Research

Abstract: We study how quantity-based labor regulations affect technology adoption using California’s nurse staffing mandate. Combining nationwide hospital data with a synthetic difference-in-differences design, we show that the mandate reduced adoption of Clinical Decision Support systems by up to 6.4 percentage points among hospitals with low baseline staffing conditions or tight financial constraints. Conversely, adoption of nurse staffing software increased by up to 9 percentage points among well-staffed, financially flexible hospitals. These patterns reflect the crowding out of quality-enhancing technologies and increased demand for compliance tools. Overall, staffing mandates shift the technology investment composition, with implications for mortality and clinical performance.

Abstract: Recidivism remains a pervasive issue in the United States, with 40% returning to prison and 70% re-arrested within three years, yet there is little consensus on how to reduce it. This paper evaluates one such approach: conditional early release programs, which incentivize incarcerated individuals to complete in-prison programming and maintain good conduct in exchange for reduced sentences. We provide the first causal estimates of the impact of these programs by studying Pennsylvania’s Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive (RRRI) program, enacted in 2008. Using judge leniency as an instrument, we estimate the causal effects of RRRI eligibility on re-conviction probability and post-release outcomes.
RRRI eligibility reduces time incarcerated by 47% and increases program completion rates by 3.6 percentage points (a 43% increase relative to the mean). We find an insignificant effect on new convictions post-release but document an 11 percentage point increase in parole violations (a 69% rise from the mean). These results suggest that while conditional early release programs offer a low-cost, scalable tool for justice systems, their design must account for potential trade-offs between accelerating release and maintaining parole compliance.

Abstract: Improving safety is one of the most urgent tasks in South Korea due to a growing fear of accidents and an increasing number of accidents nationwide. The goal of this paper is, based on the law and economics view that accidents are predominantly determined by precaution effort, to identify the main determinants of accident fatalities, especially focusing on income inequality. As an intermediate mechanism between income inequality and safety, we attempt to strengthen the theoretical relationship by introducing safety investment (i.e., a proxy of precaution effort). We then test the hypothesis by analyzing a panel of South Korean administrative regions between 2000 and 2018. We find that major determinants of the accident fatalities identified in the literature have high explanatory powers in the empirical analysis that utilized Korean data. The findings were consistent when we estimated the equation with a different dependent variable (i.e., the transport accident fatalities that are a subset of the total accident fatalities). The estimates of the transport-related variables became more significant, reinforcing its empirical suitability. Finally, it is found that income inequality is positively correlated with the accident fatalities in all model specifications. The estimates indicate that an increase in the Gini coefficient by 0.05 could account for as much as 3% of the accident fatalities that actually took place in 2018. Our estimation results suggest that various policies are needed to handle decreased demand in safety investment caused by income inequality.

Abstract: Available evidence suggests holding companies employ numerous expedients and produce side effects, including expanding their control with a small percentage of shareholdings, defrauding their interests, and increasing the concentration of economic power. This article investigates regulatory reforms in the holding companies. We present several improvement measures through statistical evidence and case studies of South Korea’s corporation groups. We propose strengthening regulations on having subsidiary companies (and grandchild companies), adding requirements regarding line-of-business when owning grandchild or great-grandchild companies, and prohibiting two subsidiaries from having the same grandchild company. Besides, other improvements involve strengthening disclosure of holding companies and intensifying prerequisites for determining holding companies.