Wiley: Journal of Policy Analysis and Management: Table of Contents

Access to Mental Health Care Services and Suicide Rates in the United States

Shishir Shakya, Agnitra RoyChoudhury — Tue, 26 May 2026 07:49:27 -0700

ABSTRACT

We examine the causal effect of improvements in access to mental care providers on suicide rates in the United States. We track the universe of practice locations of psychiatric and psychological health care providers from 2016 to 2019. We construct a county-level index to measure proximity to these facilities, accounting for local variations in demand for and supply of mental health care services. To address the endogeneity between the location of these medical facilities in a given county, we use the implementation of prescriptive authority for psychologists (RxP$RxP$) as an instrument. Our IV results show a 10% enhancement in access translates to an additional three providers per mile, resulting in a 3% reduction, equivalent to 1.6 fewer suicides per 100,000 population within a county.

Does Long‐Term Care Subsidy Decrease Healthcare Utilization and Expenditures? Evidence From the Long‐Term Care Insurance in Korea

GaYoung Park, Youjin Hahn — Sun, 24 May 2026 22:28:20 -0700

ABSTRACT

We examine the effect of government subsidies for long-term care (LTC) on healthcare utilization and health outcomes in Korea, which exhibits one of the fastest rates of population aging. Using a regression discontinuity design, our intent-to-treat estimates indicate that eligibility for subsidized LTC services reduces out-of-pocket medical and prescription drug spending by about 20% and 16% of the baseline mean, respectively, and lowers the likelihood of inpatient hospital admission by about 12%. These reductions in healthcare utilization and expenditures are not associated with adverse health outcomes. In particular, eligibility reduces the likelihood of hospital admission due to fractures, which could be a possible channel for these results. Overall, our findings suggest that LTC subsidies can partially offset medical expenditures without negatively affecting the health outcomes of older adults.

DACA's Uncertain Path: How Policy Threats Reshape Economic and Social Gains for Recipients

Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes, Chunbei Wang — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:29:16 -0700

ABSTRACT

Since 2012, DACA has provided deportation relief and work authorization to immigrants brought to the United States as children. This study examines how legal and political uncertainty—triggered by the Trump administration's 2017 rescission announcement—reshaped recipients' economic and social outcomes. Using difference-in-differences and event-study methods, we show that early gains in employment and earnings eroded sharply under heightened uncertainty. In contrast, responses along other margins—including health insurance coverage, schooling, and in-state mobility—proved more resilient and in some cases strengthened over time. Supportive environments, such as sanctuary and low-enforcement states, attenuate labor market losses and sustain investments in nonlabor outcomes. These findings highlight how policy uncertainty can erode labor market gains while shifting behavior toward protective and longer-horizon investments.

JPAM Doctoral Dissertation Listing 2025

Sat, 16 May 2026 03:04:18 -0700

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 45, Issue 3, Summer 2026.

Insurance Coverage and Provision of Opioid Disorder Treatment: Evidence From Medicare

Tue, 05 May 2026 23:25:59 -0700

ABSTRACT

Older adult opioid overdose deaths have increased over the past two decades in the United States. Methadone, one of three medications approved for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, was not covered by Medicare—the primary insurer of Americans 65 years and older—for OUD until 2020. We study the response of opioid treatment programs (OTPs), the only healthcare providers that can dispense methadone for the treatment of OUD in the United States, to this policy change using administrative data and a difference-in-differences framework. We find an increase in Medicare acceptance by OTPs and in the number of methadone treatment episodes post-policy. Further, we document spillovers to other insurance markets and changes in (non-methadone) treatment services offered by OTPs, suggesting that Medicare's entrance into this market has implications for all OUD patients receiving methadone treatment in OTPs.

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum. Random House, 2024, 272 pp., $29 (paperback).

Guzel Garifullina — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:20:42 -0700

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 45, Issue 3, Summer 2026.

Disinformation, Misinformation, and Democracy: Legal Approaches in Comparative Context by Ronald J. Krotosynsky Jr., Adrás Koltay, and Charlotte Garden. Cambridge University Press, 2024, 430 pp., $140.00 (hardcover).

Zoe Tzanis, Samuel Woolley — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:19:31 -0700

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 45, Issue 3, Summer 2026.

