Economics
Lower-Income Employees Are More Likely to Remain at 401(k) Defaults, Even If It Costs Them Money
Automatically enrolling employees in retirement plans is a powerful tool for increasing savings. But Yale SOM’s James Choi and his coauthors find that once enrolled, people with lower incomes are more likely to remain at default contribution rates, even if they aren’t optimal.
The Rise of the Mutual Fund Is Reducing Corporate Competition and Hurting Consumers
Mutual funds have become large shareholders in most public U.S. firms. The resulting overlaps in ownership are boosting corporate profits but harming consumers, according to a new study co-authored by Florian Ederer of Yale SOM.
Real-Time Placement Odds Can Smooth the School Choice Process
Some families going through the school placement process overestimate their chances of getting into their top choices, and fail to match at any school as a result. Warnings about the placement odds at top schools can dramatically reduce non-placements.
Multinationals Can Have a Positive Local Impact—If They Face Enough Competition for Labor
The United Fruit Company had a reputation for manipulating governments and exploiting workers in Latin America. But Yale SOM’s Diana Van Patten found that in some areas, competition for workers led it to invest in local infrastructure, with long-lasting positive impacts.
Competition from China Contributed to Decline in Union Organizing
New research co-authored by Yale SOM Dean Kerwin K. Charles shows that the rise in imports from China at the beginning of this century accelerated a long decline in union elections, by diminishing the benefits of unionization and increasing the risk.
The Unexpected Impacts of Innovation
Prof. Judith Chevalier’s research has unraveled implicit incentives driving risk taking by mutual fund managers, the ways online reviews shift business strategy and consumer decisions, and the consequences of nursing home workers’ movement between facilities in spreading COVID-19.
The Digital Tool That Helps Robert Shiller Understand the Past
We asked the Nobel Prize-winning Yale economist to reflect on an unexpected source of research information and inspiration. He writes that Google Ngram Viewer can provide important insights about how people saw economic events as they unfolded.
Medicare Helps Close Racial Gaps in Access to Healthcare
In a new study, Yale SOM’s Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham and his co-authors use the transition to Medicare eligibility to test whether universal health coverage can help reduce racial disparities in health.
Controlling the Virus Is the Key to Reducing Inflation
Yale SOM’s William English, a former economist at the Federal Reserve, explains the role of COVID-19 in the spike in prices, considers how policymakers can respond, and confronts the sheer uncertainty of the times.
Lack of Access to Mental Health Treatment Reduces Lifetime Income
Prof. Barbara Biasi and her co-authors found that those who couldn’t access treatment for bipolar disorder paid a price over the course of their careers—suggesting that lack of access to care can worsen economic inequality.
Without a Local Newspaper, Americans Pay Less Attention to Local Politics
Prof. Michael Sinkinson and his co-authors look back at when television, not the internet, was the new technology chipping away at newspaper circulation. They find that when readership diminished, engagement with local politics did too.
