In April 2014 Flint, Michigan switched its drinking water supply from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a temporary means to save $5 million. Over 18 months it was revealed that the switch exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead, culminating in an emergency declaration in October 2015. This paper examines the impact of this crisis on the Flint housing market. The value of Flint’s housing stock has fallen by $520 million to $559 million despite over $400 million in remediation spending. Home prices remain depressed through August 2019, 16 months after the water was declared safe for consumption. (JEL H12, I12, Q25, Q51, Q53, R31)
{"title":"Economic Effects of Environmental Crises: Evidence from Flint, Michigan","authors":"Gabriel Lade","doi":"10.1257/pol.20190391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20190391","url":null,"abstract":"In April 2014 Flint, Michigan switched its drinking water supply from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a temporary means to save $5 million. Over 18 months it was revealed that the switch exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead, culminating in an emergency declaration in October 2015. This paper examines the impact of this crisis on the Flint housing market. The value of Flint’s housing stock has fallen by $520 million to $559 million despite over $400 million in remediation spending. Home prices remain depressed through August 2019, 16 months after the water was declared safe for consumption. (JEL H12, I12, Q25, Q51, Q53, R31)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136019482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Enrico Miglino, Nicolás Navarrete H., Gonzalo Navarrete H., Pablo Navarrete H.
We estimate the effect of a permanent income increase on the health outcomes of the elderly poor. Our regression discontinuity design exploits an eligibility cutoff in a Chilean basic pension program that grants monthly payments to retirees without a contributory pension. Using administrative data, we find that four years after applying, basic pension recipients are 2.7 percentage points less likely to have died. Survey evidence suggests an increase in food consumption and visits to health centers as relevant drivers of the mortality reduction. (JEL D63, G51, I12, I14, I38, J14, O15)
{"title":"Health Effects of Increasing Income for the Elderly: Evidence from a Chilean Pension Program","authors":"Enrico Miglino, Nicolás Navarrete H., Gonzalo Navarrete H., Pablo Navarrete H.","doi":"10.1257/pol.20200076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200076","url":null,"abstract":"We estimate the effect of a permanent income increase on the health outcomes of the elderly poor. Our regression discontinuity design exploits an eligibility cutoff in a Chilean basic pension program that grants monthly payments to retirees without a contributory pension. Using administrative data, we find that four years after applying, basic pension recipients are 2.7 percentage points less likely to have died. Survey evidence suggests an increase in food consumption and visits to health centers as relevant drivers of the mortality reduction. (JEL D63, G51, I12, I14, I38, J14, O15)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88951549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Housing is mostly exempted from Medicaid and Supplemental Social Insurance means tests. Reforms of this special treatment have been debated, but little is known about its costs, benefits, and redistributive implications. I estimate a life cycle model of single retirees accounting for this exemption. It shows that the homestead exemption explains important patterns of Medicaid recipiency and that it is highly valued. It also shows that estate recovery could cover most of its costs with possibly limited negative welfare consequences. Finally, the model predicts that removing the homestead exemption or enforcing estate recovery programs would reduce redistribution toward lower-income retirees. (JEL D15, G51, H51, I13, I18, I38, J26)
{"title":"Housing in Medicaid: Should It Really Change?","authors":"Bertrand Achou","doi":"10.1257/pol.20200178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200178","url":null,"abstract":"Housing is mostly exempted from Medicaid and Supplemental Social Insurance means tests. Reforms of this special treatment have been debated, but little is known about its costs, benefits, and redistributive implications. I estimate a life cycle model of single retirees accounting for this exemption. It shows that the homestead exemption explains important patterns of Medicaid recipiency and that it is highly valued. It also shows that estate recovery could cover most of its costs with possibly limited negative welfare consequences. Finally, the model predicts that removing the homestead exemption or enforcing estate recovery programs would reduce redistribution toward lower-income retirees. (JEL D15, G51, H51, I13, I18, I38, J26)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82156674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nonexclusive sequential borrowing can increase default and impose externalities on prior lenders. We document that sequential banking is pervasive with substantial effects. Using credit card applications from a large bank and data on the applicants’ entire loan portfolios, we find that an additional credit line causes a 5.9 percentage point decline in default for high-score borrowers on previous loans. However, for low-score borrowers, it causes a 19 percentage point increase. The former use the new credit to smooth payments on preexisting loans, while the latter increase their total debt. These results have implications for “ no-universal-default” regulation and financial inclusion. (JEL D62, D82, G21, G51)
