Research Grants Program

Abstract

Most Southern hospitals were segregated by race until the spring of 1966, when the federal government threatened to withhold Medicare funding from those that were not in compliance withTitle VI of the Civil Rights Act. This study will use newly transcribed hospital records from theJournalof the American Hospital Associationto explore the effects of hospital desegregation on the decision ofwhere to give birth (i.e., the hospital or at home), the choice of birth attendant (i.e., a midwife or aphysician) andinfant mortality by race in 7 southern states. By leveraging within-county variation inMedicare participation, we can distinguish the effects of desegregation from those of other policies and secular trends. We anticipate that our results will contribute to the ongoing debate about why theblack-white infant mortality gap converged so dramatically during the civil rights era and help explain persistent racial disparities in healthcare access today

Specific aims

Under political and legal pressure, a handful of Southern hospitals desegregated between 1962 and 1965 (Brown-Nagin 2011; Smith 2016). Most hospitals in the South, however, remained racially segregated until the spring of 1966, when the federal government threatened to withhold Medicare funding from those that were not in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Beginning in April, federal inspectors, working closely with civil rights activists, fanned out across the country certifying whether hospitals were Title VI compliant (Smith 2016). Despite the complete desegregation required for Medicare certification, a number of hospitals in the Deep South lagged behind those in other states. The effect of desegregating hospitals on the birth outcomes of black mothers is theoretically ambiguous. As emphasized by Almond et al. (2008), desegregation could, through increasing access to higher-quality care, lead to better birth outcomes. On the other hand, desegregation did not eliminate racial disparities in health care delivery (Davis 1975, 1976; Davis et al. 1987), and it is important to note that, although there are many accounts of hospital desegregation proceeding smoothly with the support of medical staff and administrators (Brown-Nagin 2011; Smith 2015, 2016), it was, at least in some instances, met with fierce resistance (Smith 2015, 2016). In the 1950s and 1960s, black hospitals were chronically under-resourced and, with a few prominent exceptions, viewed as providing lower quality care than their white-only and segregated counterparts (Thomas 2006; McBride 2018); after the rollout of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, they struggled financially and most eventually closed their doors (Odum 1992; Smith 2016). Black hospitals were, however, staffed by doctors and nurses dedicated to caring for their black patients. Without the option of delivering in a black-run hospital, black mothers living in the South could choose to deliver in a formerly discriminatory (i.e., white-only or segregated) institution or they could deliver at home, attended by a midwife or physician, neither of whom was necessarily well trained in obstetrics (Mongeau et al. 1961; Houde et al. 1982; Ward 2003). Using newly transcribed hospital records that include information on Medicare participation, this study will explore the relationship between hospital desegregation and infant mortality by race in 7 southern states (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, and SC) for the period 1955-1975. Using natality data from the National Vital Statistics System, we will also explore potential mechanisms through which desegregation may affect birth outcomes, namely through the decision of where to give birth (i.e., the hospital or at home) and through the choice of birth attendant (i.e., a physician or a midwife). 

Abstract

Current agricultural lending regulatory requirements emphasize the use of "cash flow", "collateral", and "repayment capacity" metrics as a means for evaluating loan and bank soundness.  Loans that do not meet these regulatory requirements are usually reclassified which generates additional costs upon both lenders and borrowers.  Agricultural lending has traditionally oscillated between emphasizing "cash-flow based" and "collateral based" metrics as determinants of loan soundness.  Anecdotally, agricultural lenders often favor the former when agricultural production profits are expected to be robust, and the latter when profits margins are expected to decline.  In addition, traditional repayment "capacity" metrics have proven largely uninformative to both creditors and regulators.  Both lenders and regulators have expressed an interest in a more informative repayment "capacity" metric.  The usual 5-Cs used to determine credit worthiness are collateral, capacity, capital, character, and conditions.  This project examines the efficacy of a proposed sixth-C of loan evaluation -- "Constant-Dollar Financial Statements” – as a more informative measure of credit worthiness for borrowers, lenders, and regulators.

