NBER: National Bureau of Economic Research Subscribe Media Open Calls Login Research Programs & Projects Conferences Affiliated Scholars NBER News Career Resources About Latest from the NBER Financial Incentives, Nudges, and Vaccine Take-up RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Increasing the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated against COVID-19 is a critical US public health objective. Employers, government officials, and healthcare providers are trying various strategies to increase vaccine take-up, including financial incentives and reminders delivered by text message and in other formats. A new study (29403) reports the findings from a randomized trial in California that evaluated the impact of a battery of incentive programs on vaccine-hesitant individuals. NBER Researchers Mireille Jacobson of the University of Southern California (USC) and Manisha Shah of the University of California Los Angeles, along with Tom Chang of USC and Rajiv Pramanik and Samir Shah of Contra Costa Health Services, found that nudges and incentives increased self-reported intentions to obtain a vaccine but did not raise actual vaccination rates. Jacobson summarizes the study's findings in the video above. An archive of NBER videos on pandemic-related research may be found here. New COVID-19 Working Papers: November 22, 2021 NEWS ARTICLE Three new working papers distributed this week report on economic, health, and related consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and public policies that respond to it. One studies the effect of school closures, and the switch to remote schooling, on the test scores of K-12 students (29497). Another analyzes cross-country data to analyze the association between nationwide vaccination rates and the fraction of COVID-19 patients who die from the virus (29498). Another estimates the number of excess deaths in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (29503). More than 490 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 Like all NBER papers, they are circulated for discussion and comment, and have not been peer-reviewed.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. Fellowship Opportunities ARTICLE The NBER is now accepting applications for 14 fellowships to support dissertation-writers and 10 fellowships to support post-doctoral researchers during the 2022-23 academic year. The fellowships support research on a range of topics. Most application deadlines are December 9, 2021. Details A research summary from the monthly NBER Digest Improved Market Access Helps Amazonian Fisherman ARTICLE In the impoverished communities of the Brazilian Amazon, one of the most remote settings in the world, fishermen harvest a huge, prehistoric, air-breathing fish called a pirarucu. Historically, they have sold the fish to middlemen who wield significant market power, resulting in a large gap between the price the fishermen receive and the price charged to the consumer. In Big Fish in Thin Markets: Competing with the Middlemen to Increase Market Access in the Amazon (NBER Working Paper 29221) Viva Ona Bartkus, Wyatt Brooks, Joseph P. Kaboski, and Carolyn E. Pelnik study an intervention... From the NBER Bulletin on Entrepreneurship Exploring the Chemistry of Entrepreneurial Teams ARTICLE In Diversity and Performance in Entrepreneurial Teams (NBER Working Paper 28684), Sophie Calder-Wang, Paul Gompers, and Kevin Huang analyze data from an entrepreneurship course at Harvard Business School (HBS) to explore the links between team diversity and entrepreneurial success. The researchers collect data from a course taken by all 3,684 first-year MBA students in the classes of 2013 to 2016. Over a semester, teams of five to seven students worked together to design and launch microbusinesses, which faculty mentors and judges evaluated… Central Bank Digital Currencies: Challenges and Opportunities RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Panelists at a recent meeting of the NBER’s Asset Pricing Program discussed the economics of central bank digital currencies. Ulrich Bindseil of the European Central Bank joined three NBER affiliates, Markus K. Brunnermeier of Princeton University, and Darrell Duffie (moderator) and Monika Piazzesi of Stanford University, on the panel. From the NBER Reporter: Research, program, and conference summaries Including Environmental Services in National Income Statistics ARTICLE For nearly a century, the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs) have provided policymakers, investors, academics, and the lay public with essential indicators of economic performance. However, since their inception, it has been widely acknowledged, especially among economists, that the NIPAs are an incomplete gauge of output and growth. Critical omissions include the value of home production, leisure time, environmental pollution damage, and natural resources in situ. Beginning with the seminal work of William Nordhaus and James Tobin in 1973, economists have estimated the magnitude of these gaps. Subsequent research estimating the magnitude of pollution damage in the United States and the global economy finds that they loom large relative to… From the NBER Bulletin on Health Medicaid Managed Care Outcomes Vary with Patient Health ARTICLE In 2016, 80 percent of Medicaid enrollees received their insurance through private managed care plans. These private plans take responsibility for providing medical care for Medicaid recipients in exchange for a fixed per-enrollee payment from the state. These arrangements could restrain Medicaid spending if private firms had a greater incentive to control costs than the government does. However, such cost savings could have implications for patient health. Outcomes could improve, for example, if spending reductions are due to better preventive care. Alternatively, health could suffer if the cost savings reflect lower quality of care or reduced access to necessary care. Furthermore, the health... From the NBER Bulletin on Retirement and Disability Changes in Social Security’s Delayed Retirement Credit ARTICLE Social Security is the primary source of income for most individuals aged 65 and up. Benefits depend on the worker’s earning history and on the age at which benefits are claimed, which may be as early as age 62. For each