PODCAST · science
AEA Research Highlights
by American Economic Association
A podcast featuring interviews with economists whose work appears in journals published by the American Economic Association.
Episodes
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Ep. 104: Violence against women
Intimate partner violence, or IPV, refers to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse and controlling behavior by a current or former partner. Women bear a disproportionate share of the burden of IPV worldwide—roughly one in three women experience IPV in their lifetimes—and low- and middle-income...
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Ep. 103: When managers try to keep their best workers from moving into other departments
Most firms rely on managers to spot talented workers and to encourage them to move into bigger roles within the company. But managers are judged on how their own teams perform, giving them an incentive to hold on to their best people. In a paper in the American Economic Review, economist Ingrid...
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Ep. 102: The economics of sanctioning a petrostate
In response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the G7 imposed a price cap of $60 per barrel on all Russian oil carried by tankers owned, insured, or serviced by Western companies. Many analysts expected the policy to backfire, with some warning that oil could reach $380 if Russia retaliated by...
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Ep. 101: Views on the dollar shortage controversy
In the fifteen years following the end of World War II, Western Europe's capital account surpluses were not sufficient to finance its trade deficit with the United States. Charles Kindleberger of MIT, who helped assemble the Marshall Plan, defined this gap as the "dollar shortage" and argued that...
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Ep. 100: Environmental market design
Since the 1990s, developers in Florida who want to build on wetlands have been required to buy offset credits from "wetland mitigation banks," private restoration projects that convert degraded land, often former pasture, back into functioning wetland elsewhere in the same region. Like other...
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Ep. 99: The wrong side of the tracks
The place where a child grows up in America shapes their economic future to a significant degree. One long-suspected explanation is racial segregation, but proving whether segregation actually causes worse outcomes—rather than just correlating with them—has been challenging for economists. In a...
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Ep. 98: Delivering clean water
More than two billion people around the world do not have safe drinking water at home. Piped water infrastructure remains out of reach for much of the developing world, and cheaper alternatives like chlorine tablets have low take-up rates even when given away for free. In a paper in the American...
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Ep. 97: A short history of Asian immigration
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States and are on track to become the largest immigrant group by 2050. Yet, researchers have devoted much less attention to this population than to other immigrant groups. In a paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, author...
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Ep. 96: W. E. B. Du Bois and the history of marginalism
W. E. B. Du Bois is remembered as a civil rights leader, sociologist, and author of The Souls of Black Folk. But before he became famous for his empirical studies of Black life in America, Du Bois was a graduate student at Harvard studying cutting-edge economic theory. In 1891, at age 23, he...
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Ep. 95: Diversifying college applications
Guidance counselors generally advise college applicants to diversify their applications across schools they believe to be safeties, matches, and reaches. Yet, prevailing economic theories of school choice suggest that such hedging strategies are suboptimal and that applicants should focus on...
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Ep. 94: Targeted supply-side enforcement in the controlled substance market
Between 1997 and 2011, opioid dispensing in the United States more than tripled, fueling what would become the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. This surge in the supply of opioids was concentrated among a small subset of doctors: roughly 1 percent of the doctors who prescribed opioids...
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Ep. 93: Technological spillovers
The launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October 1957 led to a geopolitical crisis that reshaped American science policy. Within months, Congress established NASA, and by 1961, President Kennedy committed the nation to landing a man on the moon before the decade's end. The resulting…
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Ep. 92: Housing supply skepticism
Most Americans agree that housing costs are too high, often blaming developers and landlords. Many feel that the problem can be solved with price controls, development restrictions, and mandates on providing below-market-rate units. But these ideas are at odds with standard economic policy...
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Ep. 91: Reviewing residential segregation
Despite decades of civil rights legislation, many Black and White Americans, as well as other minorities, continue to live in racially homogeneous neighborhoods, with significant implications for access to quality schools, jobs, healthcare, and economic opportunities. In a paper in the Journal of...