Specific Aims  

This project will examine the ability of "Constant-Dollar" performance metrics to predict long-term loan repayment capacity.   The results of the study will be (1) submitted for publication in a referred journal such as Agricultural Finance Review, (2) presented in a seminar, (3) presented to bankers and bank examiners and other interested parties, and (4) distributed via internet available documents.  The results of this study should prove useful to producers, bank, and bank examiners.      

Abstract

A large number of empirical farmland valuation studies rely on self-reported market value estimates, as opposed to observed farmland transaction prices. The primary goal of this study is to provide the first US national comparison of self-reported market value estimates and observed farmland transaction prices. As an application of our comparative framework, we conduct a Ricardian analysis of how climate is capitalized into farmland prices and contrast our results with existing estimates based on self-reported values. In doing so, our proposed work also speaks to the presence of aggregation bias in existing Ricardian estimates. An extension of our work, using the data framework described here, studies the effects of real estate non-disclosure policies on land market and local public finance outcomes. Our proposed study represents a novel contribution to the growing literature on Ricardian climate impact estimation, as well as the broader body of research on farmland valuation.

Specific Aims

The two overarching aims of the original project proposal remain the same. First, we will provide a national assessment of the comparability of self-reported farmland values and observed farmland transactions. Farmland values serve as a critical indicator of the financial health of the United States farm sector, and have far-reaching implications for the design of agricultural policy and other sector-wide issues. Second, as an application of this comparative assessment, we conduct the first, to our knowledge, Ricardian study of US climate impacts using observed farmland market transactions. Ricardian impact estimation entails estimating the extent to which climate conditions are capitalized into farmland values and then projecting how those values may change, in aggregate, under future climate scenarios. This exercise will allow us to measure any bias in current US Ricardian estimates stemming from the use of self-reported hypothetical land value estimates, as opposed to observed market prices.

In beginning this research over the past year, we have also uncovered two additional aims which represent extensions of our original proposed research design. First, by leveraging the fine-scale nature of the farmland transactions database, our project will also contribute to the fairly sparse literature on aggregation bias in climate impact estimation, which has received no attention in extant US Ricardian analyses. Second, we will provide an analysis of the effects of transaction non-disclosure policy. While, in most states, information on property transactions is public record, states with non-disclosure policies constrain, to varying degrees, the dissemination of property transaction information. Our analysis will shed preliminary light on the degree to which non-disclosure policies influence (1) farmers’ perceptions of land market conditions and (2) local property tax revenue.

Abstract

Pandemic regulations can have impacts on public health, as they may cause shifts in lifestyles such as changes in food purchases that consequently alter dietary quality, nutrition, and health outcomes. We hypothesize that in March and April 2020, state and county COVID-19 pandemic regulations altered food purchases in Gallatin County, Montana. The overall objective of our project is to explore the short-term effects pandemic regulations had on consumer grocery store food purchases. We will analyze 300 randomly selected consumer receipts of three stores between March and April 2020 and compare those to corresponding receipts from March and April 2019. Data from the receipts will be used to measure changes in food quality based on adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as well as on the degree of food processing. Additionally, we will compare the monthly food expenditures. Findings from this study will be applied to create outreach material for local legislators and food system stakeholders.

Specific Aims

AIM 1 Assess the changes in quality of consumer’s food purchases from pre to post COVID-19 regulations in compliance with dietary recommendations. Compliance with Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) will be measured through the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI 2015) and NOVA (not an acronym) classification system using the food receipts of 300 adult consumers at three grocery stores matched March to April 2019 and March to April 2020. In a policy briefing, recommendations will be generated to develop regulations that facilitate healthy diets during a public health crisis.

AIM 2 Examine changes in per customer expenditures of consumer’s food purchases from pre to post COVID-19 regulations. Per capita expenditures will be measured by calculation total net per capita expenses and a sub-analysis of costs within food groups using the food receipts of 300 consumers at three grocery stores matched from March to April 2019 and March to April 2020. To reduce the externalities of a health crisis on the food security of consumers, economic considerations will strongly influence our policy briefing to stimulate a healthy diet during a public health crisis.

