Matthew D. Shapiro, who is professor of economics at the University of Michigan and a research associate at the NBER, was a member of a team that made an in-depth study of how government workers coped with interruption of their incomes during the 2013 Federal government shutdown. [After this recording was made, Congress voted that furloughed federal employees eventually will receive back pay.]

For male blue-collar male workers in Austria, an extra year of early retirement, induced by a policy change, was associated with an increase in the probability of death before age 73 of 1.85 percentage points, according to a study featured in the January edition of the NBER Digest.The researchers find no statistically significant effect of early retirement on women. Also featured in this issue of the monthly Digest: an analysis of consolidation among defense industry contractors, a study of effects of neighborhood environments on children's future possibilities, a look at trends in U.S. retention of STEM PhDs from abroad, an examination of the influence of U.S. monetary policy on global lending, and a comparison of pricing changes among retailers.

The NBER's working group on household finance has convened researchers studying how the presence or absence of financial education programs, self-interested financial advisers, and pension plan participation requirements influence consumer behaviors that affect their financial well-being. A report on this research field is featured in the new issue of the NBER Reporter. Also in this edition of the quarterly Reporter are articles on research into the role of financial factors in economic fluctuations, the price and quality of prescription drugs, public sector personnel management in developing countries, and comparative rates of return.

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