Publications

Listed by topic area.  E-mail me for copies of any papers for which access is gated.  

Opportunity, Health, and Well-Being

Rudolph, K.E., Williams, N.T., Milazzo, F.,  Venkataramani A., and O'Brien, R. (2023). "Has the Opening of Amazon Fulfillment Centers Affected Demand for Disability Insurance." PLoS One 18 (11): e0294453.

Bhalotra, S., Clarke, D., Gomes, J., and Venkataramani, A.  (2023). "Maternal Mortality and Women's Political Participation." Journal of the European Economic Association 21 (5): 2172-2208. [Replication materials] [Older versions: June 2022 NBER Working Paper, May 2018 UNU Wider] [VoxDev, Ideas for India Article]

Venkataramani, A.  (2023). "Affirmative Action, Population Health, and the Importance of Opportunity and Hope." New England Journal of Medicine 389: 1157-1159. [Perspective piece using affirmative action as a hook to make a broader argument about the importance of opportunity for health and well-being.] [Coverage/Mentions: Healthcare Innovation, National Review piece that misses the point]

Bhalotra, S., Venkataramani A., and Walther, S. (2023). "Women's Labor Market and Fertility Responses to a Health Innovation." Journal of the European Economic Association 21 (4): 1595-1646. [Replication materials] [Older versions: July 2022 NBER Working Paper] [GlobalDev blog, Development Impact Blog post] 

O'Brien, R., Bair, E., and Venkataramani, A. (2022). "Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States." Demography 59 (2): 607-628. [Older versions: Preprint, related UW CFS Working Paper and US Social Security Admin policy brief] [Coverage/Mentions: Forbes, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, Brookings Institution,  SYFY, Yale Daily News, Engineering and Technology]

Schofield, H., and Venkataramani, A.  (2021). "Poverty-Related Bandwidth Constraints Reduce the Value of Consumption." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 118 (35): e2102794118. [ungated version] [Replication materials] 

Sandoval-Olascoaga, S., Venkataramani, A., and Arcaya, M. (2021). "Eviction Moratoria Expiration and COVID-19 Infection Risk Across Strata of Health and Socioeconomic Status in the United States." JAMA Network Open 4 (8): e2129041. [Coverage: Marketplace, Brookings Institution, Physician's Weekly, AJMC Blog]

Venkataramani, A.., O'Brien, R., and Tsai, A.C. (2021). "Declining Life Expectancy in the United States: The Need for Social Policy as Health Policy." JAMA 325 (7): 621-622. [Viewpoint] [Coverage/Mentions: CNN, The Hill, New York Times]

Raifman, J., Bor, J., and Venkataramani, A. (2021) "Association Between Receipt of Unemployment Insurance and Food Security Among People Who Lost Employment During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States." JAMA Network Open 4(1): e2035884. [Older preprint: July 2020 MedArXiV] [Coverage: CNBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Business Insider]

Khatana, S., Venkataramani, A., Nathan, A.S., Dayoub, E.J., Eberly, L., Kazi, D., Yeh, R.W., Mitra, N., Subramanian, S.V., Groeneveld, P. (2021). "Association Between County-Level Change in Economic Prosperity and Change in Cardiovascular Mortality Among Middle-aged U.S. Adults." JAMA 325 (5): 445-453.

O'Brien, R., Neman, T., Seltzer, N., Evans, L., and Venkataramani, A. (2020). "Structural Racism, Economic Opportunity, and Racial Health Disparities: Evidence from U.S. Counties." SSM-Population Health. 11: e100564. [Coverage/Mentions: BMJ Blog]

Tsai, A. and Venkataramani, A. (2020). "U.S. Elections: Treating the Acute-on-Chronic Decompensation." The Lancet Public Health 5 (10): e519-520. [Commentary]

Venkataramani, A., O'Brien, R., Whitehorn, G., and Tsai, A. (2020). "Economic Influences on Population Health in the United States: Towards Policymaking Driven by Data and Evidence." PLoS Medicine 17 (9): e1003319. [Op-ed in The Hill based on the arguments and analyses in this paper]

Venkataramani, A., Daza, S., and Emanuel, E. (2020). "Association of Social Mobility with the Income-Related Mortality Gap in the United States: A Cross-Sectional, County-Level Study." JAMA Internal Medicine. 180 (3): 429-436. [Replication materials] [Associated commentary] [Coverage: LA Times, Kaiser Health News, The Nation] 

Venkataramani, A., Bair, E., O'Brien, R., and Tsai, A. (2020). "Association Between Automotive Assembly Plant Closures and Opioid Overdose Mortality in the United States." JAMA Internal Medicine 180 (2): 254-262. [JAMA Forum Comment] [Selected Coverage: New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Fox Business, CNN, LA Times, Forbes, Forbes again, The Hill, CNBC, MarketWatch, Philadelphia Inquirer, Breitbart, CBS Philadelphia] [Radio/Podcasts: CBC, Detroit Daily Podcast] [Note: This work was cited in testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's 2019 Hearing on Opioids and in a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report on rising midlife mortality in the U.S.]

