THE EFFECT OF LEGALIZING RETAIL MARIJUANA ON HOUSING VALUES: EVIDENCE FROM COLORADO

Does legalizing retail marijuana generate more benefits than costs? This paper provides a first step toward addressing that question by measuring the benefits and costs that are capitalized into housing values. We exploit the time‐series and cross‐sectional variations in the adoption of Colorado's municipality retail marijuana laws (RMLs) and examine the effect on housing values with a difference‐in‐differences strategy. Our estimates show that the legalization leads to an average 6% increase in housing values, indicating that the capitalized benefits outweigh the costs. In addition, we find suggestive evidence that this relatively large housing value appreciation is likely due to RMLs inducing strong housing demand while having no discernible effect on housing supply. Finally, we show that the effect of RMLs is heterogeneous across locations and property types. (JEL K20, R28)     

THE CROSS-BORDER SPILLOVER EFFECTS OF RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

We examine the spillover effects of recreational marijuana legalization (RML) in Colorado and Washington on neighboring states. We find that RML causes a sharp increase in marijuana possession arrests in border counties of neighboring states relative to nonborder counties in these states. RML has no impact on juvenile marijuana possession arrests but is rather fully concentrated among adults. We find mixed results regarding the source(s) of this change. Using separate data on self-reported marijuana use, we show that RML is accompanied by an increase in use in neighboring states relative to non-neighboring states. However, the increase in arrests following RML is highly concentrated in a few states, which we argue is more consistent with a change in police enforcement near some state borders driving the arrest results. (JEL I12, I18, K14)     

THE DEVELOPMENTAL EFFECT OF STATE ALCOHOL PROHIBITIONS AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

We examine the quasi‐randomization of alcohol consumption created by state‐level alcohol prohibition laws passed in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century. Using a large dataset of World War II enlistees, we exploit the differential timing of these laws to examine their effects on adult educational attainment, obesity, and height. We find statistically significant effects for education and obesity that do not appear to be the result of pre‐existing trends. Our findings add to the growing body of economic studies that examine the long‐run impacts of in utero and childhood environmental conditions. (JEL I18, D10, N41, N42)     

U.S. Deportation Policy,Family Separation,and Circular Migration

Since the mid‐1990s the United States has enacted a series of laws that make it easier to deport noncitizens. Drawing on findings from interviews with a random sample of 300 Salvadoran deportees, we examine how family relations, ties, remittance behavior, and settlement experiences are disrupted by deportation, and how these ties influence future migration intentions. We find that a significant number of deportees were long‐term settlers in the United States. Many had established work histories and had formed families of their own. These strong social ties in turn influence the likelihood of repeat migration to the United States.     

DO MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES INFLUENCE WORKER HEALTH?

This study investigates whether minimum wage increases impact worker health in the United States. We consider self‐reported measures of general, mental, and physical health. We use data on lesser‐skilled workers from the 1993 to 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Among men, we find no evidence that minimum wage increases improve health; instead, we find that such increases lead to worse health outcomes, particularly among unemployed men. We find both worsening general health and improved mental health following minimum wage increases among women. These findings broaden our understanding of the full impacts of minimum wage increases on lesser‐skill workers. (JEL I1, I11, I18)     

Opioid Use Disorder,Attachment, and Parenting: Key Concerns for Practitioners

In the United States, the current epidemic of opioid use disorders impacts many parents and their children. Historically, interventions for parents with substance use disorders have focused on two separate areas, achieving and maintaining abstinence and learning parenting skills. These interventions do not address the parent/child relationship, and the impact of parental opioid use disorder on attachment. Insecure attachment, particularly disorganized attachment, negatively affects the child’s development and safety. Attachment should always be considered when doing a safety assessment or planning an intervention for parents with opioid use disorders. This conceptual paper describes the impact of parental opioid use on attachment across the developmental span of childhood, highlighting research about opioid use disorder, parenting, and attachment which is relevant for practitioners working with parents with opioid use disorders, as child protection workers, substance abuse counselors, or therapists. Identification, attachment assessment tools, and empirical research on attachment-based interventions are discussed.     

FAST TIMES DURING SPRING BREAKS: ARE TRAFFIC FATALITIES ANOTHER CONSEQUENCE?