The effect of compliance assistance on pollution discharges and violations of environmental regulations

Paul J. Ferraro, Jay P. Shimshack — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:18:55 -0700

Abstract

Researchers and policymakers assert competing behavioral models of polluters. One model portrays polluters as best approximated by the perfectly informed, rational actor from economics textbooks. Another model portrays polluters, particularly small and medium facilities, as imperfectly informed, cognitively bounded, pro-social actors. If this second model is more accurate, environmental programs that offer low-cost technical assistance may be especially effective in promoting regulatory compliance. Yet the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of such compliance assistance is scant. In a pre-registered analysis using panel data research designs, we exploit idiosyncratic program roll-out to estimate the effects of a compliance assistance program that was delivered to hundreds of Ohio water polluters. Although the program was initially deemed a success by federal and state environmental protection agencies, we estimate that, if the program had any effect on polluter behaviors, those effects were small. In our preferred specification, we estimate a precise zero effect of compliance assistance on environmental compliance and pollution. The lack of evidence for behavioral impacts from compliance assistance does not imply such programs cannot be effective, but it does underscore the need for more deliberate evaluation designs when state and federal agencies roll out their compliance assistance interventions.

The impact of granting undocumented immigrants driver's licenses on fatal crashes

Ruinan Zhao — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:17:14 -0700

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of granting undocumented immigrants driver's licenses on fatal crashes. Using county-level crash data from the Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool, I leverage the quasi-randomness of the timing of the driver's license reforms adoption across states to identify the causal effect of driver's license reforms. My findings show that granting undocumented immigrants driver's licenses increases overall fatal crashes by nearly 5%, equivalent to 0.46 more fatal crashes in a county per year. The effect is stronger in states with a higher population of undocumented immigrants. By investigating the mechanism through which the policy impact is likely to occur, I show that undocumented immigrants may be more likely to engage in risky driving behavior once they obtain driver's licenses. Several robustness checks and placebo tests support my main findings.

The Deadly Rise of Anti‐Science: A Scientist's Warning by Peter J. Hotez. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023, 161 pp., $24.95 (hardcover).

MaryBrooke U. Burval — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:15:51 -0700

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 45, Issue 3, Summer 2026.

Measuring the effects of Obergefell v. Hodges: Revisiting same‐sex marriage legalization and mortgage demand

Nir Eilam, Hasan Shahid — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:14:21 -0700

Abstract

The U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges made same-sex marriage legal in all states. We estimate the effect of this landmark ruling on the mortgage demand of same-sex couples. Using data on the near universe of mortgage applications, we employ a difference-in-differences estimation strategy that compares the mortgage demand from same-sex and different-sex couples, before and after the ruling. We find that the ruling increased the mortgage demand from same-sex couples relative to different-sex couples by 12% in states where same-sex marriage was previously unavailable. Interestingly, we also estimate a 15% increase in the mortgage demand of same-sex couples in states that had already legalized same-sex marriage prior to the ruling. This suggests that the federal Supreme Court ruling brought greater certainty to same-sex couples, even in states where same-sex marriage was already legal. Additionally, we find that the effects were significantly larger for same-sex female couples compared to same-sex male couples, consistent with prior literature documenting higher marriage take-up among women in same-sex relationships. Our results emphasize the importance of federal Supreme Court rulings over and above similar state-level legislation in shaping outcomes of vulnerable populations.

Mentoring, educational preferences, and career choice: Evidence from two field experiments in Bhutan

Ryotaro Hayashi, Hyuncheol Bryant Kim, Norihiko Matsuda, Trinh Pham — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:11:23 -0700

Abstract

We evaluate two randomized controlled trials in Bhutan testing whether near-peer mentoring can shift students’ educational preferences toward STEM and TVET pathways. Mentors provided personalized guidance, shared their own experiences, and offered information on admissions and labor market outcomes. The interventions significantly increased students’ interest and perceived knowledge, but had limited effects on actual applications or enrollment. In the STEM stream, limited follow-through appears linked to structural constraints such as academic selectivity and limited program capacity; for TVET, social stigma and parental skepticism likely played a constraining role. These findings highlight the potential of light-touch, scalable mentoring to shape aspirations, while underscoring the need for complementary strategies to support behavior change and enable follow-through.

Shifting tax incidence: Evidence from the Washington State cannabis market

Benjamin Hansen, Kendall Houghton, Keaton Miller, Caroline Weber — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:10:21 -0700

Abstract

We study how prices respond when a 25% gross receipts tax remitted by cannabis manufacturers was eliminated in Washington state and the retail excise tax was simultaneously increased from 25% to 37%. Standard theory suggests that this change should have increased welfare for manufacturers, retailers, and consumers; instead, our analysis shows that the reform unexpectedly shifted benefits toward manufacturers at the expense of retailers and consumers, who faced higher tax-inclusive prices post-reform. We hypothesize that this outcome was driven by behavioral factors such as anchoring and loss aversion. Our findings add to a growing body of evidence that tax reforms can affect market outcomes in ways not predicted by standard economic models, offering a cautionary lesson for policymakers considering similar reforms.