Casey B Mulligan
Biographic Data
| ID | 1454302 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Casey B Mulligan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Casey B |
| FAMILY NAME | Mulligan |
| SIGNATURE | MULLIGAN C B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chicago |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9357-3446 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 159 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Equilibrium responses to price controls
Prices and Policies in Opioid Markets
Beyond Pigou
The Young were not Spared
From April 2020 through at least the end of 2021, Americans died from non-Covid causes at an average annual rate of 97 000 in excess of previous trends. Hypertension and heart disease deaths combined were elevated 32 000. Diabetes or obesity, drug-induced causes, and alcohol-induced causes were each elevated 12 000 to 15 000 above previous (upward) trends. Drug deaths especially followed an alarming trend, only to significantly exceed it during t…
Three Misconceptions about Federal Regulation
Three common misconceptions persist about federal regulations. The first misconception is that most new regulations concern the environment, but in fact, only a small minority of regulatory flows are environmental. The second misconception is that regulators offer reasonable justifications and quantitative evidence for the majority of regulations. However, quantitative estimates rarely appear in published rules, negating the impression given by e…
Economic Activity and the Value of Medical Innovation during a Pandemic
The “shutdown” economy of April 2020 is compared to a normally functioning economy both in terms of market and nonmarket activities. Three novel methods and data indicate that a full shutdown of “nonessential” activities puts market production about 25 % below normal in the short run. At an annual rate, a full shutdown costs $9 trillion, or about $18,000 per household per quarter. Employment already fell 24 million by early April 2020. These cost…
The incidence and magnitude of the health costs of in-person schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic
Political entry, public policies, and the economy
Remember Adam Smith and Workers Above the Poverty Line
The New Employment and Income Taxes
Selection, Investment, and Women's Relative Wages Over Time
In theory, growing wage inequality within gender should cause women to invest more in their market productivity and should differentially pull able women into the workforce. Our paper uses Heckman's two-step estimator and identification at infinity on repeated Current Population Survey cross sections to calculate relative wage series for women since 1970 that hold constant the composition of skills. We find that selection into the female full-tim…
Political Entry, Public Policies, and the Economy
This paper presents a theory of competition for political leadership between incumbent leaders and their challengers in which the possible equilibrium political market structures range from pure monopoly (unchallenged dictatorship) to perfectly competitive (ideal democracy). Leaders are constrained by the threat of "entry" or their ability to tax (or both), so that regimes with no challengers may nonetheless implement policies in the public inter…
Conscription as Regulation
Internationally Common Features of Public Old-Age Pensions, and Their Implications for Models of the Public Sector
What does the international history of old-age Social Security program design say about the forces creating and sustaining it as a public program? First, because many program features are internationally common, and/or explained by country characteristics, SS may emerge and grow due to systematic political and economic forces. Second, some observations suggest that political forces are important: (a) SS redistributes from young to old, even when …
Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies
Estimates of democracy's effect on the public sector are obtained from comparisons of 142 countries over the years 1960-90. Based on three tenets of voting theory - that voting mutes policy preference intensity, political power is equally distributed in democracies, and the form of voting processes is important-we expect democracy to affect policies that redistribute, or economically favor the political leadership, or enhance efficiency. We do no…
Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies?
Estimates of democracy's effect on the public sector are obtained from comparisons of 142 countries over the years 1960-90. Based on three tenets of voting theory n that voting mutes policy preference intensity, political power is equally distributed in democracies, and the form of voting processes is important n we expect democracy to affect policies that redistribute, or economically favor the political leadership, or enhance efficiency. We do …
The Empirical Frequency of a Pivotal Vote
Economic Interpretations of Intergenerational Correlations
Since accurate prediction ultimately determines the usefulness of theory, our paper gives the reader a taste of some predictions derived from economic theory and some empirical successes and failures. We provide only a taste, because there are a great many economic models relevant to intergenerational correlations- such as models of educational attainment, neighborhood effects in schooling, family formation and fertility choice, occupational choi…
Human Capital, Heterogeneity and Estimated Degrees of Intergenerational Mobility
Some of the important implications of the parental investment model of intergenerational mobility have been derived under the assumption that parental income is the main source of heterogeneity. We explicitly model the variability and inheritability of innate' earnings ability and the variability of tastes, showing how they affect observed degrees of intergenerational consumption and earnings mobility. Heterogeneity increases the difficulty of de…
Extensive Margins and the Demand for Money at Low Interest Rates
We argue that the relevant monetary decision for the majority of U.S. households is not the fraction of assets to be held in interest-bearing form, but whether to hold any such assets at all (we call this "the decision to adopt" the financial technology). We show that the key variable governing the adoption decision is the product of the interest rate times the total amount of assets. This implies that the interest elasticity of household money d…
Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance
A century ago, Francis Galton proposed a simple yet powerful model of inheritance. Gary Backer's human capital model is often used to analyze important empirical and policy questions, but does it dominate Galton's from a positive point of view? I derive nine implicatiions of the human capital approach that are distinct from Galton's. Evidence from the PIS, SCF, and NLSY micro data sets as well as results reported in previous literatures suggest t…
Pecuniary Incentives to Work in the United States during World War II
It is argued that changes in workers' budget sets cannot explain the dramatic increases in civilian work in the United States during World War II. Although money wages grew during the period, wartime after‐tax real wages were lower than either before or after the war. Evidence from the 1940s also appears to be inconsistent with other pecuniary explanations such as wealth effects of government policies, intertemporal substitution induced by asset …
Parental priorities and economic inequality
The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference
We model a consumer's efforts to reduce the discount on future utilities. Our analysis shows how wealth, mortality, addictions, uncertainty, and other variables affect the degree of time preference. In addition to working out many implications of the model, we discuss evidence on consumption, savings, equilibrium, and the dynamics of inequality. We claim that most ofthat evidence is consistent with the predictions of our approach.