{"title":"The Extension of Credit with Nonexclusive Contracts and Sequential Banking Externalities","authors":"G. De Giorgi, Andrés Drenik, Enrique Seira","doi":"10.1257/pol.20200220","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200220","url":null,"abstract":"Nonexclusive sequential borrowing can increase default and impose externalities on prior lenders. We document that sequential banking is pervasive with substantial effects. Using credit card applications from a large bank and data on the applicants’ entire loan portfolios, we find that an additional credit line causes a 5.9 percentage point decline in default for high-score borrowers on previous loans. However, for low-score borrowers, it causes a 19 percentage point increase. The former use the new credit to smooth payments on preexisting loans, while the latter increase their total debt. These results have implications for “ no-universal-default” regulation and financial inclusion. (JEL D62, D82, G21, G51)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87279049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sebastian Beer, Ruud A. De Mooij, Shafik Hebous, Michael Keen, Li Liu
Residual profit allocation (RPA) schemes have come to prominence in discussions of international tax reform but with almost nothing known about their economic impact. These schemes tax multinationals by allocating their “routine” profits to source countries and sharing their remaining “residual” profit across countries on some formulaic basis. This paper explores the implications, conceptual and empirical, of moving to some form of RPA. Residual profits are estimated to be substantial and concentrated in relatively few multinational enterprises. The impact on tax revenue appears beneficial for developing countries. Aggregate production efficiency is unlikely to increase unless routine profits are lightly taxed. (JEL F23, H25, H87, L25)
{"title":"Exploring Residual Profit Allocation","authors":"Sebastian Beer, Ruud A. De Mooij, Shafik Hebous, Michael Keen, Li Liu","doi":"10.1257/pol.20200212","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200212","url":null,"abstract":"Residual profit allocation (RPA) schemes have come to prominence in discussions of international tax reform but with almost nothing known about their economic impact. These schemes tax multinationals by allocating their “routine” profits to source countries and sharing their remaining “residual” profit across countries on some formulaic basis. This paper explores the implications, conceptual and empirical, of moving to some form of RPA. Residual profits are estimated to be substantial and concentrated in relatively few multinational enterprises. The impact on tax revenue appears beneficial for developing countries. Aggregate production efficiency is unlikely to increase unless routine profits are lightly taxed. (JEL F23, H25, H87, L25)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135803684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper evaluates the financial and economic consequences of being denied an abortion. We link credit report data to the Turnaway Study, which collected high-quality, longitudinal data on women receiving or being denied a wanted abortion in the United States. We compare financial outcomes over a ten-year period for women who had pregnancies just above and below a gestational age limit allowing for a wanted abortion. Outcomes evolved similarly for the two groups prior to the abortion encounter. Following the encounter, women who were denied an abortion experience a large increase in financial distress that remains for several years. (JEL G51, I18, J13, J16)
{"title":"The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion","authors":"Sarah Miller, Laura Wherry, Diana Foster","doi":"10.1257/pol.20210159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20210159","url":null,"abstract":"This paper evaluates the financial and economic consequences of being denied an abortion. We link credit report data to the Turnaway Study, which collected high-quality, longitudinal data on women receiving or being denied a wanted abortion in the United States. We compare financial outcomes over a ten-year period for women who had pregnancies just above and below a gestational age limit allowing for a wanted abortion. Outcomes evolved similarly for the two groups prior to the abortion encounter. Following the encounter, women who were denied an abortion experience a large increase in financial distress that remains for several years. (JEL G51, I18, J13, J16)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"198 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135499816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child maltreatment has significant and long-lasting consequences. We examine how two interventions designed to curtail prescription opioid misuse, the reformulation of OxyContin and the implementation of must-access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), affected child maltreatment. Our results suggest counties with greater initial rates of prescription opioid usage experienced relatively larger increases in child physical abuse and neglect after OxyContin’s reformulation. We also find some evidence of increases in alleged physical abuse and neglect due to must-access PDMP implementation. Our results uncover unintended consequences for children of reducing the supply of an addictive good without adequate support for dependent users. (JEL I12, I18, J13, K32, K42, L65)
