BFI Working Papers

Sharing research in progress—and refining it through rigorous discussion and debate—is a hallmark of scholarship at the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics.
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 25, 2025

Paternalistic Social Assistance: Evidence and Implications from Cash vs. In-Kind Transfers

Anna Chorniy, Amy Finkelstein, and Matthew Notowidigdo
Topics: Economic Mobility & Poverty
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 20, 2025

Social Dynamics of AI Adoption

Leonardo Bursztyn, Alex Imas, Rafael Jiménez-Durán, Aaron Leonard, and Christopher Roth
Topics: K-12 Education, Technology & Innovation
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 18, 2025

Do Test Scores Misrepresent Test Results? An Item-by-Item Analysis

Jesse Bruhn, Michael Gilraine, Jens Ludwig, and Sendhil Mullainathan
Topics: K-12 Education
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 11, 2025

Complexity Theory and Economic Inequality

Steven Durlauf, David McMillon, and Scott Page
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 4, 2025

Fast Action for Floods: RCT Evidence on Forecastbased Cash Transfers from Bangladesh and Nepal

Paul J. Christian, Felipe A. Dunsch, Jonas Heirman, Erin M. Kelley, Florence Kondylis, Gregory Lane, Jennifer Waidler, Nidhila Adusumalli, Odbayar Batmunkh, and Kriti Malhotra
Topics: Development Economics
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 4, 2025

The Mortgage Debt Channel of Monetary Policy when Mortgages are Liquid

Matthew Elias, Christian Gillitzer, Greg Kaplan, Gianni La Cava, and Nalini Prasad
Topics: Monetary Policy
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BFI Working Paper·Oct 21, 2025

Jealousy of Trade: Exclusionary Preferences and Economic Nationalism

Alex Imas, Kristóf Madarász, and Heather Sarsons
Topics: Fiscal Studies
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BFI Working Paper·Oct 21, 2025

Who Pays for Tariffs Along the Supply Chain? Evidence from European Wine Tariffs

Aaron B. Flaaen, Ali Hortaçsu, Felix Tintelnot, Nicolás Urdaneta, and Daniel Xu
Topics: Fiscal Studies, Industrial Organization
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BFI Working Paper·Oct 21, 2025

Option Value of Apex Predators: Evidence from a River Discontinuity

Eyal Frank, Anouch Missirian, Dominic P. Parker, and Jennifer L. Raynor
Topics: Energy & Environment
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BFI Working Paper·Oct 13, 2025

Introducing The SPEAK: A Scalable Computer- Adaptive Tool to Measure Knowledge of Early Human Development

Caroline Gaudreau, Dani Levine, John List, and Dana Suskind
Topics: Early Childhood Education
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