Scale Economies, the Value of Time, and the Demand for Money
COMPUSTAT data on 12,000 firms for the years 1961-92 indicate that large firms hold less cash as a percentage of sales than small ones. Whether comparisons are made within or across industries, the elasticity of cash balances with respect to sales is about 0.8. Firms headquartered in countries with high wages hold more money for a given level of sales, a finding consistent with the idea that time can substitute for money in the provision of trans…
Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies
Estimates of democracy's effect on the public sector are obtained from comparisons of 142 countries over the years 1960-90. Based on three tenets of voting theory - that voting mutes policy preference intensity, political power is equally distributed in democracies, and the form of voting processes is important-we expect democracy to affect policies that redistribute, or economically favor the political leadership, or enhance efficiency. We do no…
Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance
A century ago, Francis Galton proposed a simple yet powerful model of inheritance. Gary Backer's human capital model is often used to analyze important empirical and policy questions, but does it dominate Galton's from a positive point of view? I derive nine implicatiions of the human capital approach that are distinct from Galton's. Evidence from the PIS, SCF, and NLSY micro data sets as well as results reported in previous literatures suggest t…
The Empirical Frequency of a Pivotal Vote
Human Capital, Heterogeneity and Estimated Degrees of Intergenerational Mobility
Some of the important implications of the parental investment model of intergenerational mobility have been derived under the assumption that parental income is the main source of heterogeneity. We explicitly model the variability and inheritability of innate' earnings ability and the variability of tastes, showing how they affect observed degrees of intergenerational consumption and earnings mobility. Heterogeneity increases the difficulty of de…
Pecuniary Incentives to Work in the United States during World War II
It is argued that changes in workers' budget sets cannot explain the dramatic increases in civilian work in the United States during World War II. Although money wages grew during the period, wartime after‐tax real wages were lower than either before or after the war. Evidence from the 1940s also appears to be inconsistent with other pecuniary explanations such as wealth effects of government policies, intertemporal substitution induced by asset …
Economic Interpretations of Intergenerational Correlations
Since accurate prediction ultimately determines the usefulness of theory, our paper gives the reader a taste of some predictions derived from economic theory and some empirical successes and failures. We provide only a taste, because there are a great many economic models relevant to intergenerational correlations- such as models of educational attainment, neighborhood effects in schooling, family formation and fertility choice, occupational choi…
Beyond Pigou
Extensive Margins and the Demand for Money at Low Interest Rates
We argue that the relevant monetary decision for the majority of U.S. households is not the fraction of assets to be held in interest-bearing form, but whether to hold any such assets at all (we call this "the decision to adopt" the financial technology). We show that the key variable governing the adoption decision is the product of the interest rate times the total amount of assets. This implies that the interest elasticity of household money d…
Scale Economies, the Value of Time, and the Demand for Money
COMPUSTAT data on 12,000 firms for the years 1961-92 indicate that large firms hold less cash as a percentage of sales than small ones. Whether comparisons are made within or across industries, the elasticity of cash balances with respect to sales is about 0.8. Firms headquartered in countries with high wages hold more money for a given level of sales, a finding consistent with the idea that time can substitute for money in the provision of trans…
Prices and Policies in Opioid Markets
The incidence and magnitude of the health costs of in-person schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic
The New Employment and Income Taxes
Parental priorities and economic inequality
The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference
We model a consumer's efforts to reduce the discount on future utilities. Our analysis shows how wealth, mortality, addictions, uncertainty, and other variables affect the degree of time preference. In addition to working out many implications of the model, we discuss evidence on consumption, savings, equilibrium, and the dynamics of inequality. We claim that most ofthat evidence is consistent with the predictions of our approach.