{"title":"The Hazards of Unwinding the Prescription Opioid Epidemic: Implications for Child Maltreatment","authors":"M. Evans, Matthew C. Harris, Lawrence M. Kessler","doi":"10.1257/pol.20200301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200301","url":null,"abstract":"Child maltreatment has significant and long-lasting consequences. We examine how two interventions designed to curtail prescription opioid misuse, the reformulation of OxyContin and the implementation of must-access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), affected child maltreatment. Our results suggest counties with greater initial rates of prescription opioid usage experienced relatively larger increases in child physical abuse and neglect after OxyContin’s reformulation. We also find some evidence of increases in alleged physical abuse and neglect due to must-access PDMP implementation. Our results uncover unintended consequences for children of reducing the supply of an addictive good without adequate support for dependent users. (JEL I12, I18, J13, K32, K42, L65)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"198 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79874108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We show that US multinationals record sales and the profits from these sales in tax havens while their goods and services are physically sold in other countries. We propose a framework illustrating the strategy of sales shifting. Our results reveal the importance of tax havens, which attract a disproportionate fraction of worldwide sales. Our quantification shows a large contribution of sales shifting to multinationals’ profit shifting, which amounted to $80 billion in 2013. Our findings suggest that international corporate tax rules based on sales may not address profit shifting efficiently if the policy designs are unable to identify sales by destination. (JEL F23, H25, H26, H87, L25)
{"title":"Multinationals’ Sales and Profit Shifting in Tax Havens","authors":"Sébastien Laffitte, F. Toubal","doi":"10.1257/pol.20200203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200203","url":null,"abstract":"We show that US multinationals record sales and the profits from these sales in tax havens while their goods and services are physically sold in other countries. We propose a framework illustrating the strategy of sales shifting. Our results reveal the importance of tax havens, which attract a disproportionate fraction of worldwide sales. Our quantification shows a large contribution of sales shifting to multinationals’ profit shifting, which amounted to $80 billion in 2013. Our findings suggest that international corporate tax rules based on sales may not address profit shifting efficiently if the policy designs are unable to identify sales by destination. (JEL F23, H25, H26, H87, L25)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87504423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Theories of partisan redistricting postulate unitary actors maximizing their party’s expected seat share. Yet, the partition of a fixed supply of friendly voters necessarily implies a tragedy of the commons. We recast partisan redistricting as a bargaining game among the sitting representatives of the party controlling the map. The status quo is the threat point, explaining why changes are frequently minor. This bargaining framework implies that highly competitive districts will receive more help from redistricting if they are already represented by the party in charge. Employing a regression discontinuity design with precinct-level data, we find support for this prediction. (JEL C78, D72)
{"title":"Gerrymandering in State Legislatures: Frictions from Axiomatic Bargaining","authors":"Hisam Sabouni, Cameron A. Shelton","doi":"10.1257/pol.20190213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20190213","url":null,"abstract":"Theories of partisan redistricting postulate unitary actors maximizing their party’s expected seat share. Yet, the partition of a fixed supply of friendly voters necessarily implies a tragedy of the commons. We recast partisan redistricting as a bargaining game among the sitting representatives of the party controlling the map. The status quo is the threat point, explaining why changes are frequently minor. This bargaining framework implies that highly competitive districts will receive more help from redistricting if they are already represented by the party in charge. Employing a regression discontinuity design with precinct-level data, we find support for this prediction. (JEL C78, D72)","PeriodicalId":48093,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Journal-Economic Policy","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79660673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}