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Insights / Research BriefJan 13, 2022

Selection in Surveys

When COVID-19 swept the world in early 2020 and closed or restricted business activity, researchers and policymakers scrambled to determine the virus’s economic impact on everything from employment, income, and childcare to business closures, commercial property, and work-from-home strategies. Policymakers needed answers fast to plan the most efficacious responses and direct limited resources to benefit those who needed it the most.
Topics:  COVID-19, Employment & Wages
Insights / Research BriefJun 28, 2021

Task-Based Discrimination

Erik Hurst, Yona Rubinstein, Kazuatsu Shimizu
One puzzle for researchers in recent decades surrounds two seemingly contradictory facts: The wage gap between Black and White men has remained stubbornly large in recent decades while, over the same period, racial discrimination has steadily declined. This divergence has occurred even as the racial gap in test scores, conditional on education, has also narrowed.
Topics:  Employment & Wages
Insights / Podcast episodeJun 16, 2021

Vaccine Lotteries: Worth a Shot?

Eduardo Porter, Tess Vigeland, Steve Levitt, Jeff Severts
More than a dozen states have announced large lotteries to incentivize vaccinations. On this episode,...
Topics:  COVID-19
Insights / Research BriefMay 25, 2021

Lifetime Earnings in the United States over Six Decades

Fatih Guvenen, Greg Kaplan, Jae Song, Justin Weidner
The stagnation of average earnings and rising income inequality in the United States since the 1970s has not only motivated economic research but has also informed discussions about political shifts among various demographics, as well as inspired policy debates about how to address this long-run phenomenon. This is especially true when it comes to the fate of male workers.
Topics:  Employment & Wages
Insights / Interactive Chart

Examining Lifetime Earnings in the US Over Six Decades

Explore just how the US has seen stagnation of average earnings and income inequality rise since the 1970s.
Topics:  Employment & Wages
Insights / Podcast episodeMay 19, 2021

College Sports: Show Me The Money

Eduardo Porter, Tess Vigeland, Matthew J. Notowidigdo, Michael McCann
Division I schools make billions off athletic programs, with close to two-thirds coming from men’s...
Topics:  Employment & Wages, Higher Education & Workforce Training
Insights / Podcast episodeMay 06, 2021

Discrimination is Expensive

Eduardo Porter, Tess Vigeland, Chang-Tai Hsieh, Erik Hurst
Preventing people from entering careers where they could maximize their potential places massive costs on...
Topics:  Employment & Wages
Insights / Research BriefMay 04, 2021

Tax Planning Knowledge Diffusion via the Labor Market

US corporations go to great lengths to avoid paying taxes, and some of those avoidance schemes—like moving profits to offshore tax havens—regularly make headlines. However, there are many more subtle techniques to reduce a corporation’s tax bill, and those methods are often practiced by tax accountants with firm- or industry-specific skills. Employing these tax experts can have beneficial effects and provide competitive advantages for firms.
Topics:  Employment & Wages, Tax & Budget