Highlighted Publications




 

Agan et al. (2026) examined whether electing a reform-minded prosecutor changes misdemeanor and felony charging and conviction rates. They analyzed county-level administrative criminal justice data from the Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) covering 25 jurisdictions, using variation in the timing of reform prosecutors taking office and a staggered difference-in-differences design. They found that reform prosecutors reduced misdemeanor convictions by about

Finkelstein and Gentzkow (2026) asked whether places that increase Medicare spending also increase life expectancy for older adults. They analyzed Medicare claims and mortality data for millions of beneficiaries, using migration (“mover”) designs to separate the effects of places from the characteristics of the people who live there. They found that places with larger causal effects on health care spending did not produce longer life expectancy. Place-based factors explained

Gottlieb and Nicholson (2026) asked how barriers to physician entry and competition from substitute health care providers shape physician markets. They reviewed evidence from medical school and residency data, physician workforce statistics, licensing regulations, insurance claims, earnings data, and prior economic research. They found that strict limits on medical school and residency positions continue to restrict physician supply, while nurse practitioners, physician assis

Bhattacharya, Illanes, and Stillerman (2026) ask how mergers affect consumer prices and whether U.S. antitrust enforcement effectively identifies harmful mergers. They examine 129 consumer product markets involved in 47 mergers from 2006 to 2017, using NielsenIQ retail scanner data. They find that mergers increased prices by only 0.4% on average, but effects varied substantially. Twenty-five percent of mergers raised prices by more than 3.9%, while another quarter reduced pri