Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the strain of novel coronavirus that causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that generates high number of infected cases and deaths worldwide. The fundamental question in this field of research is how countries can reduce...

Should the intellectual property rights on the first Covid-19 vaccines be temporarily lifted in applying the Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) flexibility? Is it right to grant the first generation of Covid-19 vaccines a special treatment from an IPR perspective? On what...

The existing literature provides evidence that public opinion and attitudes often affect public policy. However, little is known on how public policy might affect public attitudes and norms. I present new evidence on this topic by using age-based health insurance policies in the United States as...

This paper presents a critical analysis of official data related to COVID-19 in Bihar state, India, which points to the manipulation of data for political ends. The ruling party's claim that the state managed the COVID pandemic brilliantly seems more politically motivated than scientific. We...

The paper analyzes the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) that underlies Health Canada's proposal to limit flavors in electronic cigarettes to mint, menthol and tobacco. The CBA is shown to contain several assumptions that do not accord well with the published literature. The CBA requires many more...

The context of community-based interventions presents formidable problems for any evaluation analysis. Group-randomized studies do possess ideal properties in theory, but in practice, group-randomization might not be a feasible alternative at all or group-randomized studies might be...

We evaluate the impact of a nationwide public health intervention on deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), using population data from Denmark in a regression discontinuity research design. The information campaign - implemented primarily through a universal nurse home visiting program...

The trade war initiated by the Trump administration is the largest since the US imposed the Smoot-Hawley tariffs in the 1930s and was still raging when he left office. We analyze how the trade war impacted the 2020 US Presidential election. Our results highlight the political salience of the...

Peoples' willingness to vaccinate is critical to combating the COVID-19 pandemic. We devise a representative experiment to study how the design of the vaccine approval procedure affects public attitudes towards vaccination. Compared to an Emergency Use Authorization, choosing the more thorough...