Contemporary Economic Policy最新文献

This paper considers the effect of state charitable giving tax credits on the contribution revenues of eligible charities. Using event studies paired with Form 990 data, we detect no significant change in contributions to qualified nonprofits after the elimination of a $100 per taxpayer credit by Michigan. By contrast, we find a significant increase in contributions to qualified charities following the introduction of a $10,000 per taxpayer credit by North Dakota that persists for several years. The results suggest that placing a large cap on charitable giving tax credits induces stronger donor responses.

Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) resulting from opioid misuse are rising. However, policies to treat opioid misuse during pregnancy are unclear. We apply a difference-in-differences design to national pediatric discharge records to examine the effects of state Medicaid policies on NAS. Among states in which Medicaid covered two clinically-recommended medications for treating opioid misuse (buprenorphine, methadone), the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion reduced Medicaid-covered NAS hospitalizations. Medicaid expansion did not affect NAS hospitalizations in other expansion states. These findings imply a nuanced relationship between Medicaid policy and NAS that should be considered in addressing opioid misuse among pregnant women.

How does the presence of maximum- and minimum-level contract restrictions impact (i) superstar compensation and (ii) the distribution of compensation across an industry? Using ticket price and observed player talent data from the National Basketball Association (NBA), I estimate expected salaries for each player as well as their value to the NBA as a whole. I find the ratio of actual to expected salary is 2.8%–56.9% for the most talented players, resulting in subsidization to less talented players. The findings also suggest the most talented players generate significantly more value to the NBA than their actual and expected salaries.

Spinal fusion is the highest operating room expense in the U.S. and the performed procedure depends largely on surgeon preference. We use national claims data for 2010–2014 to study changes in the relative frequency of substitutable spinal fusion procedures, following a one-time cut in Medicare reimbursement fees that switched the ranking of the two procedures with the highest surgical fees. Relative to lower-fee alternatives with better clinical outcomes, patients were 6.3% more likely to receive the highest-fee procedure after the policy change. We find no evidence of cost savings following the reimbursement change.

Economic opportunity in the United States is shaped by parental health and disability. We hypothesize that Disability Insurance (DI) may mitigate the observed pattern. Using linked survey and administrative data, we find children of work-limited parents have 4.1 percentiles less upward economic mobility and 4.3 percentiles more downward mobility relative to children of non-limited parents. Despite poorer health, children of parents initially awarded DI experience a negligible mobility gap relative to peers whose parents never apply to DI and 3.6 percentiles more upward mobility than peers of parents who are initially denied benefits—suggesting DI may moderate economic mobility.

When automation technology can both help a firm's production and be widely used in the provision of long-term care for the elderly, developments in automation can potentially help alleviate the situation of a declining birthrate in an aging society and increase production and household welfare. In addition, this paper obtains results consistent with the real-world situation in which population aging and a declining birthrate arise simultaneously. Considering the case where automation technology is developed by firms does not change the main findings. Therefore, the government should encourage people to engage in the development of automation.

Using entrusted loan data of Chinese listed enterprises, we study whether the implementation of macroprudential policy leads to enterprise policy arbitrage. Our findings reveal that tightening macroprudential policies significantly contribute to the promotion of shadow banking activities among Chinese enterprises, confirming the existence of policy leakage. When the overall credit is tight, non-affiliated loans and loans to privately-owned enterprises increase significantly. Tightening policies also have a more substantial effect on the borrowing cost of non-affiliated and privately-owned enterprise borrowers. To enhance the effectiveness of macroprudential policy, our results suggest the necessity of providing appropriate credit supports for small and medium enterprises.

How does a new epidemic affect individuals' expectations on economic prospects in the early stage of the breakout? We implemented an incentivized longitudinal online survey soon after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in China to answer this question. Results show that fewer new confirmed COVID-19 cases significantly increase individuals' expectations on gross domestic product and consumer price index growth rates. Our finding provides evidence that at the early stage of an unfamiliar epidemic, containing the spread of the disease may help to maintain positive economic expectations among individuals.

Have building energy codes lowered energy consumption, and have their benefits outweighed costs? Using 2000 Census data, I estimate household energy expenditures by decade of home construction, controlling for household and home characteristics. I find homes built in the 1980s used $35 less in electricity and $46 less in natural gas, per year, compared to 1970s era homes. For Sacramento, energy codes pass a cost-benefit test when low-end policy costs are used, but fail with base-case costs. This study also clarifies how a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for a representative household fits into a comprehensive CBA.