This study argues that economic vulnerability causes citizens to participate in clientelism, a phenomenon with various pernicious consequences. To examine how reduced affects citizens’ participation we employ two exogenous shocks vulnerability. First, designed randomized control trial reduce household vulnerability: our development intervention constructed residential water cisterns drought-pro...

Can research findings change political leaders’ beliefs and policies? We use experiments with 2,150 Brazilian municipalities to measure mayors’ demand for response information. In one experiment, we find that mayors are willing pay learn the results of evaluation studies, update their when informed findings. They value larger-sample studies more, while not distinguishing between in rich poor co...

The ability to speak and understand a host country’s primary language is strongly associated with measures of immigrant integration. We estimate the causal effects English training for adult immigrants on participants’ civic economic outcomes using randomized enrollment lotteries from public education program in Massachusetts. Participation doubles voter participation increases annual earnings ...

How do early-life experiences shape political identity? We examine the end of race-based busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, an event that led to large changes school racial composition. Using administrative data, we compare party affiliation adulthood for students who had lived on opposite sides newly drawn boundaries. Consistent with contact hypothesis, find a 10 percentage point increas...

We study the emergence of urban self-governance in late medieval period. focus on England after Norman Conquest 1066, building a novel comprehensive dataset 554 towns. During Commercial Revolution (twelfth to thirteenth centuries), many merchant towns obtained Farm Grants: right self-governed tax collection and law enforcement. Self-governance, turn, was stepping stone for parliamentary represe...

We show that rational but inattentive agents can become polarized, even in expectation. This is driven by agents’ choice of not only how much information to acquire, also what type information. present optimal acquisition, and subsequent belief formation, depends crucially on the agent-specific status quo valuation. Beliefs systematically update away from realized truth with same initial belief...

This paper studies public sector pension obligations, the biggest fiscal challenge currently facing many US cities. Employing a regression discontinuity design around close elections, benefit payments out of city’s pensions are shown to grow faster under Democratic party mayors, while contributions into do not. Previous research showed that parties not matter for wide range cities’ expenditures...

ABSTRACT We study the impact of asymmetric (i.e., conservative or aggressive) disclosure on a firm’s price in classic setting which its stock is traded by risk-averse investors and noise liquidity traders. show that accounting policies alter relative risk faced when they short versus long, causes market to differ for positive negative demand shocks. As result, conservatism raises firms’ valuati...