Jason Cook, Stéphane Lavertu, and Corbin Miller, 2020. We estimate the effect of Ohio teachers unions on education production by comparing the outcomes of districts that allocated new tax revenue in the midst of collective bargaining negotiations (subject to relatively high union pressure) to the outcomes of districts that allocated new tax revenue well before negotiations (subject to relatively low union [...]

Jason Cook, Francine D. Blau, Lawrence M. Kahn, Peter Brummund, and Miriam Larson-Koester,  2020. In this paper, we use 2008–2013 American Community Survey data to update and further probe evidence on son preference in the USA. In light of the substantial increase in immigration, we examine this question separately for natives and immigrants. [download pdf]

Jason Cook, Vladimir Kogan, Stéphane Lavertu, and Zachary Peskowitz, 2020. Governments around the world have privatized public services in the name of efficiency and citizen empowerment, but some argue that privatization could also affect citizen participation in democratic governance. We explore this possibility by estimating the impact of charter schools (which are publicly funded but privately operated) on school district elections. [download [...]

Ravideep Sethi and Ewout Verriest, 2019. Considering an infinitely repeated legislative bargaining game with three players, the authors show that a sufficiently patient and powerful veto player (for example a monarch with a high recognition probability) may have an incentive to cede some of her agenda-setting power to her non-veto opponents (for example the bourgeoisie and nobility), through a “voluntary democratization” [...]