The proposed project will identify the consequences of state and county regulations on the quality and cost of food on food receipts from grocery stores in Gallatin County. These findings will be used to establish policy recommendations for similar public health crises that facilitate healthy diets even under stay-at-home orders or similar regulations. The expected outcomes are (1) the mitigation of negative health consequences (due to unbalanced nutrition as a consequence of altered food purchase habits) during future health crises, and (2) help understand what occurred in the Gallatin County during the COVID-19 crisis in terms of food purchase to contribute to concerted interventions for decreasing potential negative health effects.

The overall impact of this project is to contribute to the development of pandemic regulation that not only effectively prevents the spread of communicable diseases such as COVID-19 but also reduces the negative externalities on health and nutrition such a disease and necessary response policies have on the population.

Abstract

Teens and young adults continue to experience substantial declines in labor force (LFP) and sports participation. The declines appear widespread and universal across demographic groups. One often-touted explanation for both is that youth are too plugged into their electronic devices. On the other hand, compulsory schooling regulation and graduated licensing laws may have played dominant roles. The purpose of this research is to study impacts on youth and young adult LFP and sports participation using a 2SLS estimator after accounting for changes in household composition, minimum wage laws, and family income. The analysis will be conducted on those age 16-24 between 2000 and 2009, a time of rapid residential high-speed internet access (RHSIA) expansion. Two existing instruments in the labor economics literature are considered to address endogeneity concerns. The proposed study is a novel contribution to better understand youth and young adult labor-leisure behaviors.

Specific Aims

There are several aims of the project. First, the project documents youth and young adult LFP and sports participation by various demographic characteristics and region to provide current estimated declines. Second, the project will explore whether changes in youth and young adult LFP and youth sports participation are attributable to recent changes in compulsory school laws and/or graduated licensing requirements. Third, the project aims to estimate the causal impact of residential high-speed Internet access (RHSIA) on youth and young adult labor force participation and on youth sports participation. A comprehensive understanding of what drives changes in youth LFPR and sports participation, including what public policies may drive changes, is lacking in the existing labor economics literature. The analysis will be conducted using empirical methods, i.e., 2SLS estimators. It is hypothesized that increases in the minimum dropout age from 16 years of age to 18 years of age will lead to reductions in youth LFP and increases in youth sports participation, and may also lead to reductions in full-time employment of recent high school graduates who are now more likely to attend college. It is hypothesized that graduated licensing laws reduce teen mobility and this will lead to reductions in LFP and sports participation. It is hypothesized that access to RHSIA increases the value of certain leisure activities, causing changes in the composition of leisure activities and also the labor-leisure decisions (see Aguiar et al. (2017)). The increase in the value of certain leisure activities may decrease LFP and sports participation. It is also hypothesized that RHSIA increases information networks and communication that may reduce search costs and increase participation in the labor force and sports. Combining these hypotheses indicates that the impacts on youth and young adult LFPR and sports participation require empirical methods to determine net effects.

Abstract

How do policy choices in water resource allocation shape agricultural production? This project will measure the effects of surface water allocation in the western United States on land use and crop revenues in the short run and the long run. Short-run effects will be estimated using methods standard to the environmental economics literature, while long-run effects will be estimated using a new empirical method that requires weaker assumptions than prior approaches. Long-run and short-run effects are each important inputs to different kinds of regulatory decisions, but short-run effects are typically easier to estimate. The comparison between them will inform the extent to which regulatory analyses can rely on short-run results for long-run planning. Extensions to the project will investigate the effects of groundwater allocation policy, estimating the returns to groundwater management and how groundwater regulation affects land-use decisions.

Specific Aims

Water is a critical input to many sectors of the economy – most of all agriculture, which accounts for 70 percent of global water withdrawals (FAO 2012). Unlike most other factors of production, water in the western United States is generally not a market good; instead it is allocated via a combination of legal rights and regulatory decisions. Evaluating the costs and benefits of a wide range of regulatory and policy decisions requires detailed quantitative knowledge of how water allocation affects agricultural production.

This project will measure the effects of surface water allocation on land-use decisions, cropping patterns, and crop revenues in the short run and the long run. This distinction between the short- and long-run is critical. In response to temporary changes in water allocations, farmers have limited ability to respond. But when these changes instead arrive as a permanent shift, farmers may be able to respond in a wider range of ways.

