Health Consequences of the Mexico City Policy
Economics Bulletin, 42, 1249-1256.
Lifchez, K., Maldonado, B., 2022.
We study the impacts that the reversal of the Bush Administration’s Mexico City Policy has on health outcomes. While work has been done analyzing the impact of the policy on abortions, few studies have looked at other health outcomes. We use country-level data over the period 2001–2016 and a difference in difference framework to study changes in mortality and other health indicators. We find that countries with high exposure to the policy had significant improvements in infant, neo-natal, and under-five mortality, lower fertility rates, and improvements in birthweights once the policy was rescinded starting in 2009. As this policy gets re-implemented (and expanded) under Republic Administrations, it is important to understand both the direct and indirect impacts of the policy on countries that rely on US global health aid.
The Market Value of Reproductive Rights: Evidence from U.S. Housing Markets
National Bureau of Economic Research WP 34921
Dench, D., Lifchez, K., Lindo, J., Ling Liu, J. 2025.
We estimate the market value of reproductive rights as capitalized into U.S. housing markets. We do so using a synthetic difference-in-differences design to evaluate the effects of total abortion bans following the 2022 Dobbs decision, and drawing on housing market indices from Zillow and vacancy rate data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey. The results indicate that total abortion bans reduced rents by an average of 2.2% from July 2022 through June 2025, with the effect reaching 4.0% in the most recent year. Over the same horizon, bans increased rental vacancy rates by an average of 1.1 percentage points, with the effect reaching 1.8 percentage points in the most recent year. Estimates for home values and homeowner vacancy rates are similar in magnitude but less precise.
Are People Fleeing States with Abortion Bans?
National Bureau of Economic Research WP 33328
Dench, D., Lifchez, K., Lindo, J., Ling Liu, J. 2024.
In this study, we investigate whether reproductive rights affect migration. We do so using a synthetic difference-in-differences design that leverages variation from the 2022 Dobbs decision, which allowed states to ban abortion, and population flows based on change-of-address data from the United States Postal Service. The results indicate that abortion bans cause significant increases in net migration outflows, with effect sizes growing throughout the year after the decision. The most recent data point indicates that total abortion bans come at the cost of more than 36,000 residents per quarter. The effects are more prominent for single-person households than for family households, which may reflect larger effects on younger adults. We also find suggestive evidence of impacts for states that were hostile towards abortion in ways other than having total bans.
Maldonado, B. & Lifchez, K. (2025). Mexico City Policy. In L. K. Roberts (Ed.). The Sage International Encyclopedia of Politics and Gender (vol. 3, pp. 1016-1021). Sage.