Read all about Penn at the 2024 ASA Conference, as well as recap the Summer Institute in Computational Social Science led by Xi Song. Keep and eye out for the extra large section of researcher updates! Plus, a Penn discount code for the IAPHS conference.

READ HERE:

Read all about PARC @ AcademyHealth and the latest news and publications from our Research Associates - and catch up on Dorothy Roberts keynote at the recent symposium on Genetic Ancestry and Perceptions of Race.

READ HERE.

Come check out the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting hosted June 29th - July 2nd in Baltimore Maryland. Many of our PARC researchers have papers and posters being presented! We have gathered everything here for your convenience.

“The debates offer a real-time, high-stakes environment to observe and analyze how media outlets present and potentially skew the same event,” says Watts. The Media Bias Detector organizes all the info you might need regarding how topics are covered through different well known sources. 

Citation:

"Duncan Watts and CSS Lab’s New Media Bias Detector," Penn Today. N Magubane, June 28, 2024.

Related Articles and Videos: 

Computational Social Science Lab | Bias Detection

Mapping How People Get Their (Political) News

In a time when Philly's overall population has decreased, he points to welcoming immigrants as a key strategy for re-invigorating the city's growth. Parrado also suggests that the ebb and flow of young professionals in - and out - of the city isn't bad news.

Citation:

"Philadelphia Lost More Than 50,000 Residents During the Pandemic. Now What?" Philadelphia Magazine, S Smith, June 22, 2024.

Xi Song details how intergenerational mobility declined in the United States after World War II but then dives further to explore the diversity of experiences for different groups. She discusses the trends in mobility as broken down by race, immigration status, and gender. 

Citation: 

"Xi Song on Intergenerational Mobility at Home and Abroad." The Inequality Podcast, October 23rd, 2023.

The research shows Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are linked to aging and affluence and have replaced infectious diseases and malnutrition as the dominant causes of ill health and death in much of the world including India. The present study examines rising rates of two NCDs heart disease and diabetes. The following questions are addressed: Why has the prevalence of these two NCDs risen in recent years, whether social protection policies and restructuring of medical services can mitigate such surges in the near future, and whether lifestyle and dietary changes could be induced to further prevent the rising burden of these NCDs.

Authors: Gaiha Raghav, Vidhya Unnikrishnan, Vani S. Kulkarni

Citation:

Gaiha Raghav, Vidhya Unnikrishnan and Vani S. Kulkarni. 2024. “Is the Growing Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in India Preventable?” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

The research uses data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health to examine the relationship between mortality and fertility in Malawi - specifically the impact of individual-specific subjective mortality expectations on fertility choice.

READ THE PAPER.

Authors: Adeline Delavande, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Ali Vergili

Abstract: 

For decades, population research has been interested in the complex relationship between child mortality and fertility, with a key focus on identifying replacement behavior (fertility response to experienced child mortality) and hoarding behavior (fertility response to expected child mortality). Using unique data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), we investigate the impact of individual-specific subjective infant mortality expectations on fertility choice. We instrument the potentially endogenous infant mortality expectations with the average of parents’ ratings of children’s health to address a potentially omitted variable bias such as parental taste for health. Consistent with the hoarding mechanism, we find that a 10 percentage point decrease in infant mortality expectations leads to a 14 percentage point decrease in the propensity to have a child in the next 2 years from a baseline propensity of 43%.

Citation:

Delavande, Adeline, Hans-Peter Kohler and Ali Vergili. 2024. “Infant Mortality Expectation and Fertility Choice in Rural Malawi.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC)

Many workers with student loans found that saving for retirement is extremely difficult. With Secure 2.0 however, as workers pay off their student loans, their employers could match those payments with contributions to retirement accounts. Mitchell, a co-author of the National Bureau of Economic Research's study on Secure 2.0, said "My guess is that many large employers will find it useful in attracting and retaining scarce talent, but smaller firms might not."

Citation: 

"Secure 2.0 may help student borrowers more with loans than with retirement, study predicts," Finnancial Planning,  N Place, May 29, 2024.

This newsletter includes congratulations for our spring graduates, a wrap up of the 2024 PARC Aging Retreat, upcoming events, news, and more!

