National Bureau of Economic Research

A recent European Union directive requires member states to provide at least two months of earmarked paternity leave. In Expanding Paternity Leave: Effects on Beliefs, Norms, and Gender Gaps (NBER Working Paper 34862), Henrik Kleven, Camille Landais, Anne Sophie S. Lassen, Philip Rosenbaum, Herdis Steingrimsdottir, and Jakob Egholt Søgaard study the effects of expanding earmarked paternity leave in ...

The American Economic Association (AEA) has named four new Distinguished Fellows, three of whom, Marjorie McElroy, N. Gregory Mankiw, and Robert A. Margo, have long-standing ties to the NBER.  

Marjorie McElroy of Duke University has done path-breaking research in labor economics with a focus on the application of bargaining theory to understand within-household decision making. She served on the NBER Board of Directors for 32 years and is currently a director emeritus. 

N. Gregory Mankiw of Harvard University has contributed foundational improvements to our…

The Development Economics (DEV) program was launched in 2012 and has 190 affiliated researchers. The success the program is enjoying today is in very large part thanks to Duncan Thomas, who led the program for its first six years. A unique aspect of the program is its close connections with BREAD, the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development, which is an independent group with worldwide membership. Our fall program meeting is held jointly with BREAD every other year.

Development economics is, broadly speaking, the study of two questions. First, why are some countries poor while other countries are wealthy?…

The US capital gains tax is realization based, which means that taxes are due when appreciated assets are sold. Critics of this approach argue that it allows asset holders, such as corporate founders, to defer their tax obligations, sometimes indefinitely. An alternative approach, taxing gains on accrual, would require asset holders to value their assets periodically and to pay tax on the gain since the last valuation. Critics of this approach argue that it could force founders to surrender ownership stakes just to pay tax bills, potentially discouraging startup formation. In Dilution vs. Risk Taking: Capital Gains Taxes and Entrepreneurship (NBER Working Paper 34512), Eduardo M. Azevedo, Florian Scheuer, Kent Smetters, and Min Yang examine how shifting from realization-based to accrual-based capital gains...

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are immunotherapy drugs that mobilize the patient’s immune system to detect and attack cancer cells. They are considered a breakthrough development in cancer care, but are very expensive, with a full course of treatment costing more than $150,000 per patient. In The Impact of Immunotherapy on Reductions in Cancer Mortality: Evidence from Medicare (NBER Working Paper 34317), Danea Horn, Abby E. Alpert, Mark Duggan, and Mireille Jacobson use Medicare claims data to evaluate the impact of the first ICIs on healthcare use, costs, and mortality among beneficiaries diagnosed with...