month beyond the Full Retirement Age (FRA) that the worker delays claiming (up to age 70), the monthly benefit amount is increased by the Delayed Retirement Credit (DRC). The DRC has increased substantially over time, from 3 percent per year of delay for those born prior to 1925 to 8 percent per year of delay for those born in 1943 and later. The DRC increase was phased in gradually in 0.5 percentage point increments every two years. This change has strengthened the incentive to delay claiming for more recent birth cohorts. However, the effects of the policy change have not been extensively studied. … Featured Working Papers Zoning Restrictions and Land Prices NOVEMBER 24, 2021 Restrictions on land use are especially burdensome in large West Coast housing markets, and have been associated with sharp recent rises in land prices in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle markets, Joseph Gyourko and Jacob Krimmel find. Rents and Intangible Capital NOVEMBER 23, 2021 As much as two-thirds of the gap between physical investment and valuations in the United States can be explained by the growth of the intangible capital stock and rents generated by it, according to a study by Nicolas Crouzet and Janice C. Eberly. Causal Effect of Heat on Violence NOVEMBER 22, 2021 Utilizing daily weather variation across Mississippi, Anita Mukherjee and Nicholas J. Sanders find that on days when the average temperature is above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of violent acts and the probability of violence occurring at correctional facilities are about 20 percent higher than on other days. Infrastructure Investment and Monopsony NOVEMBER 19, 2021 India’s Golden Quadrilateral expressway expansion reduced monopsony power among manufacturing firms near the newly constructed highways and increased labor’s share of income by 1.8 to 2.3 percentage points, Wyatt Brooks, Joseph P. Kaboski, Illenin O. Kondo, Yao Amber Li, and Wei Qian find. Access to Telemedicine NOVEMBER 18, 2021 Increased access to telemedicine in Israel following the March-April 2020 COVID-19 lockdown was associated with a 3.6 percent rise in primary care visits and a decrease in per-visit costs of 5.7 percent, according to research by Dan Zeltzer, Liran Einav, Joseph Rashba, and Ran D. Balicer. View all In the News Recent citations of NBER research in the media _______________________________________ New Study: Small Business Owners Like Paid Family Leave Even More Once They've Tried It NOVEMBER 24, 2021 SOURCE: Inc. Read the research here. How negative feedback impacts women and men differently NOVEMBER 23, 2021 SOURCE: Quartz Read the research here. There are Lessons to be Learned from Studying Impact of Remote Classes on Students NOVEMBER 23, 2021 SOURCE: Insider NJ Read the research here. Workers doubt employers' commitments to closing pay gaps NOVEMBER 23, 2021 SOURCE: HR Dive Read the research here. Is it time to be open about pay? NOVEMBER 23, 2021 SOURCE: Financial Times Read the research here. View all Research Projects Economic Analysis of Regulation PROJECT Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Program in Behavioral Macroeconomics, 2022-2024 PROJECT Investing in the Economics of Innovation PROJECT NB22-06: A New Database to Measure Changes in the Association Between Income, Race, and Life Expectancy Over Time PROJECT NB22-09: Structural Barriers to Receipt of Income Support and Health Insurance among Adults with Disabilities by Race and Ethnicity PROJECT More NBER Research Projects Conferences Labor Studies Program Meeting, Fall 2021 CONFERENCE ORGANIZER(S): David Autor & Alexandre Mas COVID-19 and Health Outcomes, Fall 2021 CONFERENCE ORGANIZER(S): David M. Cutler, Maria Polyakova & Kosali I. Simon Behavioral Finance Meeting, Fall 2021 CONFERENCE ORGANIZER(S): Nicholas C. Barberis Organizational Economics, Fall 2021 CONFERENCE ORGANIZER(S): Robert S. Gibbons Monetary Economics Program Meeting, Fall 2021 CONFERENCE ORGANIZER(S): Anna Cieslak & Olivier Coibion Explore 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. Economics of Research and Innovation in Agriculture BOOK AUTHOR(S): Petra Moser Incentives and Limitations of Employment Policies on Retirement Transitions: Comparisons of Public and Private Sectors BOOK AUTHOR(S): Robert L. Clark & Joseph P. Newhouse Big Data: Long-Term Implications for Financial Markets and Firms BOOK AUTHOR(S): Itay Goldstein, Chester S. Spatt & Mao Ye Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 35 BOOK AUTHOR(S): Robert A. Moffitt NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2020, volume 35 BOOK AUTHOR(S): Martin Eichenbaum & Erik Hurst Explore Books & Chapters Research Spotlights NBER researchers discuss their work on subjects of wide interest to economists, policymakers, and the general public. Recordings of more-detailed presentations, keynote addresses, and panel discussions at NBER conferences are available on the Lectures page. Mireille Jacobson Discusses Financial Incentives, Nudges, and Vaccine Take-up RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Increasing the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated against COVID-19 is a critical US public health... Asset Pricing Program Meeting Panel Discussion - Central Bank Digital Currencies: Challenges and Opportunities RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT The Panel Discussion was part of the 2021 Fall Asset Pricing Program Meeting Dirk Krueger Summarizes Losses of Learning and Earnings from School Closures RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Nearly all schools in the United States suspended in-person learning during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.... Anne Case and Angus Deaton summarize Mortality Rates by Education Level, Pre- and Post-Pandemic RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Within age, gender, racial, and ethnic groups in the United States, mortality rates are lower for those who have... Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas Summarizes Macroeconomic Effects of Pandemic-Induced Fiscal Stimulus RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Most nations adopted expansionary fiscal policies in response to the economic disruption associated with the COVID-19... 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