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Research Briefs

Research Briefs·Sep 8, 2026

The Success of the Embedded State in England

Leander Heldring, Davis Kedrosky, and James Robinson
Some states govern effectively despite lacking the fiscal resources to fund a modern bureaucracy. This is true of the developing world today, but also historically of currently developed countries. Using a unique survey of English urban government from 1835, the...
Topics: Fiscal Studies
Research Briefs·Sep 2, 2026

The Enjoyment Paradox: College-Educated Mothers Invest More in Their Children’s Learning and Enjoy It Less

Ariel Kalil, Haoxuan Liu, and Ritika Sethi
College-educated mothers spend more time on learning activities with their children despite reporting substantially lower enjoyment of those activities. This enjoyment paradox is sharpest among non-employed, higher-income college-educated mothers.
Research Briefs·Aug 27, 2026

Startups in Africa

Emanuele Colonnelli, Marcio Cruz, Mariana Pereira-Lopez, Tommaso Porzio, and Chun Zhao
Africa’s startup ecosystem is concentrated in a few hubs and led by highly educated founders. Startups demand equity, but that capital is supplied mainly by foreign investors and flows disproportionately to founders with foreign education or work experience, with important...

BFI Data Studio

BFI Data Studio·Aug 19, 2026

Sticky Wage Norms and the Real Wage Cost of Unexpected Inflation

Erik Hurst, Christina Patterson,  Nela Richardson, and Ye Liv Wang
Payroll records covering roughly one in seven US workers show that during the recent inflationary period, most firms kept annual raises around 3%, causing real wages to fall behind rising prices and, for many workers, never fully recover.
BFI Data Studio·Jul 21, 2026

The Impact of Pay Period Reporting on Improper Redeterminations for Medicaid: Problems and Implications for Implementation

Peter Ganong, Hannah Garden-Monheit, Koren Gila, Gnora Mahs, Pascal Noel, and Dan Meuse
View the Interactive Brief
BFI Data Studio·Jun 17, 2026

Carbon Prices, Forest Conservation and Reforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Juliano J. Assunção, Lars Peter Hansen, Todd Munson, and José A. Scheinkman
With modest transfers per ton of net CO₂, Brazil would find it optimal to choose policies that produce substantial capture of greenhouse gasses in the next 30 years, suggesting that the management of tropical forests could play an important role...

Podcasts

Podcasts episode·Sep 1, 2026

Cut Off: How US Sanctions are Reshaping the Global Payment System

Tess Vigeland and Brent Neiman
US sanctions on Russian banks have complex spillovers for the importers and exporters who transact in dollars. On this episode of The Pie, Brent Neiman, the Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of...
Podcasts episode·Aug 18, 2026

Scoop and Run: How Should Gunshot Victims Get to the Hospital?

Tess Vigeland and Prachi Sanghavi
When a police officer is shot, is it safer to wait for an ambulance or to be driven straight to the hospital in a squad car? In this episode of The Pie, Prachi Sanghavi, an associate professor in the Department...
Podcasts episode·Aug 4, 2026

Talking to Strangers: The Economics of Social Connection

Tess Vigeland and Nicholas Epley
New research shows that people are strikingly bad at predicting how good it feels to connect with a stranger. In this episode of The Pie, Nick Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of...

Initiative Insights

Initiative Insight·Apr 14, 2026

Digging Deeper Into The Human Side of Human Capital: Virginia Minni on Shaping Productivity Inside Firms

David Fettig and Sydney Turner
Virginia Minni studies employees and managers within firms, with a focus on corporate culture, meaning at work, and leadership. Though often labeled “soft” because they are difficult to define and measure, her research shows these factors play a critical—and often...
Initiative Insight·Aug 18, 2025

Reframing the Safety Net: Manasi Deshpande on the Unseen Impacts of Disability Policy

Sydney Turner
Economic theories often frame safety net debates in terms of work incentives, but Manasi Deshpande’s research reveals a more complex reality. Using linked administrative data, she shows how programs like Supplemental Security Income affect not just employment, but crime, mental...
Initiative Insight·Jul 31, 2025

What Two Years of Predoctoral Research Taught One Aspiring Economist

Maia Rabenold and Sydney Turner
Through the BFI Predoctoral Research in Economics Program program, Jialing Zhang tackled real-world economic challenges using machine learning and spatial data, helping build tools for GDP estimation in data-scarce regions. Zhang discusses how her journey through economics, mentorship, and discovery...

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