Research roundups, articles and explainers about natural experiments. Natural experiments are real-life events, like natural disasters or new laws, which allow researchers to observe how those events affect people. In contrast to laboratory experiments and randomized control trials, researchers have no control over the real-world situations related to a natural experiment.
2015 report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence analyzing effective property tax rates for homes and businesses in all 50 states.
Expert Commentary
2015 selection of research on performance-based funding for higher education, including unintended impacts, an international comparison and a case study involving one historically black university.
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2015 review of recent research on the relationship between the presence of urban vegetation or green space and human health and well-being.
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2015 roundup of research and analyses on corruption in sports, with a focus on soccer and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
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2014 study in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management demonstrating how police ticketing campaigns can reduce traffic crashes and fatality rates.
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2014 research from UCLA, the RAND Corporation, ACT and Columbia University published in Pediatrics exploring how students in Los Angeles benefit from attending better-quality schools.
Expert Commentary
2013 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research on how attendees of the Promise Academy in the Harlem Children’s Zone did later in life.
Expert Commentary
2013 study published in American Law and Economics Review on the effectiveness and operational mechanisms of community prosecution approaches.
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2013 review of studies on the connection between human genes and political preferences. Research from both political scientists and geneticists are reviewed.
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2013 review of reearch on the health effects of coal, with a focus on a study in PNAS on the relationship between coal combustion and mortality in China.
Expert Commentary