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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...
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...
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...
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...
Research Briefs·Aug 26, 2026

The Effects of SNAP Sugary Drink Restrictions on Consumption and Welfare

Hunt Allcott, Amy Finkelstein, Anna Grummon, and Matthew Notowidigdo
Restrictions on spending SNAP benefits on sugary drinks reduced the average SNAP household’s retail purchases of excluded drinks by 12.4%...
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...
Research Briefs·Aug 19, 2026

A Novel Assessment of Epistemic Curiosity and its Association With Early Learning Outcomes

Ariel Kalil, Mauricio Koechlin, Michelle Michelini, Dana McCoy, and Terri Sabol
A new assessment for preschool-aged children generates two distinct measures of interest-type and deprivation-type curiosity, both internally consistent. Children’s vocabulary...
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...
Research Briefs·Aug 12, 2026

The Value of Behavioral Policies

John List, Matthias Rodemeier, Sutanuka Roy, and Gregory K. Sun
Behavioral interventions, or nudges, generate demand responses that are comparable to substantial price interventions. While nudges have high welfare returns...