After meeting John MacDonald, Maya Moritz, a criminology doctoral student, was inspired to investigate the correlation between murals and crime rate.

Citation: 

"Can More Art Equal Less Crime?" Penn Today, J Hill, May 23, 2024.

Linda Aiken, Co-Director of Magnet4Europe, shares highlights of the 2024 conference. Research presented at the conference showed that hospital conditions can be improved, and in doing so have great results.

Citation: 

"Magnet4Europe Celebration Conference 2024: A Milestone in Healthcare Excellence," Magnet4Europe, J Kleine & L Aiken, May 23, 2024.

Poets and Quants quoted one of her students saying that "Professor Low’s class is one of the most impactful that I’ve taken at Wharton. It has prompted the most (and some of the most thought-provoking) conversations with classmates/friends/family outside of the classroom and provided me with new frameworks for evaluating societal structures and practices. Professor Low is also very skilled at holding the attention of the lecture hall.

Citation: 

"2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Corinne Low, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania," Poets & Quants, K Bleizeffer, May 18.

Dolores Albarracín, was featured in Penn Today for her research on determining change in human behavior. Albarracín and her team strive to find the science behind behavior change to determine the best ways to promote benefits in our daily lives.

Citation:

"What Predicts Human Behavior and How to Change it," Penn Today, H Reissman, May 14, 2024.

D Albarracín, B Fayaz-Farkhad, J A Granados Samayoa. "Determinants of Behaviour and Their Efficacy as Targets of Behavioural Change Interventions," Nature Reviews Psychology.

“The demographic winter is coming,” said Research Associate & Penn economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde.

Citation:

"Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies. The Whole World Is Alarmed." Wall Street Journal, G IP and J Adamy, May 13, 2024.

Researchers study how households have changed over time and the effect this has on our daily lives.

Authors: Effrosyni Adamopoulou, Jeremy Greenwood, and Nezih Guner

A brief historical overview of the household equipment revolution and the women who transformed the home in Germany and the United States.

Citation: Adamopoulou, Effrosyni, Jeremy Greenwood and Nezih Guner. 2024. “The Household Equipment Revolution.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Just a friendly reminder, the PARC Aging Retreat is happening this Friday! Take a look at the retreat program to see the agenda for the day.

You are invited to attend the 2024 PARC Aging Retreat: "Healthy Aging for All -- Illusion or Promising Future?" This conference will bring together PARC Research Associates and aging researchers from across Penn and will include guests from other external aging centers. The Aging Retreat aims to foster collaborations for innovative aging research, provide networking opportunities, and encourage work that advances the PARC Research Themes. The hybrid day-long retreat will take place at the Population Studies Center's PSC Commons in 403 McNeil and will include keynote speeches by Jennifer Beam Dowd (University of Oxford) and Michael Kobor (University of British Columbia). PARC Research Associates, Affiliates, Fellows, and Penn aging researchers are encouraged to attend! If you haven't done so and plan to attend, REGISTER for the 2024 PARC Aging Retreat!

We look forward to seeing you on Friday!

Sincerely,
 

Hans-Peter Kohler & Norma B. Coe
Co-Directors of PARC

The Academy aims to tackle serious challenges in order to advance common goals. Albarracín among 5 others, has been elected into the honorary society.

Citation:

"Five from Penn Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024," Penn Today, E Moser, April 24, 2024.

“We see financial literacy much like other kinds of education. It takes time to learn financial concepts and to apply them, and sometimes it takes money so that you can hire someone or take a course or what have you. " Mitchell says.

Citation:

"Wharton Experts on Financial Literacy," Penn Today, April 24, 2024.

Culhane commented on the urgency of the homeless crisis, as well as provided his take on the problem.

Citation:  

"Investigating Homelessness," Penn Today, K García, April 23, 2024.

“In general, the U.S. supports parents and caregivers less than many other countries,” Dr. Coe said, “which has numerous and lasting intergenerational effects on health and wealth.”

Citation: 

"Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Often Go Untreated for Parents on Medicaid," New York Times, E Baumgaertner, April 19, 2024.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science consists of 500 researches honored for their scientific achievements. Congrats Dolores! 

Citation:

"Six from Penn elected 2024 AAAS Fellows," Penn Today, N Magubane, April 18, 2024.