Venkataramani, A. and Tsai, A. (2020). "Housing, Housing Policy, and Deaths of Despair." Health Services Research 55 (1): 5-8. [Invited commentary]

Venkataramani, A. and Tsai, A.C. "Economic Conditions." In Galea, S. and Vlahov, D., eds., Urban Health. Oxford University Press, 2019. 

Venkataramani, A., Cook, E., O'Brien, R., Kawachi, I., Jena, A.B. and Tsai, A. (2019). "College Affirmative Action Bans and Smoking and Alcohol Use Among Underrepresented Minority Adolescents: A Difference-in-Differences Study." PLoS Medicine 16(6): e1002821. [Replication materials][Coverage: Philadelphia Inquirer, Vice, Pacific Standard, Medical XPress, AJMC Blog, Inside Higher Ed]  

O'Brien, R., Neman, T., Rudolph, K., Casey, J., Venkataramani, A. (2018). "Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Intergenerational Economic Mobility: Evidence from U.S. County Birth Cohorts." Social Science and Medicine 217: 92-96. [Coverage/Mentions: Wall Street Journal Economics Blog]

Venkataramani, M., Pollack, C.E., DeCamp, L.R., Leifheit, K.M., Berger, Z.D., and Venkataramani, A.  (2018). "Association of Maternal Eligibility for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and With Citizen Children's Participation in the Women, Infants, and Children Program." JAMA Pediatrics  172 (7): 699-701. [Coverage: Reuters, Vice, LDI Blog, Medical Xpress]

Venkataramani, A. and Tsai, A. (2017). "Dreams Deferred - The Public Health Consequences of Rescinding DACA." New England Journal of Medicine 377: 1707-1709. (Commentary) [Coverage: LDI Blog, Philly Voice, NBC 10 Philadelphia] [Radio Interview: Knowledge@Wharton]

Venkataramani, A., Shah, S., O'Brien, R., Kawachi, I., and Tsai, A. (2017) "Health Consequences of the U.S. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program: A Quasi-Experimental Study." The Lancet Public Health. 2 (4): e175-e181. [Errata] [Replication materials] [Accompanying commentary] [Journal Editorial] [Op-Ed in Stat News] [Coverage and Mentions: Time, Newsweek, New York Times, Vox, Vox Cares, Huffington Post, Proto, SF Chronicle, Vice, The Harvard Crimson] [Note: This paper, along with our 2017 NEJM perspective and 2018 JAMA Pediatrics paper, was cited in multiple amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court as part of a 2020 case seeking to determine the legality of the program’s recission in 2017. This work was also cited in a 2022 Department of Homeland Security final rule aiming to preserve and fortify the DACA program.]

O'Brien, R., Venkataramani, A., and Tsai, A. (2017). "Economic Mobility and Mortality Crisis Among U.S. Middle-Aged Whites." Epidemiology  28 (2): e12-e13. 

Venkataramani, A., Brigell, R., O'Brien, R., Chatterjee, P., Kawachi, I., and Tsai, A. (2016). "Inequality of Economic Opportunity, Health Behaviors, and Health Outcomes in the United States: Population-Based, Cross-Sectional Study." The Lancet Public Health 1 (1): e18-e25. [Accompanying editorial] [Webinar with R. O'Brien summarizing this work] [Coverage and Mentions: Washington Post, HealthDay] 

Venkataramani, A., Chatterjee, P., Kawachi, I., and Tsai, A. (2016). "Economic Opportunity, Health Behavior, and Mortality in the United States." American Journal of Public Health 106 (3): 478- 484. [Coverage and Mentions: Philadelphia Inquirer, Mass General, Harvard Pop Center] [Op-ed/Non-technical summary]

Program Design

Underhill, K., Bair, E.F., Dixon, E.L., Ferrell, W., Linn, K.A., Volpp, K.G. and Venkataramani, A. (2023). "Public Views on Medicaid Work Requirements and Mandatory Premiums in Kentucky." JAMA Health Forum 4 (10): e233656.

Venkataramani, A. (2023) "Moving Beyond Intent and Realizing Health Equity." JAMA Health Forum 4 (9): e232525. [Invited commentary]. [Coverage/mentions: Market Design Blog]

Vasan, A., Kenyon, C.C., Fiks, A.G., and Venkataramani, A.  (2023). "Continuous Eligibility and Coverage Policies Expanded Children's Medicaid Enrollment." Health Affairs 42 (6): 753-758. [CHOP Policy Lab blog post] [Coverage: Politico]

Berkowitz, S., Dave, G., and Venkataramani, A. (2023). "Potential Gaps in Income Support Policies for Those in Poor Health: The Case of the Earned Income Tax Credit - A Cross Sectional Analysis." SSM - Population Health 23: e101429.

Vasan, A., Kenyon, C.C., Roberto, C., Fiks, A.G., and Venkataramani, A. (2021). "Association of Remote versus In-Person Benefit Delivery with WIC Participation During the COVID-19 Pandemic."  JAMA 326 (15): 1531-1533. [LDI Policy Brief] [Coverage: Penn Today, Philadelphia Inquirer] [Note: Our work on administrative burdens in the Women Infant and Child (WIC) Program informed part of a recent Presidential Executive Order to reduce administrative burdens in public programs as well as well as the 2021 Senate Bill, the MODERN WIC Act.]

