On the Tragedy of Mass Shooting: the Crime Effects (JMP Draft here) [GLO Discussion Paper No. 951 here]
Abstract: Â Recent years have seen a rise in mass shooting incidents in the United States. While direct victims and their families undoubtedly suffer the most serious consequence of mass shootings, little is known on whether mass shootings have negative impacts beyond those immediately exposed to the incidents. In this paper, I examine the crime consequences of mass shootings. I hypothesize that mass shootings can increase crimes through its adverse effects on local labor market conditions. Utilizing difference-in-differences strategy that exploits geographic and temporal variation in mass shooting incidents across U.S. counties, the results of the analysis suggest that mass shooting incident is associated with a rise in crimes, especially those carried out for monetary gains. The most conservative estimate indicates that mass shooting incident increases the overall property crime rate by about 4%.
Ex-convicts in the Health Workforce? The Impacts of Illinois Public Act 099-0886 on Quality of Care in Nursing Homes
Abstract: Having a criminal record is detrimental to one's employment prospects. In 2017, through Public Act 099-0886, Illinois reformed its law, allowing most individuals with a criminal record to submit a petition to obtain or restore their professional licenses as healthcare workers. It is unclear, however, whether quality of care is affected by this reform. To shed light on this issue, I utilized a recently developed synthetic difference-in-differences to examine the impact of Illinois Public Act 099-0886 on the quality of care in nursing homes. Overall, there is a lack of evidence that the reform worsened care quality in Illinois nursing homes. For many quality-of-care indicators analyzed, the estimates also suggest that a large adverse effect can be ruled out.