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Ep. 90: Understanding the US net foreign asset position
For decades, the United States enjoyed what some called an exorbitant privilege—the ability to spend more than it earned without accumulating much debt to the rest of the world. But that privilege has ended. In a paper in the American Economic Review, authors Andrew Atkeson, Jonathan Heathcote…
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Ep. 89: Measuring US income inequality
US household income has grown significantly, but much of that growth seems to be at the very top of the distribution. Just how much inequality has increased and why it is growing is a topic of debate among economists. Part of the challenge lies in a seemingly basic question: what exactly counts…
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Ep. 88: Understanding international approaches to drug pricing
Drug prices have become a hot-button issue in the United States, with politicians across the spectrum agreeing that American consumers pay too much for prescription medications. But bringing down drug prices raises fundamental economic challenges that affect innovation, access, and healthcare…
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Ep. 87: The cultural roots of rebellion
Civil conflict has plagued much of Africa, with ethnically diverse countries experiencing particularly high rates of violence. Yet within these nations, patterns vary, leading to questions of why some groups rebel while others do not and why a given group rebels at certain times but not at other...
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Ep. 86: Reexamining air quality regulations
The Clean Air Act has been an essential tool for reducing air pollution in the United States. But standard estimation methods may overstate its impact, according to a paper in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Authors Lutz Sager and Gregor Singer reexamined the 2005 regulations...
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Ep. 85: America's public safety net
The patchwork nature of America's public safety net has evolved over centuries, shaped by political winds and changing views on poverty. Understanding this complicated history may help shed light on the core tensions that continue to define debates about who deserves assistance and how it should…
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Ep. 83: The returns to industrial policy
Between 2006 and 2013, China's government poured enormous resources into its shipbuilding industry through various subsidies—from providing free coastal land to offering financing assistance for ship buyers. But estimating the true scale and impact of these policies is challenging, as governments...
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Ep. 82: Service quality in the financial advisory industry
A growing number of US households hire advisers to assist with major financial decisions, such as planning life events or making portfolio choices for retirement. But some advisers exploit the inherent complexity of these decisions and the lack of sophistication of their clients to benefit...
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Ep. 81: Assessing the Effects of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act
In 2017, then-President Trump signed into law the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which was arguably the largest corporate tax cut in US history. The TCJA significantly lowered the statutory rate that corporations pay in taxes and reshaped numerous tax rules. Proponents said it would boost US…
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Ep. 80: Agricultural productivity and chronic disease
A half a century ago, new high-yield varieties of crops were introduced to India, and it transformed the country's farming. This so-called "Green Revolution" significantly boosted agricultural output, allaying concerns about famine and food security. But it may have had some unanticipated...
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Ep. 79: Social organization and redistribution
Qualitative accounts of anthropologists indicate that social structure plays an important role in how resources are shared in society. But quantitative evidence measuring the impacts of social organization on financial ties and transfers has been lacking. In a paper in the American Economic…
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Ep. 78: Broader economic impacts of the Paycheck Protection Program
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the hopes that it would keep businesses from laying off workers during government shutdown measures taken to contain the spread of the disease. Initial estimates of the direct impacts have been mixed…
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Ep. 77: The political power of historical narratives
In 2005, Austria's most prominent far-right party proclaimed a "Third Turkish Siege of Vienna." The campaign warned voters that, like their ancestors who were almost overrun by the Ottoman Empire four centuries ago, they were being culturally invaded by Muslims. The campaigners hoped to use...
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Ep. 76: The political consequences of NAFTA
In 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed with bipartisan support and near universal endorsement by economists. In hindsight, the economic costs and political consequences were far greater than many contemporary observers would have imagined. In a paper in the American...
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Ep. 75: Moral hazard and migration
Since 2014, over 15,000 migrants have died or gone missing trying to make the voyage from the north coast of Africa to southern Europe. In response, European authorities have launched several search and rescue operations. There are few signs that migration along this deadly route is slowing down....
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Ep. 74: The pace of economics publishing
Timely publication of research in peer-reviewed journals is critical for economists seeking tenure and important for audiences looking for high-quality, trustworthy studies. But in recent decades, there has been an increasing concern that the pace of publishing in economics is too slow. In a…
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Ep. 73: Improving vaccine messaging
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of vaccines, but it also underscored the reservations and low take-up rates among US citizens. In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, authors Marcella Alsan and Sarah Eichmeyer tested several approaches to improving messages...
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Ep. 72: A textbook bank run
In the middle of the day on Friday, March 10, 2023, bank regulators swiftly shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), arguably averting a wider panic. Compared to past financial crises, it was not especially economically significant, but it stands out as an important, illustrative example of the...
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Ep. 71: The roots of US innovation clusters
Before Silicon Valley became a byword for innovation, Route 128, outside of Boston, was America's technology highway, connecting the country's premier technology companies and research facilities. However, this first American high-tech cluster likely would not have developed as it did without one...