Vasan, A., Kenyon, C.C., Feudtner, C., Fiks, A.G., and Venkataramani, A. (2021) "Association of WIC Participation and Electronic Benefits Transfer Implementation: A Longitudinal, State-Level Analysis." JAMA Pediatrics 175 (6): 609-616. [Accompanying editorial] [CHOP Policy Lab blog post]

Venkataramani, A., Bair, E., Dixon, E., Linn, K., Ferrell, W., Volpp, K., and Underhill, K. (2020). "Association Between State Policies Using Medicaid Exclusions to Sanction Noncompliance with Welfare Work Requirements and Medicaid Participation among Low-Income Adults." JAMA Network Open 3 (5): e204579.

Venkataramani, A., Bair, E., Dixon, E., Linn, K., Ferrell, W., Montgomery, M., Strollo, M., Volpp, K.G., Underhill, K. "Assessment of Medicaid Beneficiaries Included in Community Engagement Requirements in Kentucky." (2019). JAMA Network Open 2 (7): e197209. [Accompanying Commentary] [Coverage: NPR Louisville]

Venkataramani, A. and Chatterjee, P.  (2019). "Early Medicaid Expansions and Drug Overdose Mortality in the United States: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis." Journal of General Internal Medicine 34 (1): 23-25. [Replication materials] [Coverage: LDI Blog, Brookings Institution, HealthDay, Axios] 

Huf, S., Volpp, K., Asch, D., Bair, E., and Venkataramani, A. (2018) "Association of Medicaid Healthy Behavior Incentive Programs With Smoking Cessation, Weight Loss, and Annual Preventive Health Visits: An Early Evaluation Using a Difference-in-Differences Analysis." JAMA Network Open 1 (8): e186185. [Accompanying editorial]

Underhill, K., Venkataramani, A., and Volpp, K. (2018). "Fulfilling States' Duty to Evaluate Medicaid Waivers." New England Journal of Medicine 379: 1985-1988. [Coverage: LDI Blog, Fierce Healthcare]

Early Childhood and Life Course

Fink, G.,  Venkataramani, A., and Zanolini, A. (2021). "Early Life Adversity, Biological Adaptation, and Human Capital: Evidence from an Interrupted Malaria Control Program in Zambia."  Journal of Health Economics 80: e102532.

Bhalotra, S., Diaz-Cayeros, A., Miller, G., Mirinda, A., and Venkataramani, A. (2021) "Urban Water Disinfection and Mortality Decline in Lower-Income Countries." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 13 (4): 490-520.  [Older versions: NBER Working Paper, Center for Global Development Working Paper, October 2017] [Non-technical VoxDev summary]

Ortiz, R., Kishton, R., Sinko, L., Fingerman, M., Moreland, D., Wood, J., and Venkataramani, A. (2021). "Answering the Call: Assessing Trends in Child Abuse Inquiries in the Wake of COVID-19." JAMA Pediatrics 175 (8): 859-861. [Coverage/Mentions: CNN, ABC News, Health Day, The Hill]

Vaduganathan, M., Venkataramani, A., Bhatt, D. (2015). "Moving Towards Global Primordial Prevention in Cardiovascular Disease: The Heart of the Matter." Journal of the American Association of Cardiology 66 (14): 1535-1537. [Editorial] [Coverage: Medscape]

Venkataramani, A. (2012) “Early Life Exposure to Malaria and Cognition in Adulthood: Evidence from Mexico” Journal of Health Economics 31 (5): 767-780. [older SSRN version] [Coverage/Mentions: Marginal Revolution, Scientific American, Hurriyet]

Venkataramani, A. (2011). “The Intergenerational Transmission of Height: Evidence from Rural Vietnam”  Health Economics 20 (12): 1448-1467. [older SSRN version]

Venkataramani, A. and Fried, B.J. (2011). “The Effect of World Fuel Prices on Household Fuel Use and Child Health: Evidence from Guatemala.”  American Journal of Public Health 101: 1668-1674. [older SSRN version] [Mentions: The Conversation] [This work was cited in the Inter-American Development Bank's report on policies to foster adoption of clean cooking fuels and reduce air pollution.]