Effects of short-run changes in environmental variables are straightforward to estimate, thanks to abundant data and rich temporal variation (Hsiang 2016; Auffhammer 2018). However, effects of persistent, long-run water allocations are notoriously difficult to estimate well. As for many kinds of environmental variables, it remains an open question how much adaptation is possible, and therefore how different these long-run effects are from the short-run effects.

Abstract

Human populations around the world are growing older and public policies in response to the changing needs of their adult citizens are needed. Self-employment may be a reasonable option for many older adults facing threat of unemployment, age discrimination, insufficient pensions or retirement funds, or the need for self-fulfillment and social inclusion. Public policy programs targeting senior entrepreneurs (similar to those that provide targeted services to women, minority, and immigrant populations) are desired but are almost nonexistent in the US. The proposed research addresses one more possible benefit of helping older individuals to become self-employed: improved mental health. Older people who remain engaged in life stay healthier. At any age, entrepreneurs report being extremely happy in their work and highly satisfied with their life. On the other hand, mental health is associated with huge economic costs. Based on the results of this research, I will provide public policy recommendations.       

Abstract

Registered dietitians (RD) are vital to societal health and well-being as we provide services focused on providing nutrition care to restore an individual’s state of nutritional balance. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montana Law SB0270 was enacted (2014) to provide regulation of telemedicine including requiring insurance coverage for health care services. However, this law, like many across the United States, does not require reimbursement at the same level as in person visits. Through survey and key informant interviews I propose investigating (1) the financial impact; (2) the impact of telenutrition on access to, and delivery of, care; and (3) the impact of COVID-19 on these regulations. Components of the proposed research project will be integrated into two courses, Medical Nutrition Therapy I and II to develop translational research skills in undergraduate dietetic students. The knowledge gained from this research will inform advocacy and future legislation focused on parity laws.

Specific Aims

SB0270 was enacted by the legislature of the state of Montana in 2014. This act requires insurance coverage for health care services provided via telemedicine. Within this law, telemedicine means “the use of interactive audio, video, or other telecommunications technology that is (A) used by a health care provider or health care facility to deliver health care services at a site other than the site where the patient is located; and (B) delivered over a secure connection that complies with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 USC 1320d, et seq.” For the purposes of this proposal the use of the word telemedicine will be used when discussing SB0270, telehealth as the umbrella term, and telenutrition is directly related to a registered dietitian providing medical nutrition therapy via telecommunication technology as described above. Over the course of the funding period, I propose to meet the following aims:

Aim 1: Investigate the impact of state telehealth regulation on dietetic services delivered via telenutrition in the outpatient or ambulatory care setting in Montana. Through a survey and key informant interviews, dietitians working in Montana will be asked to respond to questions focused on (1) the financial impact of telenutrition; (2) how delivering telenutrition has improved access to, and delivery of, care; and (3) how COVID-19 has impacted their ability to deliver dietetic services through telenutrition. Aim 2: Develop research skills within a pre-health profession undergraduate population, within the field of dietetics, to foster lifelong learning. Undergraduate students will conduct field research in the community in teams, and findings will be disseminated by the research team (PI and undergraduate research assistant) via presentations and publications to the students in MNT I and II as well as within other settings.

ABSTRACT

Agricultural workers are four times more likely than workers in other industries to experience heat-related illness (HRI), and HRI results in increased treatment costs and workers compensation claims. In 2005, California’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Cal/OSHA) adopted a heat protection policy requiring employers to provide measures to protect against HRI. Other states follow federal recommendations to prevent HRI. It is unclear whether the Cal/OSHA standard provides additional protections against HRI than the federal recommendations. We propose a policy analysis to estimate the effect of Cal/OSHA heat protection standard on employers’ provision of potable water and toilet facilities for agricultural workers. We will use a difference-in-difference approach to analyze questionnaire data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey. Our goal is to estimate the effect of the Cal/OSHA standard in order to understand whether workers in California report improved access to water and toilets relative to similar workers in other states.

