The Lasting Effects of Crime: The Relationship of Discovered Methamphetamine Laboratories and Home Values

This study estimates a household’s willingness to pay to avoid the stigma of crime while minimizing concerns of omitted variable bias. By assuming methamphetamine producers locate approximately at random within a narrowly defined neighborhood, this study is able to use hedonic estimation methods to estimate the impact of the discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory on the home values near that location. Specifically, the analysis designates those closest to the site as the treated, while those slightly farther away act as the comparison group. The discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory has a significant effect on the property values of those homes close to the location that peaks from six to 12 months after each lab’s discovery. The estimates found in this study range from a decrease in sale prices of ten to nineteen percent in the year following a laboratory’s discovery compared to the prices for homes that are farther away but still in the same neighborhood. Surprisingly, the impact does not appear to depend on intensity as both the discovery of a second lab and being very close to the discovered lab do not adversely impact home values.Location choice, crime valuation, methamphetamine, housing prices

Love, Toil, and Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do

The provision of health insurance has previously been shown to be an important determinant of retirement timing among older Americans, but the existing literature has largely ignored some aspects of the inter-spousal dependence of health insurance benefits. Specifically, the literature examines only how retirement may affect the health insurance available to the potential retiree but not how it might affect a spouse's options. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I find that the impact a husband's retirement might have on a wife's health insurance options has a statistically significant impact on a husband's rate of retirement that is independent of considerations of his own health insurance options. In households where the wife is the only one at risk of losing affordable health insurance if the husband retires, the husband is 30 percent less likely to retire than if neither spouse is at risk (a five percentage point decrease in the retirement rate). Based on these findings, prior research is missing one avenue that changes to the Medicare eligibility age and health insurance policy changes through the Affordable Care Act might impact the labor supply of older workers.Retirement, health insurance, household decision-making

International Women's Soccer and Gender Inequality: Revisited

A number of authors have identified the determinants of success in international sporting competitions such as the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup. This paper serves to update past work on international women’s soccer performance given the rapid development of the game over the past decade. We compare the determinants of men’s international soccer team performance with that of their female counterparts and find that a different set of variables are important in explaining success for the two genders. While economic and demographic influences hold for both, the impacts of specific political and cultural factors diverge. In particular, Latin heritage predicts men’s success but not women’s, Muslim religious affiliation reduces women’s success but not men’s, and communist political systems tend to improve women’s performance but reduce men’s performance. Several measures of gender equality improve soccer performance for both men’s and women’s soccer suggesting these indicators of gender equality reflect overall levels of development while other measures of equality, particularly those related to women’s access to education, improve women’s soccer performance without enhancing men’s performance.soccer, football, gender inequality, FIFA World Ranking

Retirement Reversals and Health Insurance: the Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act

This paper uses the longitudinal aspect of the Health and Retirement Study to explore the characteristics associated with reversals in retirement (referred to here as unretirement ). Through the use of survival time analysis, this paper shows that health insurance status and its source are signi cant predictors of unretirement decisions. The relationship is important as the potential impacts of the Affordable Care Act are considered. By comparing the role of health insurance provision to the impact of financial shocks , the analysis finds that insurance is equally important as other financial explanations for retirement reversals. The analysis also shows that health insurance source plays a particularly important role for those who were previously open to the idea of working in retirement while they were still working

The Lasting Effects of Crime: The Relationship of Discovered Methamphetamine Laboratories and Home Values

This study estimates a household’s willingness to pay to avoid the stigma of crime while minimizing concerns of omitted variable bias. By assuming methamphetamine producers locate approximately at random within a narrowly defined neighborhood, this study is able to use hedonic estimation methods to estimate the impact of the discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory on the home values near that location. Specifically, the analysis designates those closest to the site as the treated, while those slightly farther away act as the comparison group. The discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory has a significant effect on the property values of those homes close to the location that peaks from six to 12 months after each lab’s discovery. The estimates found in this study range from a decrease in sale prices of ten to nineteen percent in the year following a laboratory’s discovery compared to the prices for homes that are farther away but still in the same neighborhood. Surprisingly, the impact does not appear to depend on intensity as both the discovery of a second lab and being very close to the discovered lab do not adversely impact home values

Love, Toil, and Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do

The provision of health insurance has previously been shown to be an important determinant of retirement timing among older Americans, but the existing literature has largely ignored some aspects of the inter-spousal dependence of health insurance benefits. Specifically, the literature examines only how retirement may affect the health insurance available to the potential retiree but not how it might affect a spouse\u27s options. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I find that the impact a husband\u27s retirement might have on a wife\u27s health insurance options has a statistically significant impact on a husband\u27s rate of retirement that is independent of consideration

The Impact of Health Insurance Availability on Retirement Decision Reversals

This paper uses the longitudinal aspect of the Health and Retirement Survey to explore the characteristics associated with reversals in retirement (referred to here as "unretirement"). Through the use of survival time analysis, this paper show that health insurance plays a significant role in unretirement decisions. This role is underestimated when a static probit analysis is used alone. The results hold up for a number of different retirement identifiers that are based both on self-reports of retirement and actual work levels. The results are also robust to various definitions of retirement prompted by the difficult question of how to classify partial retirements. The importance of health insurance provision in a retiree’s decision also remains significant when other "shocks" and the prospect of planned unretirement are introduced.

The Persistent Labor Market Effects of a Criminal Conviction and “Ban the Box” Reforms

Past literature has established that individuals who have been incarcerated face difficulties reentering the work force following their release, while finding and keeping a job can significantly reduce recidivism amongst individuals with prior criminal convictions. In attempt to improve employment outcomes, many local and state governments in the United States have initiated Ban the Box regulations. These initiatives delay inquiries regarding criminal history on job applications. Versions of ban the box regulations covering public sector employment have been enacted in 31 states and more than 150 local governments. Ban the box laws have included private employers in eleven states and over 30 metropolitan areas including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. This study uses biennial data from November CPS reports from 2004 through 2016 to estimate the impact of ban the box laws on labor market outcomes using a unique proxy to identify individuals with a criminal record. With a few exceptions, the results do not show the intended improvements in employment and other labor market measures for those with a criminal history

Potential Effects of the Affordable Care Act on the Award of Life Care Expenses

Plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits are entitled to compensation for future medical expenses. We argue that the “guaranteed issue” and “individual mandate” requirements of the recently passed Affordable Care Act (ACA) will allow victims to address their health needs through the purchase of a simple health insurance plan rather than direct compensation for an itemized list of health care needs. As such, damage awards for health expenditures should be capped at a maximum of $5,950 per year. Furthermore, the role of a life care planner should evolve into determining which life care expenses are covered under covered by the minimum insurance requirements mandated by the ACA and which entail additional expenditures beyond those covered by health insurance

Economic Windfalls and the Affordable Care Act: A Policy Proposal

This paper identifies a major issue with windfall payments under either possible interpretation of the ACA as it currently stands. Several alternatives are proposed that would eliminate the windfalls. We advocate the establishment of a tort award funded “Federal Stabilization Fund” to improve the economic efficiency of future health care awards in the age of the Affordable Care Ac