Health Care Workforce

Matta, S., Chatterjee, P., and Venkataramani, A. (co-senior authors) (2024). "Changes in Health Care Worker Economic Outcomes After Medicaid Expansion." JAMA 331 (8): 687-695. [Editorial] [Coverage: Becker's, Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity, Penn LDI]

Kakara, M. and Venkataramani, A. (2023). "Earnings of US Physicians With and Without Disabilities." JAMA Health Forum 4 (12): e233954. [Coverage: Bloomberg, Becker's Hospital Review]

Dean, A., McCallum, J., Venkataramani, A., and Michaels, D. (2023). "Labor Unions and Staff Turnover in U.S. Nursing Homes." JAMA Network Open 6 (10): e2337898. [Coverage: Becker's Hospital Review, McKnight's]

Dean, A., McCallum J.,  Venkataramani, A., and Michaels, D. (2023). "The Effect of Labor Unions on Nursing Home Workplace Injury and Illness Reporting." Health Affairs 42 (9): 1260-1265. [Coverage: McKnight's]

Dean, A., McCallum J., and Venkataramani, A. (2022). "Unions in the United States Improve Worker Safety and Lower Health Inequality." Report,  Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

Dean, A., McCallum J., Kimmel, S., and Venkataramani, A. (2022). "Resident Mortality and Worker Infection Rates from COVID-19 Were Lower in Unionized Nursing Homes in the United States." Health Affairs 41 (5): 751-759. [Washington Post Op-Ed by Dean and McCallum] [Coverage: Marketwatch, Center for Economic and Policy Research, McKnight's, Modern Healthcare, Quartz, Jacobin Magazine] [NEJM Journal Watch Podcast] [Note: This paper was prominently cited in a 2023 U.S. Department of Treasury report on the benefits of unions in the U.S. economy and in a 2023 U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule change on minimum staffing standards for U.S. nursing homes.]

Dean, A., McCallum J., Kimmel, S., and Venkataramani, A. (2021). "Iowa School Districts Are More Likely to Adopt Mask Mandates When Teachers Are Unionized." Health Affairs 40 (8): 1270-1276. [Washington Post Editorial by Dean and McCallum] [Coverage/Mentions: Washington Center Equitable Growth]

Matta, S., Chatterjee, P., and Venkataramani, A. (2021). "The Income-Based Mortality Gradient Among U.S. Healthcare Workers: A Cohort Study." Journal of General Internal Medicine 36 (9): 2870-2872.

Dean, A., Venkataramani, A.., and Kimmel, S. (2020). "Mortality Rates from Covid-19 are Lower in Unionized Nursing Homes." Health Affairs 39 (11): 1993-2001. [Selected coverage: New York Times, NPR, Stat Morning Rounds, PBS, McKnight's, Time] [Note: This work was cited by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their report on strategies to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 in workplaces.] 

Himmelstein, K. and Venkataramani, A. (2019). "Economic Vulnerability Among US Female Health Care Workers: Potential Impact of a $15-per-Hour Minimum Wage." American Journal of Public Health 109 (2): 198-205. (Lead article) [Accompanying commentaries: 1, 2, 3] [AJPH Podcast] [Coverage: Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pump Handle, HealthDay, Becker Hospital Review] [Winner, American Journal of Public Health Paper of the Year award] [Note: This work was cited in a U.S. Department of Labor Rule (8 FR 67126, effective Jan 2022) which finalizes regulations and guidance for the implementation of President Biden's Executive Order, "Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors."]

Topics in Population Health

Himmelstein, K., Tsai, A., and Venkataramani, A.  (2024). "Wealth Redistribution to Extend Longevity in the US: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study, 1992-1998." JAMA Internal Medicine, Epub before print. [Associated editorial] [Coverage: Newsweek]

Bor, J., Stokes, A.C., Raifman, J., Venkataramani, A., Bassett, Himmelstein, D., and  Woolhandler, S. (2023) "Missing Americans: Early Death in the United States, 1933-2021"  PNAS Nexus 2 (6): pgad173. [July 2022 medrXiv version) [Coverage/Mentions: New York Times, The Atlantic, Washington Post].

Himmelstein, K., Lawrence, J., Jahn, J., Caesar, J., Morse, M., Bassett, M., Wispelwey, B., Darity, W., and  Venkataramani, A. (2022). "Association between Racial Wealth Inequities and Racial Disparities in Longevity among U.S. Adults and Role of Reparations Payments, 1992-2018." JAMA Network Open 5 (11): e2240519. [Coverage/Mentions: Forbes, Vox, WBUR, The Hill, Philly Voice] [Radio/Podcasts: Sound of Ideas (co-author Darity)] [Note: This work was prominently cited in the 2023 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report "Federal Policy to Advance Racial, Ethnic, and Tribal Health Inequality."]

South, E., Venkataramani, A., Dalembert, G. (2022). "Building Black Wealth: The Role of Health Systems in Closing the Gap." New England Journal of Medicine 387: 844-849. [Coverage/Mentions: Penn Today] [Narrative piece]

Green, T. and Venkataramani, A. (2022). "Tradeoffs and Policy Options - Using Insights from Economics to Inform Public Health Policy." New England Journal of Medicine 386: 405-408.

Eberly, L., Julien, H., South, E., Venkataramani, A, Nathan, A., Anyawu, E., Dayoub, E., Groeneveld, P., Khatana, S. (2022). "Association Between Community Level Violent Crime and Cardiovascular Mortality in Chicago: A Longitudinal Analysis." Journal of the American Heart Association 11 (14): e025168. [Coverage: Health Day, The Hill]

Reszczynski, O., Connolly, J., Shultz, K., Kelly, S., Mitra, N., Horn, J., Venkataramani, A., and Chaiyachati, K., (2022). "US Local Public Health Department Spending Between 2008 and 2016 Did Not Increase for Communities in Need." BMC Health Services Research 22: 237.

