Network Topology and Business Entry: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Urban Cycling Infrastructure
by Nia Spells Abstract This study examines how urban bicycle infrastructure impacts New York City’s sit-down restaurant sector. Analyzing longitudinal data (2007 – 2019) through a recentered treatment design, the research shifts focus from individual corridors to systemic network effects. It distinguishes between connectivity (local density) and betweenness centrality (strategic through-traffic). Findings reveal that network […]
Examining County-Level Restrictions on Large-Scale Solar Development in the United States
by Tyler Hayden Ratcliffe Abstract As large-scale solar project development in the United States has taken off over the past two decades, so too has opposition at the state and local level. Counties, which predominantly hold zoning and siting authority over solar development, have increasingly adopted restrictive ordinances that hinder or outright prevent further activity. […]
Impact of Biosimilar Entry on the Effectiveness of Biologic Drug Manufacturers’ Detailing Strategies on Physician Prescribing Habits
by Kadin Thatcher Purath Abstract This paper investigates how the entry of biosimilars into biologic drug markets alters the effect of biologic detailing on physician prescribing habits. Using a panel dataset that links the Open Payments and Medicare Part D databases from 2014–2023, I study physician-level interactions with pharmaceutical firms and subsequent prescription behavior across […]
Let’s Talk About Race (or Anything)
by Julia Ruolan Ma Abstract Oral history interviews contain rich information about how individuals understand their experiences, but their length and complexity have limited their use in empirical research. I develop episodic interview analysis, a framework that segments each interview into thematic episodes at natural transition points, constructing six composite indices capturing both what narrators […]
On the Political Bias of LLMs
by Joshua Daichi Dutton Abstract This paper examines the political alignment of ChatGPT outputs relative to user inputs using 443,843 real-world conversations from WildChat-1M. Text is scored via a bigram method calibrated on 118th Congress speech. OLS and instrumental variables estimates show that model outputs systematically reflect the partisan direction of user prompts while attenuating […]
How the System Matches: Preference Alignment and Waiting Costs in Brazilian Adoption
by Yuri de Melo Costa Abstract I study how Brazil’s Sistema Nacional de Adoção e Acolhimento (SNA) (National Adoption System) matches Children and Adolescents (CAs) to Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs). Despite a ratio of roughly seven certified PAPs per available CA, thousands of children remain in institutional care. Using administrative microdata from the SNA linking […]
Action or Distraction? Assessing the Impact of Post-2020 Police Use of Force Reforms in American Cities
by Vineet Chovatia Abstract Between 2013 and 2024, police killed 13,468 people in the United States. Low-income communities of color, who are disproportionately targeted, bear the brunt of this violence. This reality reflects a legacy rooted in a deeply racist history that continues to shape American policing today. In the wake of regular, highly-publicized killings […]
Religious Identity and Climate-Sustainable Behavior
by Zixin “Finnie” Zhao Abstract What motivates individual action on climate change? The study focuses on the potential influence of religious identities. It employs a laboratory experiment to investigate how priming religious identity affects individuals’ donation behaviors to climate versus non-climate charities in a dictator game setting. In contrast with expectations, this study finds no […]
The Impact of 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit Payments on Low-Income Households’ Labor Supply
by Zixin “Ellen” Zhang Abstract Studies have established that the Advance 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments substantially reduced poverty and food insecurity, but some claim that the CTC payments may create negative labor supply effects that could offset its hardship-reduction benefits. Researchers have used a variety of methods to measure how the monthly CTC […]
The Sub-proportionality of Subjective Probability Weighting in Poker
by William Clark Abstract This study uses Texas Hold’em poker to investigate decision making under uncertainty and the concept of probability weighting, where individuals may overvalue or undervalue uncertain outcomes. I conduct an experiment to assess Cumulative Prospect Theory’s relevance to subjective probabilities in poker by simplifying the game to compare complex and simple gamble […]