Scale Economies, the Value of Time, and the Demand for Money
COMPUSTAT data on 12,000 firms for the years 1961-92 indicate that large firms hold less cash as a percentage of sales than small ones. Whether comparisons are made within or across industries, the elasticity of cash balances with respect to sales is about 0.8. Firms headquartered in countries with high wages hold more money for a given level of sales, a finding consistent with the idea that time can substitute for money in the provision of trans…
Pecuniary Incentives to Work in the United States during World War II
It is argued that changes in workers' budget sets cannot explain the dramatic increases in civilian work in the United States during World War II. Although money wages grew during the period, wartime after‐tax real wages were lower than either before or after the war. Evidence from the 1940s also appears to be inconsistent with other pecuniary explanations such as wealth effects of government policies, intertemporal substitution induced by asset …
Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance
A century ago, Francis Galton proposed a simple yet powerful model of inheritance. Gary Backer's human capital model is often used to analyze important empirical and policy questions, but does it dominate Galton's from a positive point of view? I derive nine implicatiions of the human capital approach that are distinct from Galton's. Evidence from the PIS, SCF, and NLSY micro data sets as well as results reported in previous literatures suggest t…
Extensive Margins and the Demand for Money at Low Interest Rates
We argue that the relevant monetary decision for the majority of U.S. households is not the fraction of assets to be held in interest-bearing form, but whether to hold any such assets at all (we call this "the decision to adopt" the financial technology). We show that the key variable governing the adoption decision is the product of the interest rate times the total amount of assets. This implies that the interest elasticity of household money d…
Human Capital, Heterogeneity and Estimated Degrees of Intergenerational Mobility
Some of the important implications of the parental investment model of intergenerational mobility have been derived under the assumption that parental income is the main source of heterogeneity. We explicitly model the variability and inheritability of innate' earnings ability and the variability of tastes, showing how they affect observed degrees of intergenerational consumption and earnings mobility. Heterogeneity increases the difficulty of de…
Economic Interpretations of Intergenerational Correlations
Since accurate prediction ultimately determines the usefulness of theory, our paper gives the reader a taste of some predictions derived from economic theory and some empirical successes and failures. We provide only a taste, because there are a great many economic models relevant to intergenerational correlations- such as models of educational attainment, neighborhood effects in schooling, family formation and fertility choice, occupational choi…
Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies?
Estimates of democracy's effect on the public sector are obtained from comparisons of 142 countries over the years 1960-90. Based on three tenets of voting theory n that voting mutes policy preference intensity, political power is equally distributed in democracies, and the form of voting processes is important n we expect democracy to affect policies that redistribute, or economically favor the political leadership, or enhance efficiency. We do …
The Empirical Frequency of a Pivotal Vote
Conscription as Regulation
Internationally Common Features of Public Old-Age Pensions, and Their Implications for Models of the Public Sector
What does the international history of old-age Social Security program design say about the forces creating and sustaining it as a public program? First, because many program features are internationally common, and/or explained by country characteristics, SS may emerge and grow due to systematic political and economic forces. Second, some observations suggest that political forces are important: (a) SS redistributes from young to old, even when …
Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies
Estimates of democracy's effect on the public sector are obtained from comparisons of 142 countries over the years 1960-90. Based on three tenets of voting theory - that voting mutes policy preference intensity, political power is equally distributed in democracies, and the form of voting processes is important-we expect democracy to affect policies that redistribute, or economically favor the political leadership, or enhance efficiency. We do no…
Selection, Investment, and Women's Relative Wages Over Time
In theory, growing wage inequality within gender should cause women to invest more in their market productivity and should differentially pull able women into the workforce. Our paper uses Heckman's two-step estimator and identification at infinity on repeated Current Population Survey cross sections to calculate relative wage series for women since 1970 that hold constant the composition of skills. We find that selection into the female full-tim…
Political Entry, Public Policies, and the Economy
This paper presents a theory of competition for political leadership between incumbent leaders and their challengers in which the possible equilibrium political market structures range from pure monopoly (unchallenged dictatorship) to perfectly competitive (ideal democracy). Leaders are constrained by the threat of "entry" or their ability to tax (or both), so that regimes with no challengers may nonetheless implement policies in the public inter…
Political entry, public policies, and the economy
Remember Adam Smith and Workers Above the Poverty Line
The New Employment and Income Taxes
Economic Activity and the Value of Medical Innovation during a Pandemic
The “shutdown” economy of April 2020 is compared to a normally functioning economy both in terms of market and nonmarket activities. Three novel methods and data indicate that a full shutdown of “nonessential” activities puts market production about 25 % below normal in the short run. At an annual rate, a full shutdown costs $9 trillion, or about $18,000 per household per quarter. Employment already fell 24 million by early April 2020. These cost…
The incidence and magnitude of the health costs of in-person schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic
The Young were not Spared
From April 2020 through at least the end of 2021, Americans died from non-Covid causes at an average annual rate of 97 000 in excess of previous trends. Hypertension and heart disease deaths combined were elevated 32 000. Diabetes or obesity, drug-induced causes, and alcohol-induced causes were each elevated 12 000 to 15 000 above previous (upward) trends. Drug deaths especially followed an alarming trend, only to significantly exceed it during t…
Three Misconceptions about Federal Regulation
Three common misconceptions persist about federal regulations. The first misconception is that most new regulations concern the environment, but in fact, only a small minority of regulatory flows are environmental. The second misconception is that regulators offer reasonable justifications and quantitative evidence for the majority of regulations. However, quantitative estimates rarely appear in published rules, negating the impression given by e…
Beyond Pigou
Prices and Policies in Opioid Markets
Equilibrium responses to price controls
Economics (21 works) · Political science (13 works) · Microeconomics (7 works) · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Market economy (6 works) · Politics (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Economic theories and models (5 works)