Lauren Eden Jones

Do stimulant medications improve educational and behavioral outcomes for children with ADHD

We examine the effects of a policy change in the province of Quebec, Canada which greatly expanded insurance coverage for prescription medications. We show that the change was associated with a sharp increase in the use of stimulant medications commonly prescribed for ADHD in Quebec relative to the rest of Canada. We ask whether this increase in medication use was associated with improvements in emotional functioning or academic outcomes among children with ADHD. We find little evidence of improvement in either the medium or the long run. Our results are silent on the effects on optimal use of medication for ADHD, but suggest that expanding medication in a community setting had little positive benefit and may have had harmful effects given the average way these drugs are used in the community.

Staying in touch through Extension: an analysis of farmers' use of alternative Extension information products.

The U.S. farming industry is evolving quickly. It is therefore important that state Extension services be prepared to evolve as well. This study uses data collected in a 2007 survey of Ohio farmers to evaluate likelihood and frequency of use of various services offered by Extension as well as overall satisfaction with Extension services. Results indicate that tailoring of topics and communication methods to type of farm and/or farmer informational needs could improve the use of Extension resources. This implies that targeting of information products and methods may improve the performance of Extension education programs and customer satisfaction.

The Effects of CARD Act Disclosures on Consumers’ Use of Credit Cards

This study uses a unique data source on consumer credit card usage to examine the impact of billing disclosure changes mandated by the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act on consumers’ debt payment behaviors. Data are from the Ohio State University’s Consumer Finance Monthly, which interviews a nationally representative sample of 300 to 500 households each month. The survey provides detailed data on credit card ownership, credit terms, usage, and payment behaviors, along with data on employment, income, net worth, and demographics. Estimates using data from June 2006 through December 2011 suggest that the CARD Act disclosures were effective in inducing consumers to increase the amount of credit card debt paid off each month, with the strongest effects seen in the proportion of consumers who pay off balances in full each month. Among credit card users who continue to carry debt, there is minimal evidence of behavior changes due to the new disclosures.

Testing Strategies to Increase Saving and Retention in Individual Development Account Programs

In a series of field experiments we test whether saving and retention rates in a federally funded, matched savings program for low-income families – the Individual Development Account (IDA) program – can be improved through the introduction of program features inspired by behavioral economics. We partnered with eight IDA programs across the U.S. who agreed to randomly assign participants to different experimental conditions. We test the impact of four revenue-neutral changes in key program features: a) holding savers accountable for making savings deposits through phone calls before and after the deposit deadline, b) an increase in the frequency with which deposits are made from monthly to bi-weekly, c) the introduction of a lottery-based incentive structure, whereby match rates are determined in part by a lottery at the time of each deposit, and d) an increase in the savings match from

Timing Is Money: Does Lump-Sum Payment of Tax Credits Induce High-Cost Borrowing?

2 for every

Wage and Employment Growth in America’s Drug Epidemic: Is All Growth Created Equal?

1 saved to

The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Household Finances

4 for every

Child Cash Benefits and Family Expenditures: Evidence from the National Child Benefit

1 saved when half of the savings goal was reached. None of our four interventions had the desired effect of increasing savings. To explain the null findings, we speculate that liquidity constraints, rather than cognitive biases, were the primary impediment to saving.

Effects of informational nudges on consumer debt repayment behaviors

We use the Survey of Income and Program Participation to analyze the impact of the expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit on household savings and high cost debt. Results suggest that increases in tax credit generosity are associated with increases in household savings and high-cost debt. We investigate whether these increases are due to consumption smoothing over the year. The evidence suggest that families use credit card debt, but not savings, to finance consumption between EITC payments. We take this as evidence of the presence of the credit card debt puzzle, and estimate its costs for the EITC program.

Successful Scientific Replication and Extension of Levitt (2008): Child Seats are Still No Safer than Seat Belts

&NA; The rise in drug overdose deaths in the United States since the turn of the millennium has been extraordinary. A popular narrative paints a picture whereby opioid overdoses among white, male, less‐educated, rural workers have been caused by reduced economic opportunities borne by such people. In this article, we causally test the validity of this theory by using Bartik‐type variables to explore the relationship between local economic conditions and county opioid overdose death rates. We add to the literature by exploring how both employment and wage growth in different types of industries are related to opioid overdose deaths for the population as a whole, as well as for rural (vs. urban), male (vs. female) and white (vs. black) populations. We find mixed evidence. Our results confirm that wage and employment growth in industries more likely to employ low‐skill workers are important protective factors for rural, white males. However, we also find evidence that economic improvements in low‐skill industries are just as important in protecting blacks and women against opioid overdoses, and for workers in metro counties. We also find evidence that employment growth in high‐paying industries has led to increases in opioid overdoes rates.