SPECIFIC AIMS

Heat related illness (HRI) is an occupational hazard of outdoor agricultural work. To prevent HRI and fatalities, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a set of recommendations which include providing workers the opportunity to rest, rehydrate, and cool down. In response to heat-related fatalities, in 2005, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) implemented heat prevention standards and regulations that require employers to provide measures to protect outdoor agricultural workers against HRI. While the regulatory policy in CA is more stringent than the federal recommendations, it is unclear whether the standard is more effective in preventing HRI than federal recommendations. Therefore, the specific aim of this proposal is to estimate the effect of state-level heat protection standards on the provision of potable water and toilet facilities by employers.

The objective of this aim is to determine if the Cal/OSHA standard makes a difference beyond the federal recommendation in the provision of water and toilets at the worksite. To attain this objective, we will test the working hypothesis that the standard will yield more workers who report access to water and toilets; that is, that workers employed under the CA standard will have more access to water and toilets than other workers. Our approach will be to evaluate the responses from the National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) questions regarding water and toilets and compare (1) responses in CA both before and after implementation of the standard and (2) responses in CA to the rest of the nation after implementation of the standard. The rationale for this aim is that successful completion is likely to point to the differences that heat prevention standards make in the field. This proposal has an economic basis: Understanding the costs and benefits associated with policies is a core component of any economic and policy analysis, and this study aims to increase our understanding of the costs and benefits of occupational protections for agricultural workers.

Abstract

There has been significant changes in laws and security exchange rules on corporate governance over the past decade. In particular, partly stemming from the recent financial crisis in 2008, the Dodd-Frank Act imposes more governance-related provisions. Moreover, there is an unprecedentedly high level of shareholder activism as many institutional investors have significantly increased their engagement efforts on governance issues. Our project intend to investigate whether and how corporate governance influences cost of issuing debts in this changing regulatory and institutional environment. We will also analyze the relative importance of the governance-related provisions, the interplay with institutional investors as majority shares, and possible unintended consequences of these policies.

Specific Aims

Separation of ownership and control in corporations creates information asymmetry problems between shareholders and managers that expose shareholders to agency costs. Corporate governance mechanisms intend to mitigate these agency problems. Public and regulatory interests in the corporate governance practices of modern corporations increased dramatically following the high-profile collapses of a number of large corporations in the early 2000s, then again after the recent financial crisis in 2008. Corporate governance issues have always been a center topic of the security and exchange commission (SEC). There is increased regulatory burdens imposed on public companies in recent years, bringing new challenges from operational, regulatory and compliance perspectives. Moreover, as institutional investors become majority shareholders now, companies have undertaken unprecedented levels of proactive engagement with their major shareholders. Many institutional investors have significantly increased their engagement efforts on governance issues, making overall levels of shareholder activism remain at record highs.

Our project is to investigate how corporate governance influences the cost of raising capital, specially, in debt issuance in this changing regulatory and institutional environment. Currently, public companies collectively raise trillion dollars every year. In the debt issuing process, the issuing companies, underwriting banks, institutional investors all play important roles in pricing and timing the corporate bond offerings. However, underwriting banks usually have private information on demand, and informed investors are more likely to have private information on market valuation. This asymmetric information together with the significant economic interests create a situation where agency problems are particularly prominent. Therefore, we believe the costs of issuing debts will largely affected by the corporate governance mechanisms adopted by the companies and imposed by regulatory rules and policies.

Abstract

CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) is a climate change mitigation strategy aimed at reducing the amount of CO₂ vented into the atmosphere by capturing CO₂ emissions from industrial sources, transporting the CO₂ via a dedicated pipeline network, and injecting it into geologic reservoirs. To have a meaningful environmental impact, CCS needs to be widely deployed in the very near future by many industries, most notably power generation. Section 45Q of the U.S. tax code is aimed at incentivizing private industry to initiate CCS projects by providing tax credits for capturing CO₂. CCS has not been widely deployed, even though 45Q has been in the tax code for 12 years. Recently, legislators and nonprofits have explored modifying 45Q in an urgent attempt to spur wide-spread CCS development. In this project, we propose quantifying the impacts of potential 45Q changes on national CCS project development by developing novel CCS infrastructure modelling capabilities.