Many African American citizens are Charleston can not trace their lineage back beyond a few generations. However with the help of Schurr, DNA tests reveal much more information regarding their past.

Citation:

"African American burial grounds across the United States have been erased or forgotten, and others are at risk of disappearing," The New York Times, C Gutman & E Chochrane, April 11, 2024.

In his recent article Mandell explains the changes in Methadone treatments since the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, getting treatment was an inconvenience. However with the implementation of take home treatment, there have been many pros and cons that Mandell explores. 

Citation:

"Methadone treatment has been reformed for the better. States shouldn’t go back to the old ways," STAT, R Arden & D 

Mandell.

The study co-authored by Venkataramani found that lower-wage workers did not receive much economic benefit at all.

Citation:

"Doctors, Nurses, and Managers Received Wage Hikes After Medicaid Expansion While Lower-Paid Workers Did Not," Penn LDI, M Meline, April 4, 2024.

This PRB article examines new research on the impact of socioeconomic status on aging - a study by PENN PSC's Courtney Boen is among those cited.

READ THE STUDY HERE:

Citation:

"New Biomarker Research Provides Insights Into What Speeds up or Slows Down the Aging Process," PRB, D Elliot, April 1, 2024.

The comprehensive list uses Mitchell's findings to dive deeper into what retirees wish they could have done sooner.

Citation:

"5 Biggest Regrets of Retirees (Hint: Claiming Social Security Too Early Is One of Them)" The Globe And Mail, March 30, 2024.

The article written by MacDonald, focuses on social science as well as identifying root causes that form many social issues.

Citation:

"The Precautionary Principle," Vital City, J MacDonald, March 27, 2024.

Penn Today features the Population Studies Center as the co-sponsor for the Symposium on Immigration Policy, and Chenoa Flippen as the event host. 

Citations:

"Immigration Policy and the 2024 Presidential Election." Penn Today, K de Groot, March 25, 2024. 

Mitchell explained that “This lack of financial literacy then translates into greater financial regret among older women” 

Citation:

"4 Innovative Ways Woman Can Supplement Their Paychecks and Grow Wealth in 2024,"  Yahoo Finance, V Cariaga, March 25, 2024.

Related Article: 

"Women’s Guide to Building Wealth (2024)"

Duckworth was described by "Having spent years studying the best ways to Nudge people with choice-preserving but psychologically wise interventions to help them make better decisions." 

Citation:

"Cass Sunstein on Nudging, Sludge, and the Power of ‘Dishabituation’," Knowledge At Wharton, A Basiouny, March 25, 2024."

Pauly and Burns say that strategies across private equity investment have largely stayed consistent. However, the investigators say there’s “less public information on firm performance” today. So, they argue, the current “brouhaha” should be tempered by past experience.

Citation:

"Chart of the Day: What’s All This Brouhaha? Today’s Private Equity Purchases of Physician Practices Look Much Like the Past," Penn LDI, M Meline, March 21, 2024.

The study found that increased incarceration rates had a noticeable effect on the birth weight of newborns. Both Boen as well as Venkataramani found that incarceration rates do have a direct impact on the overall health of the population.

Citations: 

"How Are Infant Outcomes for Black Babies Affected by Incarceration Policy," Penn LDI, K Kamara, March 20, 2024.

Penn SAS News features Irma Elo for being appointed as Tamsen and Michael Brown Presidential Professor. 

Citations:

"Irma Elo Named Tamsen and Michael Brown Presidential Professor in Sociology." Penn SAS News, March 19, 2024. 

Take a look at the Penn Population Studies Newsletter for upcoming events, new PARC research associates, and researchers featuring in news articles. 

“Nurses want to leave their jobs when care conditions are poor and those same unfavorable care conditions are not good for patients either,” said Aiken. Aiken then explains how the pandemic has effected our healthcare system long term.

Citation: 

"Study Links Nurses' Intention to Quit Jobs to Higher Patient Mortality for the First Time," EuroNews.Health, L Chadwick, March 14, 2024.

Penn LDI features a study by Eugenia South that gathers personal experiences to aid the dismantling of structural racism in medicine. 

