ATLANTIC ECONOMIC JOURNAL最新文献

Driven by the unfolding asymmetry in the United Kingdom output dynamics since 1955, this paper aims to explore the contribution of fiscal policy. To this end, the dynamic connectivity between United Kingdom government spending and economic growth is assessed through the concept of causality. Since the implementation of economic policy can asymmetrically affect output dynamics, both linear and nonlinear causality tests are employed. The empirical findings underscore the feature of nonlinearity. The detected nonlinear causality appears to be subject to different economic regimes. During the Great Moderation, the linear connectivity between government spending and economic growth strengthened, while in the post-2007 era, the absence of substantial linkages supports the idea that the information transmission channel between government spending and economic growth is broken. The study’s novelty lies in the implementation of linear and nonlinear causality tests within a rolling windows analysis framework. This approach enables the exploration of connectivity characteristics between United Kingdom government spending and output growth under changing monetary policy and economic stances. The findings confirm the role of fiscal policy as an economic stabilizer, mainly during periods of loose monetary policy with moderate inflation and predominantly positive economic growth rates. The results also reveal a significant structural break in 2007, coinciding with a change in monetary conditions and a period of limited fiscal control over output growth.

This study uses national natality data from the National Vital Statistics System, provided by the National Center for Health Statistics, covering the years 2011 to 2018 (N = 23,810,031) to investigate racial disparities in cesarean section (C-section) rates between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White mothers in the United States. This analysis offers a comprehensive perspective on the factors contributing to C-section disparities by considering mothers' demographic characteristics, health conditions, and infant health status. Using multivariable logistic regression, the findings reveal consistently higher C-section rates for non-Hispanic Black mothers compared to non-Hispanic White mothers, with the gap widening over time. Even after adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors, non-Hispanic Black mothers remained more likely to undergo C-sections. Using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition methods, key factors contributing to this C-section rates disparity include maternal age, the source of delivery payment, and fetal presentation. This study highlights the pressing need for further investigation into healthcare system factors and racial inequities driving these disparities, alongside the growing urgency for policy and practical interventions to reduce unnecessary C-sections.

Operations Varsity Blues, a high-profile undergraduate admissions scandal exposed in March 2019, involved some of the most elite colleges in the United States. The event charged 33 parents with bribing athletic departments and faking test scores in an effort to obtain admission for their children. This paper analyzes the effects of this scandal on institution-level outcomes, including the number of applicants, enrollment demographics, and financial aid outcomes. Data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System for the years 2017–2021 were utilized, employing entropy balancing to construct a comparable control group, combined with difference-in-differences regressions. The resulting models estimate that the scandal reduced applications by 3% and enrollment of Black students by 0.3%. Furthermore, the number of low-income students who received Pell grants decreased by 100 students, or 0.3%. A limitation of the analysis is the occurrence of the coronavirus-19 pandemic, which coincided partially with the years used as outcomes. The results highlight the level of student sensitivity to public information and speak to how highly-publicized scandals can have a small, yet significant, impact on student decisions at elite colleges. Furthermore, the results imply that college applicants, especially low-income applicants, desire equitable admission systems in higher education institutions.

Garnering much attention and public health concern, the opioid epidemic has generated severe health consequences across the United States. Of particular interest, opioid use during pregnancy has been criminalized by state-level and national policies to quell the rising rates of maternal addiction and neonatal abstinence syndrome. However, recent research, has found that punitive policies (PPs) may instead exacerbate addiction by disincentivizing treatment-seeking behavior in pregnant women. Using treatment facility admissions data from 2013–2020, this study applies difference-in-difference methodology to extend previous studies’ exploration of the effects that PPs have on rates of pregnant admissions. Moreover, this study discerns the effect that PPs have on the prevalence of medication-assisted treatment for women of childbearing age. The impacts of PPs were modeled within a variety of policy landscapes, accounting for potential policy and resource interactions. With support from supplemental event study models, findings suggest that 1) PPs reduce the use of medication-assisted treatment in all policy landscapes and 2) when in isolation, PPs stifle rates of pregnant admissions. When active in states with more complex policy landscapes (i.e. not just in isolation), PPs were found to have more complicated effects on pregnant admissions, dynamics which merit future exploration.

Families are widely recognized as crucial agents in the transmission of wealth, contributing to the perpetuation of inequality and limiting mobility across income levels. To address the economic dynamics behind this phenomenon, classical economists have explored potential solutions through government tax-transfer systems. One such proposal, advanced by Eugenio Rignano, suggests imposing higher taxes on inheritances passed down through multiple generations within a family. To analyze this idea, a model is developed that incorporates both altruistic and accidental bequests, with altruistic bequests playing a crucial role in wealth transmission. The model considers the potential disincentives that inheritance taxation might create for savings intended for altruistic bequests, as well as the benefits of taxing accidental bequests. The novelty of the model lies in its characterization of optimal inheritance taxes when there is an interaction between parents' educational decisions for their children and the transmission of wealth. Simulations suggest that adopting Rignano's proposed tax scheme enhances social welfare compared to the commonly used proportional inheritance tax. These findings suggest that Rignano's tax scheme warrants further research and policy discussion.