Publications
Haewon Oh & Travis Alan Smith. “The Effects of Limiting Antidepressant Prescriptions in Non-Psychiatric Clinics on Suicide Thoughts and Attempts in South Korea.” Economics and Human Biology. 2026
Soobin Kim, Isak Kim, Gyujin Lee, Haewon Oh, & Orion Mowbray. "Social determinants and the role of school-based mental health services in adolescents' depressive symptoms and happiness." Health & Social Work. 2026
Sage Kim, Meredith Hollender, Andrew DeMott, Haewon Oh, Ishan Bhatia, Yochai Eisenberg, Michael Gelder, & Susan Hughes. “COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Skilled Nursing Facilities in Cook County, Illinois.” Public Health Reports. 2022
Sunjeong Kim, Haewon Oh, Jongwook Chang, & Sang Jun Kim. “Recovery of Tendon Characteristics by Inhibition of Aberrant Differentiation of Tendon-Derived Stem Cells from Degenerative Tendinopathy.” International Journal of Molecular Science. 2020, 21, 2687.
Se-Jik Kim, Haewon Oh, & Syngjoo Choi. “Evaluating Information Campaigns to Reduce Food Waste: A Field Experiment.” Korean Economic Journal. Dec. 2017
Working Papers
Haewon Oh, Samyam Shrestha, & Travis Alan Smith. "Minimum Wage and SNAP Enrollment among Low-Wage Workers: Evidence from the U.S. Agricultural Sector." Under review. [draft]
Agricultural workers are among the lowest-paid workers in the United States, with many earning wages at or near the minimum wage. This paper examines the effects of minimum wage increases on their participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest federal initiative addressing food insecurity among low-income households. Using data from the 2005-16 American Community Survey, we find that a $1 increase in prevailing minimum wage increases SNAP participation among likely-eligible agricultural worker households by 1.4-1.6 percentage points on average. These gains are concentrated among households headed by Hispanic, immigrant, and non-managerial workers. Suggestive evidence indicates that these increases are driven by greater labor supply, enabling these groups to meet the minimum hours worked required to qualify for SNAP benefits.
Haewon Oh, Xinyu Zeng, & Travis Alan Smith. "The Effect of the Economic Impact Payment on Consumption Behavior." Under review
This paper examines how the U.S. government’s Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) affected household spending behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Issued between April 2020 and March 2021 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the EIPs aimed to provide financial relief and stimulate consumption, reaching about 160 million Americans with payments of up to $1,400 per person. Using data from the 2019 - 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey, this study uses an event-study framework with inverse probability weighting to evaluate changes in household spending across major expenditure categories. We find modest and short-lived consumption responses. Eligible households exhibit a temporary increase in total expenditure following the first payment, but the effect dissipates thereafter. Spending increases are concentrated in flexible categories such as food away from home, alcohol, transportation, other lodging, utilities, and education, while core expenditures show little systematic response. While overall consumption responses are similar across groups, some heterogeneity appears across specific expenditure categories. Overall, the results suggest that one-time cash transfers provided short-term financial support but did not generate sustained increases in household consumption.
Work in Progress
Shanjukta Nath, Juan Ferrer, Haewon Oh, Cesar Cancho, & Christina Wieser. "Social Norms, Conflict and Female Mobility in Afghanistan."