Culture & Society

The OxyContin epidemic had large demographic effects on communities in the United States. In new research, Carolina Arteaga, Victoria Barone, and Stephen Claassen find that Purdue Pharma’s marketing strategy targeted specific areas, causing college-educated residents to flee and increasing fertility rates among the most affected populations.

The Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Slaughter strips independent agencies of removal protections that made regulatory policy predictable across administrations. In new research, Brian Feinstein and Daniel Hemel find that equity markets assign real value to precisely that kind of insulation.

Finbar Curtin and Matthew Burgess’ recent article analyzing the relationship between the climate and economy has been interpreted as a study proving that climate change’s impact on economic growth is weak. Garvin Jabusch argues that this interpretation is wrong. Rather, the article concludes that statistical estimates of this relationship are limited by data and future capital allocation should favor a ‘no-regrets’ approach anchored in observable cost curves and productive capacity.

New research by Hosein Maleki, Mahsa Kaviani, Simi Kedia, and Shay Pourvosoughi shows that women-owned firms are less likely to get a second chance after filing for bankruptcy and that the gap between male- and female-owned firm filings widens when courts are overloaded.

Matt Lucky reviews Jimmy Wales’ new book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things that Last, now out at Penguin Press.

In new research, Ido Baum, Leszek Balcerowicz, Jakub Karnowski and Andrzej Rzońca assess how Poland achieved economic growth with a populist government. They argue that the economic success is misleading and Poland’s leading party passed harmful policies that affect the country’s long-term growth opportunities. 

In new research in collaboration with Color of Change, Dante Donati and Lena Song find that comments on social media posts help drive platform engagement for organizations. However, comment sections are often populated by a vocal minority, and adversarial comments from them come with reduced off-platform support for the original posters.

In new research, Marco Battaglini, Valerio Leone Sciabolazza, Mengwei Lin and Eleonora Patacchini study how the deaths of large donors change candidates’ electoral results and congressional activity in a new measure of donors’ influence in American politics.

Across three studies, Jana Friedrichsen, Julia Schwarz, and Michel Clement explore how generative AI will change the music industry. They find that while consumers enjoy and even prefer AI-generated music, preferences shift upon learning that the song was AI-generated.

In new research, Jongkwan Lee, Giovanni Peri, and Hee-Seung Yang assess the effects of a sudden reduction in immigrant workers in South Korea. They find that migrant workers were not easily replaceable by natives, resulting in operational disruptions and firm closures.