Highlighted Publications




 

Garthwaite et al. (2025) examine who benefits from the economic rents generated by college sports under amateurism. They ask how revenue from football and men’s basketball is redistributed within athletic departments. They analyze panel data on revenues and expenditures from Power Five athletic programs (2006–2019), along with player-level demographic data. They find substantial rent-sharing: about $0.31 of each additional dollar is reinvested in revenue sports, while roughly

Taylor (2025) examines whether placing foster children in family homes rather than congregate care improves long-term outcomes. He uses national administrative foster care data (2010–2015) linked to survey outcomes at age 21, and applies an instrumental variable based on exits from foster families. He finds that family placement substantially improves outcomes, increasing a combined index of employment, education, and reduced incarceration, homelessness, and substance abuse b

Kleinman (2026) studies whether making it easier to sign up for public benefits increases SNAP enrollment among older adults who already receive SSI. She uses American Community Survey data and compares states that adopted a simplified enrollment system to those that did not. Using a difference-in-differences approach, she finds that easier sign-up leads to higher participation. SNAP enrollment rises by about 8–10 percentage points, or roughly 17–24 percent above the starting

Molina and Rudik (2024) examine how much hurricane forecasts reduce damage and improve decision-making. They study all U.S. hurricanes making landfall from 2005–2022, combining detailed county-level data on forecasted and actual wind speeds, federal protective spending, recovery costs, and damages. They find forecasts strongly influence pre-storm spending and that underestimating wind speed significantly raises damages. For example, a 10 m/s underforecast increases county dam