Research

New NBER Papers

Latest Books

The Digest

Impact of New York City’s Congestion Pricing Program
Article
In January 2025, New York City (NYC) implemented the first cordon-based congestion pricing program in the United States. The program levies charges on vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district (CBD) during peak hours, 5 am–9 pm on weekdays and 9 am–9 pm on weekends. Passenger vehicles pay $9 each day they enter during peak hours, motorcycles pay $4.50, and trucks and buses pay between $14.40 and $21.60, depending on their size. For-hire vehicles are charged on...

Liberty Bond Drivers Had Long-Lived Effects on Investor Behavior
Article
Can early financial experiences affect lifelong investment decisions? A new study finds that one of America’s largest financial literacy campaigns—the Liberty Bond drives of World War I—influenced household investment behavior long after the war bonds had been repaid.In ‘Invest!’: Liberty Bonds and Stock Ownership over the Twentieth Century (NBER Working Paper 33541), Gillian Brunet, Eric Hilt, and Matthew S. Jaremski study the nationwide Liberty Bond drives of 1917–19...

The Reporter

Program Report: Development of the American Economy
Article
Author(s): Leah Platt Boustan & William J. Collins
The Development of the American Economy (DAE) program was one of the first research programs launched by Martin Feldstein in 1978 when he formalized the modern structure of the NBER.The mission of the program is to research historical aspects of the American economy. Its members are economic historians whose specific interests span many subfields within economics, including macroeconomics, labor economics, finance, political economy, trade, and industrial organization....

Collusion in Public Procurement
Article
Author(s): Sylvain Chassang & Kei Kawai
In both developed and developing countries, annual spending on public procurement averages about 12 percent of national GDP. The efficiency of public procurement can have a long-run impact on the growth and productivity of countries. A major challenge in achieving efficiency, however, is the possibility of collusion among suppliers. Collusive agreements increase prices, leading to wasted tax dollars or, in the case of developing countries, wasted foreign aid. These...

The Bulletin on Retirement & Disability

Health Inequality and Economic Disparities by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
Article
In Health Inequality and Economic Disparities by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender (NBER Working Paper 32971 an earlier version, NBER RDRC Paper NB23-11), Nicolò Russo, Rory McGee, Mariacristina De Nardi, Margherita Borella, and Ross Abram use data from the Health and Retirement Study over the period 1996–2018 to evaluate measures of health inequality in middle age and the consequences of such health disparities. At age 55, Black men and women...

Disability Benefits, Aggregate Economic Conditions, and Earnings
Article
In How Do Economic Conditions Affect Earnings and Return to Disability Programs for Beneficiaries Whose Benefits Were Terminated? (NBER RDRC Paper NB22-03), Jeffrey Hemmeter, Kathleen Mullen, and Stephanie Rennane find that individuals whose benefits end due to medical improvement during an economic downturn earn less in the short run and are more likely to reapply for benefits within five years than those whose benefits end during stronger economic...

The Bulletin on Health

Additional Educational Attainment Reduces Alzheimer’s Risk
Article
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) represent a growing global health crisis, with cases projected to reach 131.5 million by 2050. The economic burden is substantial: In 2020, ADRD cost the United States $305 billion, with forecasts suggesting a threefold increase over the next 35 years in the absence of effective interventions. While previous research has associated lower educational attainment with increased ADRD risk, establishing causality has proved...

Policy Changes and Pharmaceutical Innovation Combine to Increase Naloxone Access
Article
Naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, is a critical tool for responding to the opioid crisis. However, prior to the 2010s, two barriers hindered its widespread distribution and use in the United States. One was legal access: Naloxone required a prescription from a healthcare provider. Another was that naloxone was administered by injection and therefore required training for proper use. In 2010, Illinois became the first state to adopt a dispensing...

The Bulletin on Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship as an Alternative to Flexibility at Work
Article
The surge in remote work in recent years has transformed labor markets, with potentially important implications for the interaction between workplace flexibility and entrepreneurship. In Hustling from Home? Work from Home Flexibility and Entrepreneurial Entry (NBER Working Paper 33237), John M. Barrios, Yael Hochberg, and Hanyi (Livia) Yi explore whether the increased flexibility provided by work-from-home (WFH) arrangements has affected entrepreneurial decisions....

The Earnings of Self-Employed Workers
Article
Self-employed workers have significantly higher average incomes and steeper, more persistent income growth profiles than their paid-employed counterparts, according to On the Nature of Entrepreneurship (NBER Working Paper 32948), a study by Anmol Bhandari, Tobey Kass, Thomas J. May, Ellen McGrattan, and Evan Schulz. The researchers analyze a new longitudinal dataset constructed from Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration records,...