It is well documented that policy and behavioral responses to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic have become politically polarized in the United States. We test whether some of these differences may be the result of varying exposure to information using a nationally representative sample of...

In theory, public school districts with more funding might be more likely to reopen in person if resources are a primary driver of their reopening decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it is also possible that these decisions are influenced by other factors including political...

Historically, United States Veterans have represented an at-risk group for a variety of social ailments, including homelessness, disability, depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, and suicide, among others. This paper presents descriptive evidence on the economic and subjective well-being...

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed peoples’ lives in unexpected ways, especially how they allocate their time between work and other activities. Demand for online learning has surged during a period of mass layoffs and transition to remote work and schooling. Can this uptake in online learning...

This paper examines the role of political factors in mediating the formation of beliefs among individuals and the adoption of regional policies in the United States. First, using comprehensive and nationally representative data on over 47,000 individuals available from March to July, we document...

Using weekly variation from April 23 to June 23, we exploit the surge in unemployment over the corona-virus pandemic to identify the effects on mental health outcomes and the role of marital status as a protective factor for households. We find that married respondents are 1-2 percentage points...

This paper studies how shocks to the social network can have aggregate effects. First, using daily consumption data across counties over the COVID-19 pandemic and Facebook's Social Connectedness Index (SCI), we find that a 10% rise in SCI-weighted cases and deaths is associated with a 0.18% and...

The COVID-19 pandemic represents the largest world-wide shock in at least a decade. Moreover, the spread of the virus has been highly heterogeneous. This paper investigates the role of social capital as a potential mediating factor for the spread of the COVID-19 virus. On one hand, higher social...