Comparing active-duty patients treated on base who cannot sue their physicians to active-duty patients treated off base who can sue, researchers find that doctors who are immune from suits order fewer diagnostic tests, and total cost of care for their patients declines 5 percent. A summary of the study is featured in the November edition of The NBER Digest. Also featured in this month’s issue are studies exploring the apparent inattentiveness of investors to some valuable information, the impact of artificial intelligence on international trade, the influence of parental education and school quality on intergenerational upward mobility, the role of leverage feedback loops in the 2015 Chinese stock market crash, and the effectiveness of a Border Patrol program to curb illegal entry to the United States.

Taxation levels affect both the quality and quantity innovation, and the location decisions of inventors and firms, according to studies discussed in the latest edition of the quarterly NBER Reporter. Also in this edition of the quarterly Reporter, NBER researchers write about their inquiries into the economics of drug development, what really happened when the housing market collapsed, the role of liquidity in the 2007–09 financial crisis, and the sometimes unforeseen consequences of energy and environmental policies.

The advent of AI brought vast expectations that the new technology could provide new tools and insights in a wide variety of fields. A recent meeting of healthcare economists, summarized in the current issue of the NBER's Bulletin on Aging and Health, presented concrete examples of how machine learning can aid healthcare researchers and practitioners. One presentation demonstrated the ability of machine learning to predict which patients were most at risk for heart-attack related complications, while another uncovered predictors of potential opioid abuse among Medicare patients. Also in this issue of the Bulletin on Aging and Health: A historical exploration of the male-female life expectancy gap and estimates for the remaining lifetime medical expenses for retirees.