Bilinski, A., Salomon, J., Emanuel, E., and Venkataramani, A.S.. (2021). "Better Late Than Never: Trends in COVID-19 Infection Rates, Risk Perceptions, and Behavioral Responses in the U.S." Journal of General Internal Medicine 36: 1825-1828. [Replication materials]

Kavanaugh, N. Goel, R. (2021). "County-Level Socioeconomic and Political Predictors of Distancing for COVID-19." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 61 (1): 13-19. [Older preprint: MedArXiV]

Wang, S.Y., Eberly, L., Roberto, C.A., Venkataramani, A., Groeneveld, P., Khatana, S. (2021). "Food Insecurity and Cardiovascular Mortality for Non-elderly Adults in the United States from 2011 to 2017: A County-Level Longitudinal Analysis."  Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes 14 (1): e007473. [Coverage: Becker Hospital Review]

Friedman, A and Venkataramani, A. (2021). "Chilling Effects: US Immigration Enforcement and Health Care Seeking Among Hispanic Adults." Health Affairs 40 (7): 1056-1065. [Featured article] [Coverage: Yale News, Yahoo! News] [Interview w/ A Friedman on A Health Podyssey]

Ortiz, R., Farrell-Bryan, D., Gutierrez, G., Boen, C., Tam, V., Yun, K., Venkataramani, A., and Montoya-Williams, D. (2021). "A Content Analysis of US Immigration Policies: Implications for Research in Social Determinants of Health." Health Affairs 40 (7): 1145-1153.

Bruch, J., Barin, O., Venkataramani, A.., Song, Z. (2021). "Mortality Before and After Border Wall Construction Along the U.S.-Mexico Border, 1990-2017." American Journal of Public Health 111 (19): 1636-1644. [Coverage: The Hill]

Essien, U.R. and Venkataramani, A. (2020). "Data and Policy Solutions to Address Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the COVID-19 Pandemic." JAMA Health Forum 1(4): e200535. [Commentary].

Siedner, M.J., Harling, G., Reynolds, Z., Gilbert, R.F., Haneuse, S., Venkataramani, A.., Tsai, A.C. (2020). "Social Distancing to Slow the U.S. COVID-19 Epidemic: Longitudinal Pretest-Posttest Comparison Group Study." PLoS Medicine 17 (8): e1003224. [Correction] [Older MedArXiV preprint]

Yehya, N., Venkataramani, A.., and Harhay, M. (2020) "Statewide Interventions and Covid-19 Mortality in the United States." Clinical Infectious Diseases 73 (7): e1863-e1869. [Coverage: Morningstar]

Tsai, A.C., Kiang, M.V., Barnett, M.L., Beletsky, L., Keyes, K.M., McGinty, E.M.., Smith, L.R., Strathdee, S.A., Wakeman, S.E., and Venkataramani, A. (2019). "Stigma as a Fundamental Hindrance to the United States Opioid Crisis." PLoS Medicine 16 (11): e1002969.

Smith, M.L., Kakuhikire, B., Baguma, C., Rasmussen, J.D., Perkins, J.M., Cooper-Vince, C., Venkataramani, A.., Ashaba, S., Bangsberg, D.R., and Tsai, A.C. (2019). "Relative Wealth, Subjective Social Status, and their Associations with Depression: Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study in Rural Uganda." SSM Population Health 8: e100448.

Bor, J. and Venkataramani, A. (co-first authors), Williams, D., and Tsai, A. (2018). "Police Killings and Their Spillover Effects on the Mental Health of Black Americans: A Population-Based, Quasi-Experimental Study." The Lancet  392 (10144): 302-310. [Replication materials] [Accompanying Commentary] [Selected Coverage: New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, PBS News Hour, Washington Post, NPR Philadelphia, Newsweek, USA Today, CBC News, Atlanta Black Star, New York Magazine] [Radio Interviews: NPR Morning Edition, NPR All Things Considered, KDKA Radio (Pittsburgh)] [TV Interviews: KARE-TV (Minnesota), CBS 60 Minutes] [Podcasts: The Lancet] [Winner, 2019 Society of General Internal Medicine Best Published Research Paper of the Year Award; Top 20 Finalist, Clinical Research Forum Top 10 Awards] [Note: This research has been cited by a number of policymakers and non-governmental agencies.  Perhaps because of the visibility of the paper it has invited a number of critiques. Replies to those are here and here and here. tl;dr: We stand by the paper.]

Cook, E., Venkataramani, A., Kim, J., Tamini, R., and Holmes, M. (2018). "Legislation to Increase the Uptake of HPV Vaccination and Adolescent Sexual Behaviors." Pediatrics  142 (3): e2018045. [Coverage: PBS News Hour, Reuters, AAP, US News & World Report]  

Kakuhikire, B., Suquillo, D., Atuhumuza, E., Mushavi, R., Perkins, J.M., Venkataramani, A., Weiser, S.D., Bangsberg, D.R., and Tsai, A.C. (2016). "A Livelihood Intervention to Improve Economic and Psychosocial Wellbeing in Rural Uganda: Longitudinal Pilot Study." Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS 13 (1): 162-169.

