We exploit the precise timing of domestic natural disasters to study the connection between public attention to politics and legislator support for special interests. Our findings show that when a disaster strikes, the news media reduce both their coverage of politics in general as well as that...

We develop a Roy model of social interactions in which individuals sort into peer groups based on comparative advantage. Two key results emerge: First, when comparative advantage is the guiding principle of peer group organization, the effect of moving a student into an environment with...

Background facts / James Piereson -- The broad-based rise in return to top talent / Joshua D. Rauh -- The economic determinants of top income inequality / Charles I. Jones -- Intergenerational mobility and income inequality / Jörg L. Spenkuch -- The effects of redistribution policies on growth...

We implement a new approach for estimating the persuasive effects of political advertising. Our empirical strategy exploits FCC regulations that result in plausibly exogenous variation in the number of impressions across the borders of neighboring counties. Applying this approach to uniquely...

Whether individuals vote strategically is one of the most important questions at the intersection of economics and political science. Exploiting a aw in the German electoral system by which a party may gain seats by receiving fewer votes, this paper documents patterns of preference...

We study the link between market forces, cross-sectional inequality, and intergenerational mobility. Emphasizing complementarities in the production of human capital, we show that wealthy parents invest, on average, more in their offspring than poorer ones. As a result, economic status persists...