Citations:

"Black Patients Feel Dismissed and Skeptical After Their Experiences in the ED." Penn LDI, M Meline, March 8, 2024.

E C South, et al. "Perspectives of Black Patients on Racism Within Emergency Care," JAMA Health Forum. 

Penn LDI features the new study by Rachel Werner and Norma Coe, that examined data on over 2 million Medicare beneficiaries who had knee or hip replacements, among the most common surgeries. They found that the switch to bundled payments caused a 9% to 15% increase in the need for additional help with daily tasks after paid home health services ended. 

Citations:

"Medicare Payment Reform Saves Money on Surgeries But Puts More Work on Unpaid Home Caregivers." Penn LDI, J Hinckley & H Levins, March 6, 2024. 

R M Werner, N B Coe, et al. "The Effects of Post-Acute Care Payment Reform on the Need for and Receipt of Caregiving," American Journal of Health Economics. 

"Increasing the Burden on Unpaid Home Caregivers," YouTube, LDIvideo, February 29, 2024. 

“Financial education is most effective when there is a rigorous curriculum, a specific course devoted to personal finance (rather than embedding these concepts into other classes), and trained teachers,” said Mitchell in a Journal Article last fall.

Citation:

"More high schools ae requiring financial-literacy classes. The pandemic may have played a key role." MarketWatch, A Keshner, March 6, 2024.

“A goal would be for employers to offer more access and, when possible, encouragement to learn and implement important financial lessons during the worklife,” Mitchell said. 

Citations:

"Wage Gap Statistics: The Numbers Behind Pay Disparity," MarketWatch, R Henderson, T Addison, March 6, 2024.

Penn Today and Knowledge at Wharton features Angela Lee Duckworth for her new study on that found that breaking down a commitment to volunteer 200 hours per year for a nonprofit into smaller subgoals increased the amount of time volunteers spent helping by 7-8% over several months. 

Citations:

"Want to Achieve Your Dreams? Try Subdividing Your Goals." Knowledge at Wharton, S Murray, March 4, 2024.

"Want to Achieve Your Dreams? Try Subdividing Your Goals." Penn Today, S Murray, March 8, 2024. 

A L Duckworth, et al. "A Field Experiment on Subgoal Framing to Boost Volunteering: The Trade-Off between Goal Granularity and Flexibility," American Psychological Association. 

Sieg, who has also been a National Bureau of Economic Research research affiliate in public economics and political economy since 2000, focuses his research on public and urban economics, as well as the political economy of state and local governments.

Citation: 

"Holger Sieg Named Baird Term Professor of Economics," Penn Arts & Sciences, February 29, 2024.

Penn Today and Annenberg School for Communication highlights Tukufu Zuberi at the 2nd Annual W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture in Public Social Science, discussing Du Bois’ contributions to the field and to humanity.

Citations:

"The Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois: ‘Something Fresh to Say’." Penn Today, K García, February 27, 2024.

"The Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois: ‘Something Fresh to Say’." Annenberg School for Communication, K García, March 1, 2024.

Volpp, the principal investigator of PMHH and director of the Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, explains how the program works and who is eligible. 

Citation: 

"Introducing Penn Medicine Healthy Heart: A Personal Companion to Heart Health," Penn Medicine News, M Toal, February 27, 2024.

Pauly explains how popular branded drugs are sold at prices nearly three times lower, on average in Canada. However, the FDA has long forbidden the import of these drugs due to purity concerns. 

Citation: 

"FDA Authorized Drug Importation Plan. Naysayers Are Balking. - It's not an efficient solution." MedpageToday, M Pauly, February 24, 2024. 

Knowledge at Wharton features executive director of Wharton’s Pension Research Council Olivia Mitchell joining the show to discuss why retirement gets better with annuities.

Citations:

"Why You Should Consider Deferred Income Annuities for Your Retirement Portfolio." Knowledge at Wharton, D Loney, February 22, 2024. 

The new  Penn Population Studies Newsletter highlights researches in the news, awards received by researchers, new working papers, and some exciting events coming up. 

Mother Jones quotes Dorothy Roberts on coerced home searches. Roberts says "Coerced home searches, invasion of families’ privacy, and threatening parents with child removal are integral aspects of a system designed to disrupt the most marginalized communities in America." 