Cooper-Vince, C.E., Kakuhikire, B., Vorechovska, D., McDonough, A.Q., Perkins, J., Venkataramani, A., Mushavi, R.C., Baguma, C., Ashaba, S., Bangsberg, D.R., and Tsai, A.C. (2017). "Household Water Insecurity, Missed Schooling, and the Mediating Role of Caregiver Depression in Rural Uganda." Global Mental Health 4: doi:10.1017/gmh.2017.14.

Tsai, A. and Venkataramani, A. (2015). "Communal Bereavement and Resilience in the Aftermath of a Terrorist Event: Evidence from a Natural Experiment." Social Science and Medicine  146: 155-163. [Designated a "Most Impactful Article" by Social Science and Medicine].

Topics in Health Services

Vasan, A., Kyle, M.A., Venkataramani, A., Kenyon, C.C., and Fiks, A.G. (2023). "Inequities in Time Spent Coordinating Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs." Academic Pediatrics 23 (8): 1526-1534.

Schoenbrunner, A., Beckmeyer, A., Kunnath, N., Ibrahim, A., Pawlik, T., Venkataramani, A., Kuzon, W., Diaz, A. (2023). "Association Between California's State Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act and Utilization of Gender Affirming Surgery." JAMA 329 (10): 819-826.

Chatterjee, P., Lin, Y., and Venkataramani, A. (2022). "Changes in Economic Outcomes Before and After Rural Hospital Closures in the United States: A Difference-in-Differences Study." Health Services Research 57 (5): 1020-1028. [Coverage: Penn LDI]

Bennett, C., Venkataramani, A., Henretig, F., Faerber, J., Song, L., and Wood, J. (2022). "Recent Trends in Marijuana-Related Hospital Encounters in Young Children." Academic Pediatrics 22 (4): 592-597.

Wang, T., Dixon, E., Bair, E., Ferrell, W., Linn, K., Volpp, K., Underhill, K., and Venkataramani, A. (2021). "Oral Health and Dental Care Utilization Among Able-Bodied Adults on Medicaid in Kentucky after Medicaid Expansion: A Mixed Methods Study." Journal of the American Dental Association 152 (9): 747-755.

Navathe, A., Emanuel, E., Venkataramani, A., Huang, Q., Gupta, A., Dinh, C.T., Shan, E.Z., Coe, N.B., Wang, E., Zhu, J., Cousins, D.S., Liao, J. (2020). "Spending and Quality After Three Years of Medicare's Voluntary Bundled Payments for Joint Replacement Surgery." Health Affairs 39 (1): 58-66. [Coverage: LDI Policy Blog]

Liao, J., Emanuel, E., Venkataramani, A., Huang, Q., Dinh, C.T., Shan, E.Z., Wang, E., Zhu, J., Cousins, D.S., Navathe, A. (2019). "Association of Bundled Payments for Joint Replacement Survey and Patient Outcomes with Simultaneous Hospital Participation in Hospital Accountable Care Organizations." JAMA Network Open 2 (9): e1912270.

Berkowitz, S., Basu, S., Venkataramani, A., Reznor, G., Fleegler, E., Atlas, S. (2019). "Association between Access to Social Services and Cardio-metabolic Risk Factors: A Machine Learning and Multilevel Modeling Analysis." BMJ Open 9: e025281 

Shah, S.J., Schwamm, L., Cohen, A., Simoni, M., Estrada, J., Matiello, M., Venkataramani, A., Rao, S.K. (2018). "Virtual Visits Partially Replaced In-person Visits in an ACO-based Medical Specialty Practice." Health Affairs 37 (2): 2045-2051. [Coverage: Brookings Institution]

Chatterjee, P., Venkataramani, A., Vijayan, A., Wellen, J., and Martin, E. (2015). "The Effect of State Policies on Organ Donation and Transplantation in the United States." JAMA Internal Medicine 175 (8): 1323-1329. [Associated Editorial] [Response Letter] [Coverage: Boston NPR, PBS, Reuters, US News & World Report, Boston Herald, Kaiser Health News] [Clinical Practice Innovation Podcast]

Venkataramani, A., Martin, E., Vijayan, A., and Wellen, J. (2012) “The Impact of Tax Policies on Organ Donations in the United States”  American Journal of Transplantation 12 (8): 2133-2140 [older SSRN version] [Coverage: NPR, NY Daily News, AMA Blog]

Theory/Methods

Venkataramani, A., Bair, E., Bor, J., Jackson, C., Kawachi, I., Lee, J., Papachristos, A., and Tsai, A. (2024). "Officer-Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health: Quasi-Experimental, Population-Based Study." JAMA Internal Medicine 184 (4): 363-373.  [Pre-analysis plan] [Editorial comment] [Journal Podcast] [Coverage: New York Times, Associated Press, NBC News, USA Today, Smithsonian, Fox 5 DC (TV)] [Note: This a methods paper because it delves into some general issues on how to delineate exposure to, and estimate causal effects of, local and public events occurring in the world that could have health consequences through a number of affective pathways. Our multiple approaches build on what we did in prior work (Bor, Venkataramani, Williams, and Tsai, 2018), and we delineate tradeoffs between the various research designs. Collectively they yield substantively similar answers.]

