Rise in minimum wage linked to fewer teen pregnancies
A $1 increase in the minimum wage is associated with a 2 percent drop in the teen birth rate, suggests a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.
Economics
Research roundups, tip sheets, articles and explainers related to the topic of economics and economic equality
Expert Commentary
Private prisons: Research, data and controversies
Do private prisons save money? At what cost to inmates and society? We review the research on a host of related policy questions.
Expert Commentary
Smartphones are distracting even when you’re not using them
Almost everyone has a smartphone. They can be distracting. But new research shows they may also impair our ability to think straight even when we’re not using them.
Expert Commentary
International students: Where they come from and what they study
Over a million international students study in the United States. China provides almost a third, according to a new government paper.
Expert Commentary
Higher alcohol sales tax helps reduce drunk driving crashes
Raising the sales tax on alcoholic beverages leads to fewer crashes with injuries involving drivers who have been drinking. A new study suggests a higher sales tax had the biggest impact on drivers aged 15 to 20 years.
Expert Commentary
Building codes pay for themselves in disaster-prone regions
After the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Florida adopted tough new building codes. They quickly paid for themselves, a new study finds.
Expert Commentary
The FAFSA and gaps in college financial aid
More than 19 percent of college students are eligible for financial aid but don’t complete a FAFSA form, according to published research from an economics professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Expert Commentary
Climate change could uproot millions who live far from the sea
Two recent papers project how inland communities will be negatively affected by climate change and predict destabilizing migrations.
Expert Commentary
Heat waves: Increasingly common, ever more deadly
As the planet warms, record-breaking heat waves have become a public health crisis in developing countries like India, where the heat has killed thousands in recent years.
Expert Commentary
Government contracting program may be failing minority businesses
A federal program that subsidizes minority-owned businesses is not equipping them for success, a new study finds.
Expert Commentary