Every year in the United States, millions of college students travel for spring break, spending billions of dollars. We examine a potential adverse consequence of spring break that has received little attention in the literature—traffic safety. In particular, we estimate the impact of spring break season on fatal passenger vehicle crashes. Using daily county‐level longitudinal data on traffic fatalities in popular spring break destinations from 1982 to 2011, we conduct separate analyses by age groups, license status, and alcohol involvement in the crash. Our findings indicate that passenger vehicle fatalities are significantly overrepresented during the spring break season. (JEL I12, I18, H73)     

The expansion of “crimmigration,” mass detention,and deportation

In recent years, the deportation and detention of immigrants has become a common phenomenon around the world. In this article, we shed light on the global expansion of crimmigration (the increasingly blurring of lines between immigration and criminal laws) and examine in depth the United States as an example of this trend. Crimmigration scholarship has largely focused on the processes in which laws, media narratives, and political discourses criminalize undocumented immigrants. We summarize the literature that demonstrates how these processes are predicated on the racialization and gendering of certain immigrants, in the United States and elsewhere. Using the US case as an example, we discuss how criminalization practices are closely tied to for profit prison interests. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research to critically examine the criminalization of immigration and immigrants.     

THE EFFECTS OF ASSET PURCHASES AND NORMALIZATION OF U.S. MONETARY POLICY

This paper examines changes in the effects of unconventional monetary policies in the United States. To this end, we estimate a Markov-switching VAR model with absorbing regimes to capture possible structural changes. Our results detect regime changes around the beginning of 2011 and the middle of 2013. Before 2011, the U.S. large-scale asset purchases (LSAPs) had relatively large impacts on the real economy and prices, but after the middle of 2013, their effects were weaker and less-persistent. In addition, after the middle of 2013, which includes the monetary policy normalization period, the asset purchase (or balance sheet) shocks had slightly weaker effects than during the early stage of the LSAPs but stronger effects than during the late stage of the LSAPs, while interest rate shocks had insignificant effects on the real economy and prices. Finally, our results suggest that the positive responses of durables and capital goods expenditures to interest rate shocks weakened the negative impacts of interest rate hikes after the middle of 2013 including the period of monetary policy normalization. (JEL C32, E21, E52)     

Pharmacy model for methadone,NAS link to demographics

In “Methadone Matters: What the United States Can Learn from the Global Effort to Treat Opioid Addiction,” senior author Jeffrey H. Sabet, M.D., and colleagues write about the lack of access to methadone treatment, in particular, for opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States. They look at three pharmacy‐based models that exist in other countries. In their article, published online Feb. 6 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, they promote the model of patients picking up methadone from pharmacies, as is done in, for example, Canada. The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (from the United States) and cited by many as a call to reform the current opioid treatment program (OTP) system in the United States, where patients often prefer buprenorphine simply because they don't have to abide by methadone regulations.     

THE POT RUSH: IS LEGALIZED MARIJUANA A POSITIVE LOCAL AMENITY?

This paper examines the amenity value of legalized marijuana by analyzing the impact of marijuana legalization on migration to Colorado. Colorado is the pioneering state in this area having legalized medical marijuana in 2000 and recreational marijuana in 2012. We test whether potential migrants to Colorado view legalized marijuana as a positive or negative local amenity. We use the synthetic control methodology to examine in- and out-migration to/from Colorado versus migration to/from counterfactual versions of Colorado that have not legalized marijuana. We find strong evidence that potential migrants view legalized marijuana as a positive amenity with in-migration significantly higher in Colorado compared with synthetic-Colorado after the writing of the Ogden memo in 2009 that effectively allowed state laws already in place to be activated, and additionally after marijuana was legalized in 2013 for recreational use. When we employ permutation methods to assess the statistical likelihood of our results given our sample, we find that Colorado is a clear and significant outlier. We find no evidence for changes in out-migration from Colorado suggesting that marijuana legalization did not change the equilibrium for individuals already living in the state. (JEL I18, R23, K42, C22)     

WHO PAYS THE BAR TAB? BEER CONSUMPTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES

Few studies explore the linkages between health behaviors and macroeconomic outcomes. This study uses 1971–2007 state‐level data from the United States to estimate the impact of beer consumption on economic growth. We document that beer consumption has negative effects on economic growth measures once the endogeneity of beer consumption is addressed. Our estimates are robust to a range of specification checks. These findings run parallel to a large body of literature documenting substantial social and economic costs stemming from alcohol use. (JEL I1, O4)     

Occupational Channels for Mexican Migration: New Destination Formation in a Binational Context

In the 1990s, Mexican immigration dispersed spatially, leading to the emergence of many “new destinations,” in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. Previous studies constrain the scope of the analysis to the United States, limiting our understanding of how new destinations are formed. We place new destination formation into a binational context and emphasize the role of supply‐side immigration dynamics. We argue that occupations in Mexico provide ready‐made paths, or “channels,” for economic incorporation into the United States and that these channels underlie the formation of many new destinations. Using a unique data set on Mexican migration, we estimate a multivariate model that tests for the presence of occupational channels linking analogous sectors of the U.S. and Mexican economies, focusing especially on the food‐processing sector. The results demonstrate that Mexican migration is strongly channeled along occupational lines. There are occupational channels linking each of the major economic sectors in Mexico and the United States, but the effect of channeling is particularly strong in the food‐processing sector. By empirically identifying the existence of occupational channels, this study uncovers a key explanation of new destination formation in many nonmetropolitan areas.     