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Ep. 70: Counselors matter
Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of effective teachers for student achievement. But new research suggests that school counselors may be just as critical as teaching staff for some students. In a paper in the American Economic Review, author Christine Mulhern found that effective...
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Ep. 69: Testing two theories of the origin of government
Some social scientists have postulated that governments are designed for the purpose of helping the powerful take resources from the less powerful. But while there have been many exploitative governments throughout history, states may have actually started to form as a means of facilitating...
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Ep. 68: Ending school segregation for Mexican Americans
Seven years before the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ended the legal segregation of Black schoolchildren, California ended the legal segregation of Mexican American schoolchildren. That decision, known as Mendez v. Westminster, had a rapid impact across the state and led to…
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Ep. 67: Learning the language
The bulk of education research focuses on the benefits of the traditional K–12 and higher education systems, while non-traditional programs are relatively understudied. But economists are starting to shine a light on the large returns to investing in adult education. In a paper in the American...
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Ep. 66: Transitional housing and recidivism
The United States spends over a billion dollars a year on housing programs that give recently released prisoners a place to stay and modest support before reintegration into society. Yet there is little causal evidence that these programs work. In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Applied...
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Ep. 65: Economic questions raised by Alzheimer's disease
The costs of Alzheimer's disease are significant. In 2021, it affected nearly 6 million Americans and accounted for an estimated 8 percent of total US health-care spending—about as much as cancer and heart disease combined. And those numbers are only expected to increase as the population ages.…
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Ep. 64: Reconceptualizing the path to universal health insurance
For decades US policymakers have tried to achieve the universal health insurance coverage that many other developed countries enjoy. But despite incremental reforms, based on tweaking health insurance markets, America's uninsured population has remained stubbornly high. In a paper in the Journal…
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Ep. 63: Gender bias in bank lending
Around the world, female entrepreneurs borrow less than their male counterparts. Many people suggest that the reason for this gap comes down to the fact that women select into less capital-intensive industries. But in a paper in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, authors J.…
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Ep. 62: The importance of local activism
A wave of political demonstrations in recent years has grabbed headlines and helped to reshape the political landscape. But it's an open question as to whether these protest movements actually change opinions in the long run. In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, authors...
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Ep. 61: Market design and live events
Fans have frequently experienced the frustration of event tickets selling out in a matter of minutes and then being resold for twice as much or more. This combination of underpriced tickets in the primary market and rent-seeking speculation in the secondary market has long puzzled economists. In…
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Ep. 60: Graduate school and mental health
Graduate school should be about learning how to push the frontiers of knowledge. Many students, however, also learn that getting a PhD can push them into emotional and psychological trouble. In a paper in the Journal of Economic Literature, authors Valentin Bolotnyy, Matthew Basilico, and Paul...
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Ep. 59: Mental health therapy in the developing world
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of counseling designed to change unhelpful patterns of thinking. A strong, evidence-based track record has led to its widespread use in high-income countries. But it may also be an important tool for helping people in some of the poorest countries in…
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Ep. 58: How good is popular financial advice?
When most Americans look for financial advice, they don't turn to academic journals for guidance. Instead, they're likely to get information from financial personalities like Dave Ramsey or Robert Kiyosaki, whose books have sold millions of copies. But how good is that advice? In a paper in the...
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Ep. 57: The costs of cultural traditions
Religion is a deep source of tradition and meaning for many people around the world, especially those in developing countries. But religious practices can sometimes stand in the way of long-term economic growth, according to a paper in the American Economic Review. Authors Eduardo Montero and…
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Ep. 56: Fundraising Appeals and the Lift/Shift Question
Major charity appeals can bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. But many worry that these efforts shift money away from other charities or merely move donations forward in time. In a paper in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, authors Kimberley Scharf, Sarah Smith, and Mark...
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Ep. 55: School bullying, cyberbullying, and remote learning
The pandemic has taken a toll on the education system. School enrollment has decreased, teacher turnover has ticked up, and students have experienced substantial learning losses. But there is at least one silver lining, according to a paper in the American Economic Review: Insights. Authors…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does AEA Research Highlights have?
AEA Research Highlights currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is AEA Research Highlights about?
A podcast featuring interviews with economists whose work appears in journals published by the American Economic Association.
How often does AEA Research Highlights release new episodes?
AEA Research Highlights has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Who hosts AEA Research Highlights?
AEA Research Highlights is created and hosted by American Economic Association.
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