National Bureau of Economic Research

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…

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s), better known by brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy, have generated intense interest as potentially transformative treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Clinical trials found substantial weight loss and improved cardiovascular outcomes associated with taking these medications. Two new studies estimate how these drugs affect health outcomes and medical care costs in the broad population.

In Weighing the Impacts of GLP-1s: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Provider Adoption (NBER Working Paper 34667), Sam Bock, Jasmin Moshfegh, and Jonathan Zhang study 1.4 million veterans who were diagnosed with diabetes...

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 American Economic Association has awarded Ludwig Straub of Harvard University, a research associate in the Economic Fluctuations and Growth and Monetary Economics programs, the 2026 John Bates Clark Medal. The honor recognizes an American economist under the age of 40 who has made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.

Straub's research has ranged over many issues in macroeconomics, including the impact of income inequality and household heterogeneity on the aggregate effects of economic shocks and the macroeconomic consequences of changes in monetary policy. He has also developed new tools for the estimation and solution of heterogeneous agent models.

The prize citation explains that Straub has…

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...