This study examines how unemployment insurance (UI) helps families weather the strain of job loss. Using household survey data linked to state-level changes in UI benefits, the authors show that more generous benefits reduce the likelihood that layoffs lead to divorce or separation and also moderate the impact of job loss on childbearing. Specifically, higher benefits cushion men from the increased divorce risk and lower fertility typically associated with layoffs, while also softening the effects of women’s layoffs, which otherwise raise the risk of separation and increase fertility.

Spillover effects are critical mechanisms in social and economic systems, influencing outcomes across a wide spectrum of social science research. Accurately estimating these effects is essential for policymakers. A major limitation of existing studies is the common assumption of homogeneous spillover effects—treating them as identical across all individuals, firms, or entities.

“Smart Thermostats, Automation, and Time-Varying Prices" was published in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics Vol. 17 No. 1 in January 2025. Read more at: https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20210618

Story by Gita Smith

This paper examines the relationship between growing up amid armed conflict and acceptance of violent behavior later in life. With this aim, we match data from 48 Demographic and Health Surveys in 23 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with records of all conflict events in the region post-WWII. Our empirical strategy exploits within-country variation in conflict exposure across survey clusters and over birth years. We find that attitudes toward domestic violence vary with past exposure to a high-intensity conflict (war) during childhood, but the estimated association is small in magnitude.

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, instability can shape how people manage their money. This study, co-authored by Georgia Tech economist Robert Gonzalez, examines
how violence influences the adoption and use of mobile money in Afghanistan—a technology often viewed as a pathway to financial inclusion.

Moral hazard is the workhorse model of financial incentive provision in economics, with applications ranging from pay-for-performance in employer-employee relationships to the design of insurance premiums. While an extensive theoretical literature has delivered important qualitative insights about the properties that real-world incentive schemes ought to have, the practical implementability of these prescriptions is limited by the model's demanding assumption that the employer knows both the employee's performance capabilities and also how strongly he responds to financial incentives.

Shatakshee Dhongde published a new article on COVID-19 and mortality among infants: Evidence from India in the Journal of Health Economics, co-authored with Erdal Asker and Abu Shonchoy. In this article, the authors present the first survey-based evidence on infant mortality in a developing country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors compile high-quality, nationally representative data from India on maternal and infant health.