Peer-Reviewed Publications

Links to publications, ungated manuscripts, and press coverage are below.

Event-Studies with a Continuous Treatment

with Brantly Callaway and Pedro Sant'Anna

published | pdf | January 2024. AER P&P 2024, 114.

A continuous and staggered treatment defines many causal parameters at the treatment timing, dose, and time level. Aggregating them across dose values and/or across time is crucial for interpretation and simplifies estimation.

Changes in Family Structure and Welfare Participation Since the 1960s: the Role of Legal Services

with Jamein Cunningham

published | pdf | Appendix | FAQ | AEJ: Applied Economics, Forthcoming


Subsidized legal aid increased divorce, welfare participation, and non-marital births.

Difference-in-Differences with Variation in Treatment Timing

published | pdf | Appendix | FAQ | Journal of Econometrics (March 2021)

Regression DiD is a weighted average of many "simple" DiDs.

The Long-Run Effects of Childhood Insurance Coverage: Medicaid Implementation, Adult Health and Labor Market Outcomes

published | NBER | pdf | Appendices | American Economic Review, 2021 111(18) Coverage: Vox | Washington Post

Kids who got Medicaid in the 1960s grew up to be healthier and more productive adults.

Observational Studies of the Effect of Medicaid on Health: Controls Are Not Enough

with Seth Freedman and Noah Hammarlund

published | pdf | Journal of Labor Economics (Volume in Honor of John DiNardo), 2020 39(S2)

Medicaid does not kill people.

Using Difference-in-Differences to Identify Causal Effects of COVID-19 Policies

with Jan Marcus

published | Survey Research Methods , 2020, 14(2)

Medicaid does not kill people.

Federalizing Benefits: The Introduction of Supplemental Security Income and the Size of the Safety Net

with Lucie Schmidt

pdf | published | Journal of Public Economics, 2020, 185.

When it started in 1974, SSI drew many beneficiaries from other welfare programs.

Public Insurance and Mortality: Evidence from Medicaid Implementation

pdf | Data Appendix | Results Appendices | published | Journal of Political Economy, 2018, 126(1).

Medicaid's introduction saved the lives of a lot of children and infants.

Per Capita Caps in Medicaid: Lessons from the Past

with Sayeh Nikpay

published | New England Journal of Medicine, 2017.

Limits on federal financing in the 1950s made public medical programs smaller not more efficient.

The War on Poverty’s Experiment in Public Medicine: Community Health Centers and the Mortality of Older Americans

with Martha Bailey

published |NBER | American Economic Review, 2015, 105(3)

Federally funded health centers saved lives among older adults in the 1960s.

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Review of The Expert’s War on Poverty (by Romain Huret)

published | Journal of Economic History, 2019, 79(2)

A book about the research, researchers, data, and politics that defined poverty and anti-poverty policy in the 1950s and 1960s.

Causality, Stories, Medicaid, and Opioids

with Emma Sandoe

pdf | Statement for the Record, U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, February 1, 2018

More evidence that the ACA Medicaid expansion did not exacerbate the opioid epidemic.

Did Medicaid Expansion Cause the Opioid Epidemic? There’s Little Evidence That it Did.

with Emma Sandoe

published | Health Affairs Blog, August 23, 2017

The ACA Medicaid expansion did not exacerbate the opioid epidemic.

Review of 150 Years of ObamaCare (by Daniel Dawes)

published | Journal of Economic Literature, December, 2016

A book about the history of health equity advocates and their influence on the ACA.

How do EITC Recipients Spend their Refunds?

with Leslie McGranahan

published | Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Vol. 32, Second Quarter 2008

EITC recipients spend their money on durable goods.

Who Are Temporary Nurses?

with Yukako Ono

published | Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Vol. 31, First Quarter 2007

EITC recipients spend their money on durable goods.