National Bureau of Economic Research
Latest from the NBER
NBER Appoints 15 Research Associates, 57 Faculty Research Fellows
The NBER Board of Directors appointed 15 research associates (RAs) at its April 2021 meeting. Two of them were previously faculty research fellows (FRFs).
RA appointments are reserved for tenured faculty members. They are recommended to the Board by directors of the NBER's 20 research programs, typically after consultation with a steering committee of leading scholars. The new RAs are affiliated with 13 different colleges and universities; they received graduate training at 14 different institutions. (Read More)
The Economics of Vaccine Development and Distribution
Vaccines that protect against SARS-CoV-2 are a critical element in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent presentation to the NBER Corporate Associates Symposium, Research Associate Michael Kremer of the University of Chicago described the work that he and his collaborators have done on the economics of vaccine development and distribution. The findings of this research, which are summarized in the video below, offer insights on the design of incentives for vaccine innovation, ways to obtain the maximum public health benefit from the distribution of fixed numbers of vaccine doses, and public policies that can enhance readiness for future pandemics. An archive of NBER videos on pandemic-related research may be found here.
Five NBER working papers distributed this week report on economic, health, and related consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, or on the impact of public policies that respond to it. One studies the effect of various behavioral interventions, “nudges,” on the take-up of vaccines (28726). Another examines the rise in remote work during the pandemic, and assesses the likelihood that it will continue even after the health risks of in-person work abate (28731). Another measures the impact of a campaign that promoted mask-wearing in rural Bangladesh (28734). A fourth analyzes the relative rates of COVID-19 transmission in workplaces and at home, two key inputs to evaluating the net impact of business closure policies on the spread of the virus (28737). And one uses survey data on individual’s risk perceptions during the pandemic to study the correlation between these perceptions and a variety of protective behaviors (28741).
More than 400 NBER working papers have addressed various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These papers are open access and have been collected for easy reference. Like all NBER papers, they are circulated for discussion and comment, and have not been peer-reviewed. View them in reverse chronological order or by topic area.
From the NBER Digest
...a free monthly publication of non-technical summaries of research on topics of broad public interest
Inequality, Discrimination, and the Financial Services Sector
There are substantial disparities across racial and ethnic groups in net worth of households, homeownership rates, and indicators of financial distress such as bankruptcy and low credit ratings. Women and individuals from minority groups are also under-represented in the financial services workforce. Three panelists at a recent NBER conference, organized in collaboration with The Review of Financial Studies, discussed a range of business practices at financial institutions that may affect wealth inequality, as well as strategies for increasing workforce diversity in this sector. Marianne Bertrand of the University of Chicago and NBER, Raphael Bostic of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and Sean Woodroffe of TIAA explored these issues in a conversation moderated by Amit Seru of Stanford University and NBER. The panel discussion may be viewed here.
From the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability
...a free quarterly summarizing research in the NBER's Retirement and Disability Research Center
From the Bulletin on Health
...a free summary of recent NBER Working Papers on health topics, distributed three times a year
From the NBER Reporter
...a free quarterly featuring affiliates writing about their research, program updates, and NBER news
Featured Working Papers
Taking a high-stakes college admissions exam in the last two weeks of the SNAP benefit cycle reduces test scores and lowers the probability of attending a four-year college for low-income high school students, according to research by Timothy N. Bond, Jillian B. Carr, Analisa Packham, and Jonathan Smith.
Median household wealth rose 21.2 percent in real terms between 2016 and 2019 but was down 20.4 percent relative to 2007, though mean wealth more than fully recovered, Edward N. Wolff reports. The wealth share of the top one percent fell by 1.4 percentage points in the most recent three-year period.
The threat of unionization raises wages even for non-union workers, and raising the minimum wage increases the wages of some workers who are not paid the minimum, according to analysis of U.S. labor market data for the 1979-2017 period by Nicole M. Fortin, Thomas Lemieux, and Neil D. Lloyd.
A decomposition of greenhouse gas emissions by US-based manufacturers since 1990 reveals no evidence of offshoring either to or from the United States, according to Claire Brunel and Arik Levinson.
Historical data indicate that about two thirds of China’s poverty in 1980, when sweeping pro-market reforms were initiated, can be attributed to the impact of the Maoist period that began in 1950, according to an analysis by Martin Ravallion.
In the News
Recent citations of NBER research in the media
_______________________________________
Research Projects
Conferences
Books & Chapters
Through a partnership with the University of Chicago Press, the NBER publishes the proceedings of four annual conferences as well as other research studies associated with NBER-based research projects.
Research Spotlights