Manski, C., Mullahy, J., and Venkataramani, A. (2023). "Using Measures of Patient Race to Make Clinical Predictions: Decision Making, Patient Health, and Fairness." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 120 (35): e2303370120. [December 2022 NBER Working Paper] [Coverage: Northwestern University, Diverse: Issues in Higher Ed, Penn LDI, Tennessee Tribune] [Radio: WBEZ Chicago Morning Edition]

Smith, J., Venkataramani, A., and Wallace, J. (2022). "As Medicaid Continuous Coverage Enrollment Ends, Randomized Controlled Trials Can Minimize Churn." Health Affairs Forefront , doi: 10.1377/forefront.20220926.250687. [Viewpoint] [Coverage/mentions: MedPage]

Wallace, J., Smith, J., and Venkataramani, A.  (2022). "Supporting Innovation in Medicaid Policy - Interventions to Increase Adoption of RCTs." New England Journal of Medicine 386: 1775-1777. [Perspective]

Mullahy, J., Venkataramani, A., Millimet, D., and Manski, C. (2021). "Embracing Uncertainty: The Value of Partial Identification in Public Health and Clinical Research." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 61 (2): e103-e108.

Venkataramani, A. (2021). "Effective Policymaking Requires Strong Evidence: Randomized-Controlled Trials as the Foundation for Evidence-Based Policies." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 40 (2): 650-657. [Reply to rejoinder, which features a Star Trek reference].

Linn, K., Underhill, K., Dixon, E., Bair, E.F., Ferrell, W., Montgomery, M.E., Volpp, K., and Venkataramani, A. (2020). "The Design of a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate Multi-Dimensional Effects of a Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver with Community Engagement Requirements." Contemporary Clinical Trials 98: e106173.

Venkataramani, A., Underhill, K., and Volpp, K. (2020). "Moving Towards Evidence-Based Policy: The Value of Randomization for Program and Policy Implementation." JAMA 323 (1): 21-22. [Viewpoint] [Coverage: Academic Health Economists' Blog]

Venkataramani, A., Gandhavadi, M., and Jena, A.B. (2018). "Association Between Playing Football in the National Football League and Long-term Mortality." JAMA 319 (8): 800-806. [Accompanying editorial] [Op-Ed, LDI Blog Post] [Freakonomics MD Podcast] [JAMA Podcast] [Author Video] [Coverage: USA Today, Time, CNN, US News, Reuters, Daily Mail, Statistical Modeling/Causal Inference Blog, Advisory] [Notes: First, I encourage you to read the letters in reply and our response, the latter in which we (1) defend our empirical approach against standard criticisms and (2) provide new estimates that further address biases that plague similar studies on this subject. Second, this paper is classified as a methods paper on my website because it defines an approach to thinking about how to identify to causal effects of an occupational exposure on health when workers are chosen on the basis of unique attributes (i.e., you can't compare an NFL football player to me, as much as I fancy myself an athlete). Third, the way the original paper is written follows standard medical journal style, which clings close to specific interpretations of p-values. I do not share those views - I do not like p-values - and so I do not consider this a null study. If you do like p-values in that way, then please note that the specification in the published paper is not our preferred specification and instead the product of the journal's in-house statitisticians' strong wishes. In our preferred specification, which follows the econometrics literature and additionally adjusts for age at entry (which recent work has shown independently predicts mortality risk), we get a substantively similar but slightly larger estimated mortality hazard that meets the "magic" p-value threshold of 0.05.]

Venkataramani, A., Bor, J., and Jena, A.B. (2016). "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Healthcare Research." British Medical Journal 352: i1216. [Coverage: Academic Health Economists' Blog]

Bor, J., Geldsetzer, P., Venkataramani, A., Barninghausen, T. (2015). "Quasi-Experiments to Establish Causal Effects of HIV Care and Treatment and to Improve the Cascade of Care." Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS 10 (6): 495-501.

Tsai, A. and Venkataramani, A.  (2015). "A More Robust Test of the Penrose Hypothesis." JAMA Psychiatry  72 (7): 735-736. 

Tsai, A. and Venkataramani, A. (2015). "Syndemics and Health Disparities: A Methodological Note." AIDS and Behavior  20 (2): 423-430.

HIV Risk Behaviors and Interventions

Maughan-Brown, B.,  Beckett, S., Kharsany, A., Cawood, C., Khanyile, D., Lewis, L., Venkataramani, A., and George, G. (2020). "Poor rates of linkage to HIV care and uptake of treatment after home-based HIV testing among newly diagnosed 15-to-49 year-old men and women in a high HIV prevalence setting in South Africa." AIDS Care 33 (1): 70-79.

