Appendix D — Key Studies and Experiments

The most-cited empirical studies referenced in this textbook, organized by topic.

Labor markets and minimum wage

  • Card & Krueger (1994) — NJ/PA fast-food study. No significant employment effect from minimum wage increase. American Economic Review. (Ch 6, 7, 21)
  • Dube, Lester & Reich (2010) — Border-county design. Small effects, consistent with Card-Krueger. Review of Economics and Statistics. (Ch 6, 21)
  • Cengiz, Dube, Lindner & Zipperer (2019) — Comprehensive analysis of all state minimum-wage changes 1979–2016. Wages rose; no clear employment decline. QJE. (Ch 21)
  • Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) — Résumé audit study. White-sounding names get 50% more callbacks. AER. (Ch 21)

Behavioral economics

  • Kahneman & Tversky (1979) — Prospect theory. Losses hurt 2× as much as gains feel good. Econometrica. (Ch 10)
  • Madrian & Shea (2001) — 401(k) auto-enrollment. Participation jumped from 49% to 86%. QJE. (Ch 10)
  • RAND Health Insurance Experiment (1971–1982) — Lower cost-sharing → more healthcare use. Mixed value of additional use. (Ch 14)

Trade and globalization

  • Autor, Dorn & Hanson (2013) — The China shock. Local labor-market damage from import competition. AER. (Ch 9)
  • Autor, Dorn, Hanson & Majlesi (2020) — Political consequences of the China shock. AER. (Ch 9)

Financial crises

  • Diamond & Dybvig (1983) — Bank runs as self-fulfilling prophecies. Two equilibria. JPE. Nobel 2022. (Ch 26)
  • Reinhart & Rogoff (2009) — This Time Is Different. Financial crises across eight centuries. (Ch 30, 32)
  • Herndon, Ash & Pollin (2014) — Discovered the Reinhart-Rogoff spreadsheet error. Cambridge Journal of Economics. (Ch 32)

Climate and environment

  • Nordhaus, DICE model — Integrated assessment of climate economics. Nobel 2018. (Ch 15)
  • Stern Review (2006) — Urgent action case based on low discount rate. (Ch 15)
  • U.S. Acid Rain Program (1990) — Cap-and-trade for SO₂. Costs much lower than predicted. (Ch 11)

Development

  • Kremer & Miguel (2004) — Deworming in Kenya. $0.50/child → 25% attendance increase. Econometrica. (Ch 34)
  • Acemoglu, Johnson & Robinson (2001) — Colonial settler mortality → institutional quality → current income. AER. (Ch 25, 34)

Growth and institutions

  • Solow (1956) — Growth model. Diminishing returns to capital; sustained growth requires technology. QJE. Nobel 1987. (Ch 25)
  • Romer (1990) — Endogenous growth through ideas and innovation. JPE. Nobel 2018. (Ch 25)

Inequality

  • Piketty & Saez (2003) — Top income shares in the U.S. using tax data. QJE. (Ch 13)
  • Chetty et al. (2017) — "Fading American Dream." Intergenerational mobility has declined since 1940. Science. (Ch 13)