Well‐being during the Great Recession: new evidence from a measure of multi‐dimensional living standards with heterogeneous preferences*

Evidence from the Great Recession

How Did Distributional Preferences Change During the Great Recession?∗

To better understand how support for redistributive policies is shaped by macroeconomic shocks, we explore how distributional preferences changed during the recent “Great Recession.” We conducted identical modified dictator games during both the recession and the preceding economic boom. The experiments capture subjects’ selfishness (the weight on one’s own payoff) and equality-efficiency trade...

Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession.

This paper demonstrates that low-skilled Mexican-born immigrants' location choices in the U.S. respond strongly to changes in local labor demand, and that this geographic elasticity helps equalize spatial differences in labor market outcomes for low-skilled native workers, who are much less responsive. We leverage the substantial geographic variation in employment losses that occurred during Gr...

Health and Health Behaviors during the Worst of Times: Evidence from the Great Recession

Health and Health Behaviors during the Worst of Times: Evidence from the Great Recession While previous studies have shown that recessions are associated with better health outcomes and behaviors, the focus of these studies has been on the relatively milder recessions of the late 20th century. In this paper, we examine if the previously established counter-cyclical pattern in health and heath b...

Health and health inequality during the great recession: Evidence from the PSID.

We estimate the impact of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 on health outcomes in the United States. We show that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate resulted in a 7.8-8.8% increase in reports of poor health. In addition, mental health was adversely impacted. These effects were concentrated among those with strong labor force attachments. Whites, the less educated, and women...