Maughan-Brown, B., Venkataramani, A., Kharsany, A., Beckett, S., Govender, K., Lewis, L., Cawood, C., Khanyile, D., and George, G. (2020). "Recently formed age-disparate partnerships are associated with elevated HIV incidence among young women in South Africa." AIDS 34 (1): 149-154.

Bor, J., Fox, M., Rosen, S., Venkataramani, A., Tanser, F., Pillay, D., Bärninghausen, T. (2017). "Treatment Eligibility and Retention in Clinical HIV Care: A Regression Discontinuity Study in South Africa." PLoS Medicine 14 (11): e1002463. 

Maughan-Brown, B. and Venkataramani, A. (2017). "Accuracy and Determinants of HIV Risk Perceptions Among Black Women in South Africa." BMC Public Health 18: 42. 

Maughan-Brown, B., Lloyd, N., Bor, J., and Venkataramani, A. (2016). "Changes in HIV Testing Coverage During South Africa's 2010/2011 National Testing Campaign: Gains and Shortfalls." Journal of the International AIDS Society 19: 20658. [Older SALDRU Working Paper Version] [Coverage: HCPLive]

Tsai, A. and Venkataramani, A. (2015). "The Causal Effect of Education on HIV Stigma in Uganda: Evidence from a Natural Experiment." Social Science and Medicine 142: 37-46. 

Maughan-Brown, B., Godlonton, S., Thornton, R., and Venkataramani, A. (2015) "What Do People Actually Learn from Public Health Campaigns? Incorrect Inferences About Male Circumcision and Female HIV Infection Risk in a Cluster Randomised Trial in Malawi" AIDS and Behavior 19 (7): 1170-1177. [older SALDRU working paper version] [Mentions: Innov for Poverty Action blog]

Venkataramani, A., Thirumurthy, H., Haberer, J., Boum, Y., Kembabazi, A., Siedner, M., Hunt, P., Martin, J., Bangsberg, D., and Tsai, A.. (2014) "CD4 Count at ART Initiation and Economic Restoration in Rural Uganda." AIDS 28 (8): 1221-1226.

Gummerson, E., Maughan-Brown, B., and Venkataramani, A. (2013) "Who is Taking Up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision? Early Evidence from Tanzania" AIDS 27 (16): 2657-2659. 

Venkataramani, A. and Maughan-Brown, B. (2013) "Effect of Household Shocks and Poverty on the Timing of Traditional Male Circumcision and HIV Risk in South Africa" AIDS and Behavior  17 (5): 1668-1674. [older SALDRU working paper version]

Maughan-Brown, B. and Venkataramani, A. (2013) "Incorrect Beliefs About Male Circumcision and Male-to-Female HIV Transmission Risk in South Africa: Implications for Prevention" JAIDS 62 (4): e121-e123.

Maughan-Brown, B. and Venkataramani, A. (2012) "Learning that Circumcision is Protective: Risk Compensation Among Men and Women in Cape Town, South Africa" PLoS ONE  7(7): e40753. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040753.

Maughan-Brown, B. and Venkataramani, A. (2011). "Measuring Concurrent Partnerships: Potential for Underestimation in UNAIDS Recommended Method" AIDS 25 (12): 1549-1551.

Maughan-Brown, B, Venkataramani, A., Nattrass, N., Seekings, J., and Whiteside, A. (2011) "A Cut Above the Rest: Traditional Male Circumcision and HIV Risk Among Xhosa Men in Cape Town, South Africa" JAIDS 58 (5): 499-505. [Mentions: Scientific American/Nature]

Venkataramani, A., Maughan-Brown, B., Nattrass, N., Ruger, J.P.  (2010). “Social Grants, Welfare and the Incentive to Trade-Off Health for Income among Individuals on HAART in South Africa.” AIDS and Behavior 14 (6): 1393-1400.  [older SSRN version]   

Older Work

Bhalotra, S., Fernandez-Sierra, M., and Venkataramani, A. (2015). "The Right Tail and the Right Tale: The Gender Wage Gap in Mexico," In S. Polanchek, K. Tasiramos, and K. Zimmerman, eds. Gender Convergence in the Labor Market (Research in Labor Economics, Vol 41. Emerald Publishing Group, pp. 299-341.

Fried, B.J., Lagunes, P., and Venkataramani, A. (2010). “Corruption and Inequality at the Crossroad: A Multi-Method Study of Bribery and Discrimination in Latin America.” Latin American Research and Review 45 (1): 76-97. [Non-technical summary]

Venkataramani, A., Shanmugam, K.R., Ruger, J.P. (2010) “Health, Technical Efficiency and Agricultural Production in Indian Districts” Journal of Economic Development 35 (4): 1-23.

Shanmugam, K.R. and Venkataramani, A. (2006). “Technical Efficiency in Agricultural Production and Its Determinants: An Exploratory Study at the District Level.” Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics 61 (2): 169-184. [I was very excited to find a digitized version of this paper - it was my first publication (completed before I started graduate school!)]