Publications
Gilbert, L., Parker, S. & Schechter, L. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment for domestic violence injuries: evidence from medical claims. Review of Economics of the Household 22, 535–562 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-024-09696-8
Working Papers
Supported Work Leads to Lasting Labor Market Success Among TANF Recipients (with Tania Barham and Brian Cadena) Under review. [IZA DP No. 18342] This paper studies the effects of a supported work program that provides TANF recipients with a suite of services including a six-month subsidized internship with a local employer. We use rich administrative data and implement a stacked difference-in-differences design comparing program participants to observably similar TANF recipients to estimate effects on employment, earnings, and benefit receipt. Program enrollment led to an immediate increase in formal-sector employment and earnings, with limited post-program fadeout. The program increased employment by 10 percentage points (20 percent) and earnings by $861 per quarter (48 percent) in the three years following program exit. Program participation also increased participants’ total benefit receipt during the program, with modest decreases after program exit. The program is relatively cost-effective compared to other adult subsidized employment programs due to longer-than-average persistence of the employment and earnings gains.
Prosecutorial Reform and Local Crime Rates (with Amanda Agan, Jennifer Doleac, Anna Harvey, and Anna Kyriazis) Revisions Requested at Criminology & Public Policy. [NBER WP#34364] Many communities across the United States have elected reform-minded prosecutors who seek to safely reduce the reach and burden of the criminal justice system. In this paper, we use variation in the timing of when these prosecutors took office across jurisdictions and implement a difference-in-differences design to empirically characterize their policy changes and estimate downstream effects on prison incarceration rates, local reported crime rates, and drug mortality rates. We find that after a reform prosecutor takes office there are consistent and often statistically significant decreases in charging and conviction rates for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses, particularly misdemeanor drug offenses, but not for violent or felony offenses. We find little to no downstream effects on prison incarceration rates and no effects on local reported crime rates or drug mortality rates. These findings suggest that the types of policies being implemented by reform prosecutors appear to be decreasing the footprint of the criminal justice system without adverse effects on public safety.
Work in Progress
Prosecution Research Initiative (with Amanda Agan, Anna Harvey, and Anna Kyriazis) An ongoing, multi-year project in partnership with district attorneys' offices using detailed administrative case data to study the effects of prosecutors' policies and decision making on recidivism, public safety, and disparities in the criminal justice system.
Family violence effects of social safety net incentives for child support cooperation (with Susan Parker and Katherine Richard)
Local Emergency Shelter Availability and Intimate Partner Homicides (with Kaitlyn Sims) New draft coming soon. Previously circulated as two separate working papers:
"Do shelters reduce domestic violence?" (Lauren Schechter)
"Seeking safe harbors: emergency domestic violence shelters and family violence" (Kaitlyn Sims)
RCTs in the Field
An impact evaluation of a recidivism reduction program at the Goodwill Excel Center (with William N. Evans and Patrick Turner) [AEA Registry]
An impact evaluation of an intensive, holistic reentry program for incarcerated women [AEA Registry]