Specific Aims

Section 45Q of the U.S. tax code provides a tax credit for CO₂ emitters to sequester CO₂ in long-term storage instead of releasing it into the atmosphere [1]. The credit from 2008 until 2018 was for $20 per metric ton (tonne) for secure geological storage and $10 per tonne for qualified economic utilization, such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR). 45Q was updated in 2018 to provide a $50 per tonne credit for geological storage and $35 per tonne for economic utilization for 12 years after a project begins capturing CO₂. A project must begin construction of its capture equipment (typically retrofitting existing industrial sources such as power plants) prior to January 1st, 2024 to utilize the updated 45Q credit. In an effort to further incentivize CCS project initiation, proposals have been made to expand the 45Q credit yet again. In early 2020, legislation was introduced in Congress that would expand 45Q credits and permanently include them in the U.S tax code. In addition to credits, taxation of CO₂ emissions (i.e. a carbon tax, like what has been enacted in Europe and other regions) has also been suggested as a negative incentive mechanism for encouraging CCS adoption [2]. 

Credits and taxes serve as mechanisms to incentivize private industry to develop CCS projects so they can realize the credits or avoid the taxes. Industry will usually initiate CCS projects only if doing so is more profitable than not. To assess the viability of a CCS project with a single source and single reservoir requires evaluating the tradeoff between operating costs (e.g. capture, transport, storage), credits and taxes, and economic utilization (e.g. proceeds from CO₂ sales to EOR). Things become more complicated when considering CCS projects with multiple sources and reservoirs, since they can be collectively more profitable when sharing pipeline transportation networks that benefit from economies of scale. As such, a complex analysis of concurrent capture economics (including taxes and credits), reservoir economics, and spatially dependent pipeline economics is needed to predict how the market will respond to proposed changes in 45Q.

It is not clear what the appropriate mix of credits and taxes, their specific values, or their incremental changes over time that will most effectively spur wide-scale deployment of CCS infrastructure, thereby substantially reducing CO₂ emissions. In this project, we propose quantifying the impacts of 45Q tax credits and carbon taxes on CCS project deployment by modeling the CCS infrastructures that result from scenarios reflecting changes to 45Q. For various 45Q proposals, we expect to:

• Identify the trade-offs between tax revenues and industry profits.
• Determine which sources and reservoirs can participate profitably, as well as the pipeline network to optimally support them.
• Find that collaborative project designs will enable more industry participants (thereby resulting in more CO₂ being captured) and higher system profits.

EOR is the process of injecting CO₂ into oil fields to increase production. Oil fields will pay for CO₂ for this purpose, so the capture facility will get both the tax credit and the proceeds from sale of CO₂ to the oil field.

Abstract

Omitting food waste in consumer demand analysis likely leads to biased estimates such as underestimated price elasticities (Yu 2020). In addition, many studies that measure consumer dietary healthfulness are based on observed purchase quantities instead of the actual amount of food consumed. This project will address these issues by modeling food waste as a rational choice made by households, conditional on their heterogeneous food-management abilities and composition of their food purchases. By incorporating food waste, the investigator will modify the methods used in leading scholarly articles that focus on policy impacts of food-related programs and re-evaluate these programs accordingly. Policymakers can utilize the results from this project to construct more effective mechanisms to improve food security and to incentivize healthy eating behavior.

Specific Aims

The proposed project aims to provide a more accurate evaluation of food policies and supplemental nutrition programs by modeling households’ rational choices of food waste. The major objectives of the study are (1) to examine how consumers respond to price subsidies and in-kind transfers by adjusting their amounts of both actual consumption and food waste; and (2) to provide a better measurement of dietary healthfulness based on calibrated actual consumption, net of wasted food.

Existing studies that assess the effectiveness of food policies generally ignore the important role of food-wasting behavior because food waste is not observed in most consumer datasets. This project will utilize the methods developed in Yu (2020) to structurally identify food waste and incorporate it into demand estimation. To make a direct comparison with previous literature, the investigator will first choose two notable food programs and a set of published academic articles that analyzed these programs. Next, the approaches in these studies will be modified to incorporate food waste, and results will be compared. Therefore, the project serves as both a re-assessment of existing studies and an attempt to provide refined policy suggestions.