Research
Study Shows Which Restrictions Prevent COVID-19 Fatalities—and Which Appear to Make Things Worse
New research from Yale SOM’s Heather Tookes and Matthew Spiegel finds that mask mandates, closing restaurants, and stay-at-home orders are all effective at saving lives, but other commonly used measures can actually worsen the spread of the pandemic.
![A sign reading "everyone is required to wear a mask" at Playland’s Castaway Cove, an amusement park in Ocean City, New Jersey, in September 2020. Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images.]()
No Matter What We Earn, We Believe Our Richer Neighbors Have More to Give
According to a new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Gal Zauberman, people of a wide range of income levels believe that they are giving what they should to charity—but that even richer people have more spare income and a greater obligation to give.
![An illustration showing progressively richer neighbors, each pointing to the next]()
What Can Smartphone Location Data Tell Us about the Pandemic?
Yale SOM’s Kevin Williams and his co-authors used cellphone location data to create a data set tracking movement during COVID-19, which is publicly available for researchers.
![A satellite view of North America at night]()
Testing Sewage Can Provide an Early Warning of COVID-19 Outbreaks
Earlier this year, a team of Yale researchers showed that the concentration of COVID-19 RNA in sewage mirrors the spread of the disease through a population. In a new study, they find that testing sewage can serve as an early indicator of an outbreak relative to hospitalizations.
![A transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. Courtesy of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.]()
Study Finds Hospital Desegregation Didn’t Improve Mortality Rate for Black Infants
Efforts in the late 1960s to desegregate hospitals in the American South did not significantly contribute to improvements in the Black infant mortality rate, finds a new study co-authored by Dean Kerwin Charles.
![A black and white photo of a Black woman holding a newborn baby in a hospital ed]()
During the COVID-19 Crash, Investors’ Beliefs Didn’t Match Their Behavior
Despite a general wave of pessimism following the COVID-19 stock crash in March, few investors made significant changes to their portfolios, according to new research from Yale SOM’s Stefano Giglio.
![A trader at the New York Stock Exchange on February 28, 2020. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images.]()
Can We Protect Our Election from the Bots?
More than 50,000 Russia-linked bots were active on Twitter during the 2016 election. Are they back? We talked with Prof. Tauhid Zaman, who has carried out a series of studies identifying bot networks and assessing their impact.
![A photo illustration of legions of toy robots]()
A Passionate Startup Pitch Is Powerful—But Can Be Misleading
According to a new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Song Ma, those with cheerful and enthusiastic presentations are more likely to get venture capital funding—and less likely to build successful ventures.
![An illustration of an entrepreneur leaping in the air and wearing pom-poms while presenting]()
Can Religious Teachings Help Lift People Out of Poverty?
A study in the Philippines, co-authored by Yale SOM’s James Choi, suggests that learning Protestant Christian values and theology can boost poor families’ income.
![A speaker in front of a whiteboard in the Philippines]()
Choosing the Wrong Health Insurance Could Kill You
Yale SOM’s Jason Abaluck and his co-authors calculated that the Medicare Advantage plans appreciably influence the survival rates of their enrollees. Shutting down the plans with the highest mortality rates could save thousands of lives per year.
![An illustration of a man choosing between three doors leading into shark-infested waters]()
