Research

Publications

“The Effects of Weather Shocks on Crop Prices in Unfettered Markets: The United States Prior to the Farm Programs, 1895-1932.” with Price Fishback and Paul Rhode In Climate Change: Past and Present, edited by Gary Libecap and Richard Steckel. NBER (forthcoming).

 

“A Patchwork Safety Net: A Survey of Cliometric Studies of Income Maintenance Programs in the United States in the First Half of the Twentieth Century.” with Price Fishback, Samuel Allen and Brendan Livingston.  Journal of Economic Surveys (forthcoming)

 

Working Papers

Public Health Movements, Local Poor Relief, and Child Mortality in American Cities: 1923-1932 (Job Market Paper)

This paper analyzes the impact of public health education and poverty relief on child mortality in the early twentieth century.  A recurring criticism of the social health care system in the United States has been that too large a share has been devoted to health education, doctor training and facility construction, and not enough has been put into the actual provision of care to individuals.  The early public health programs focused on health education.  Evaluating the success of these early programs helps us understand the methods used to reduce mortality in American history.  Additionally, they offer tests of how well these types of low-cost policies might work in reducing child and infant mortality in countries facing conditions similar to those faced by industrializing cities in the U.S. in the early 1900s.

 

Public Health and Child Mortality in Early 20th Century Rural America

Between 1926 and 1932, the infant mortality rate in rural areas dropped by more than twenty percent (U.S. Bureau of Census 1932, 28)  These were areas unaffected by the large scale public works projects that were occurring in the large municipalities during this time. Public health historians conjecture that one reason for the decline was improvements in public knowledge about simple health procedures like hand washing and boiling water.  As yet, they have not been able to directly test the success of these programs.  This paper evaluates the success of these public health education programs that were implemented within select counties concentrated in the southeastern United States.

 

Weather Shocks, Crop Prices and Government Intervention in Markets: How American Farm Programs Affected the Ability of Local Markets to Respond to Local Supply Shocks

The agricultural programs originally implemented as part of the New Deal legislation were intended to both increase agricultural commodity prices and reduce their volatility through government payments to reduce crop acreage, crop loans with minimum price guarantees, and controls on the marketing of the crops.  This paper addresses multiple issues related to these programs using state-level panel data on farmgate prices, output, and weather, including how well the acreage reduction programs worked to reduce output in the 1930s and how the different incentive mechanisms built into the New Deal farm programs influenced output and prices. 

 

The Labor Market Returns to Attending a Female Dominated School

This paper examines the returns to education when people are taught in same-sex schools.  In particular, I examine the impact on future wages for women who attend a college with predominantly females.  Given the surge of interest in single-sex high schools and colleges, and the reversal of the college gender gap, it is important to see how different educational processes influence future labor market outcomes.