National Bureau of Economic Research

Following a call for nominations in January, the NBER has appointed 65 new affiliates: 16 Research Associates and 49 Faculty Research Fellows. In addition, two Faculty Research Fellows have been promoted to Research Associates.

The directors of the NBER’s 19 research programs recommend appointments after consulting with steering committees made up of leading scholars. Research Associate appointments must be approved by the NBER Board of Directors, while Faculty Research Fellows are appointed by the NBER president. All new affiliates must hold primary academic appointments in North America; Research Associates must have tenure. 

The newly appointed researchers serve on the faculties of 36 different colleges and universities. They received their graduate training at 29 different institutions. The new appointments…

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 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...