Suchergebnisse

Influenced by behavioral research on compassion fatigue, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof goes out of his way to find just the right person who illuminates the larger story. Rather than focus on suffering or grim statistics, Kristof seeks to move readers by reporting on people who overcome adversity and offer real solutions. Content analysis and Internet metrics are used to assess whether this kind of reporting engenders reader response. Contrary to expectations, the story-telling techniques had little apparent effect on readers' online response while story topic and geographic proximity influenced frequency of reader comments, Facebook Likes, and digital sharing.

I examine the effects that the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which legalized almost 3 million immigrants, had on crime in the United States. I exploit the IRCA's quasi-random timing as well as geographic variation in the intensity of treatment to isolate causal impacts. I find decreases in crime of 3-5 percent, primarily due to decline in property crimes, equivalent to 120,000-180,000 fewer violent and property crimes committed each year due to legalization. I calibrate a labor market model of crime, finding that much of the drop in crime can be explained by greater labor market opportunities among applicants.

This research examines the factors that account for variance in provincial poverty reduction rates between 2002 and 2008 in Vietnam. In particular, this paper uses spatial regression modeling to show that foreign direct investment (FDI) and the capitalist legacies of southern Vietnam significantly affected provincial poverty reduction during this time period. These findings suggest that although Vietnam as a whole has benefited from post-Đổi Mới economic reform and FDI, the historical capitalist legacies of the former Republic of Vietnam played a strong role in aiding provinces in the south in attracting FDI and subsequently reducing provincial poverty.