Religion and Non‐traditional Families in the United States

Family forms that have historically been considered “nontraditional” and even “transgressive” are becoming increasingly accepted in the United States, bringing the United States into greater conformity with other western nations. The United States is still unique, however, in that religion continues to play an exceptionally powerful role in shaping Americans' perceptions of and engagement in non‐traditional families. Focusing our attention on same‐sex and interracial families specifically, we consider the recent work on how religion serves to stimulate and justify opposition or (in a minority of instances) support for such families. We contend that studies typically limit their focus to the cognitive aspects (beliefs, ideologies, identities, schemas, salience, etc.) of religion, while often ignoring the influence of religion's more structural aspects in shaping Americans' relationship to non‐traditional families. Given that religion impacts Americans' approaches to family formation at the micro, meso, and macro levels, we propose a more Durkheimian perspective on the topic, one that synthesizes social psychological and structural frameworks in future studies, thus allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of religion's evolving role in American family formation. We also call for more attention to how religion shapes the functioning of non‐traditional families.     

Evaluating a Product Donation Program: Challenges for Charitable Capacity

This article offers one of the first efforts at describing the impact of a national product donation program. Despite the importance of in‐kind giving to the corporate and charitable sectors, little research has explained how in‐kind gifts are used effectively once they leave the donor's hands. In this study we examine outcomes and impacts associated with a product donation program, including numbers served, a faith‐based mission, the ability to process product donations effectively, the extent of performance measurement, and the effect of program experience on continued participation. Data come from Good360's Framing Hope program, a partnership between The Home Depot stores and local charities across the United States. Our findings support the organizational capacity literature in suggesting that experience with this program only partly mitigates the challenges of participation and that success may be due to how central the program is to organizational objectives.     

Cannabis Use and Antisocial Behavior among Youth

Despite the numerous efforts to curb substance use and abuse through legislation and interventions, marijuana consumption continues to be a major social problem, particularly among young adults in the United States. We provide new information on the relationship between cannabis use and antisocial behavior by analyzing a sample of young adults (aged 18–20) from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). We examine a broad set of cannabis use patterns and multiple dimensions of antisocial behaviors and test the empirical importance of two prominent criminological theories—general strain and social bond—in explaining associations between cannabis use and antisocial behavior. We include important socioeconomic, demographic, health and health behaviors, and contextual information in all regressions to control for confounding factors. Our results imply that cannabis use is positively and significantly related to antisocial behavior among young adults, and general strain and social bond theories cannot fully explain our findings. As expected, the estimated association with antisocial behavior is stronger for more frequent cannabis users.     

The role of cohabitation in family formation: The United States in comparative perspective

The prevalence of nonmarital cohabitation is steadily increasing in the United States. In evaluating the contribution of this new living arrangement to family formation, analysts have relied primarily on comparisons between individuals who cohabit and those who do not. We complement this line of inquiry by comparing the United States and 16 industrialized nations. We first identify six conceptually distinct ideal types of cohabitation with respect to family formation. We then propose empirical indicators to distinguish between the different ideal types, and estimate the values of these indicators for each of the 17 nations. Our findings indicate that although a number of countries fit an empirical pattern corresponding to one ideal type, cohabitation in the United States is more difficult to characterize.     

“Everything's There Except Money”: How Money Shapes Decisions to Marry Among Cohabitors

Cohabitation is now the modal path to marriage in the United States. Drawing on data from 115 in‐depth interviews with cohabitors from the working and lower middle classes, this paper explores how economics shape marital decision making. We find that cohabitors typically perceive financial issues as important for marriage, and we delineate several key themes. Whereas some social scientists speculate that cohabitors must think that marriage will change their lives in order to motivate marriage, our findings suggest that cohabitors believe marriage should occur once something has already changed—in this case, their financial status. Our results also imply that political and scientific discourse on financial problems as deterrents to marriage should be broadened beyond a focus on poor unmarried parents.     

THE EFFECT OF INSTITUTIONAL EXPENDITURES ON EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES AND EARNINGS

In recent decades, public attention on colleges has risen in response to rising college expenditures and costs. This study uses the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to investigate how spending impacts salaries and employment outcomes, controlling for selection. Our findings indicate that spending on instruction increases salaries, the probability of full‐time employment, and job match, particularly for more disadvantaged students, while there are smaller benefits of spending on student services for less disadvantaged students. Spending on research has large positive impacts on salary and the probability of full‐time employment, especially for disadvantaged students. (JEL I20, J24)