Citations:

"Parents Are Suing New York City Over Coercive, Traumatizing Home Searches." Mother Jones, J Lurie, February 21, 2024.

The Atlantic features Olivia Mitchell in an article discussing what companies owe retirees. 

Citations:

"What Companies Owe Retirees." The Atlantic, L Kelley, February 20, 2024. 

Penn Today and the Annenberg School for Communication features Duncan Watts for his new study. The study from the Computational Social Science Lab finds that the YouTube recommendation system is less influential on users’ political views than is commonly believed. 

Citations:

"The YouTube Algorithm Isn’t Radicalizing People." Annenberg School for Communication, H Reissman & D Gardiner, February 19, 2024. 

"The YouTube Algorithm Isn’t Radicalizing People." Penn Today, H Reissman & D Gardiner, February 20, 2024. 

D J Watts, et al. "Causally Estimating the Effect of YouTube’s Recommender System Using Counterfactual Bots," PNAS.

Penn Today highlights a new study by Eugenio Paglino, Irma Elo, and Samuel Preston on the relation between natural and Covid-19 deaths. 

Citations:

"Researchers Find Many ‘Natural’ and COVID-19 Deaths Likely Related." Penn Today, N Magubane, February 14, 2024. 

E Paglino, I T Elo, S H Preston, et al. "Excess Natural-Cause Mortality in US Counties and Its Association with Reported COVID-19 Deaths," PNAS. 

Take a look at the Penn Population Studies Newsletter for upcoming events, recent publications by PSC and PARC research associates, and researchers featuring in news articles. 

Hawaii Public Radio features Dorothy Roberts talking about the death of a 10-year-old Oʻahu girl, who officials say was abused and starved by her legal guardians. 

Citations:

"A Critique of the Child Welfare System after Death of 10-Year-Old Girl." Hawaii Public Radio, C Cruz, February 13, 2024. 

Penn Today features Courtney Boen as the thesis advisor of Taussia Boadi. Their research looks at the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, birth outcomes, and resilience in Black women.

Citations:

"Who, What, Why: Taussia Boadi on Trauma and Black Maternal Health." Penn Today, K d Groot, February 12, 2024. 

Penn LDI highlights that Wharton Healthcare Analytics Lab will be collaborating with Kevin Volpp, and his team at the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics to integrate dynamic adaptation and personalization into clinical trials. 

Citations:

"Going Head-to-Head with the New Health Care AI Revolution." Penn LDI, H Levins, February 12, 2024.

Penn Today features Atheendar Venkataramani for finding that black adults across the U.S. suffer from sleep problems following exposure to news about unarmed black individuals killed by police during police encounters.

Citations:

"Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health." Penn Today, E Horvath, February 8, 2024. 

A S Venkataramani, e al. "Officer-Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health," JAMA Internal Medicine. 

Postdoctoral fellow Helene Purcell co-authored a paper along with Justine Herve and Sneha Mani. 

Abstract: Personality traits play an important role in shaping labor market outcomes, but the associated behaviors that lead to these differences are understudied. In this paper, we examine the returns to the Big Five personality traits as well as the mechanisms through which personality affects employment and earnings. We find conscientiousness to be a significant predictor of both employment and earnings. We further show that the association between conscientiousness and earnings operates primarily through one specific behavior, namely, higher work intensity. Additionally, we are able to rule out selection into specific job types as potential channels for the positive relationship between conscientiousness and earnings.

Herve, Justine, Helene Purcell, and Subha Mani. 2023. “Conscientiousness Matters: How Does Personality Affect Labor Market Outcomes?” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC)

Research Associate Jeremy Greenwood co-authors a paper along with Effrosyni Adamopoulou, Nezih Guner, and Karen Kopecky. 

Abstract: The role of friends in the US opioid epidemic is examined. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health), adults aged 25-34 and their high school best friends are focused on. An instrumental variable technique is employed to estimate peer effects in opioid misuse. Severe injuries in the previous year are used as an instrument for opioid misuse in order to estimate the causal impact of someone misusing opioids on the probability that their best friends also misuse. The estimated peer effects are significant: Having a best friend with a reported serious injury in the previous year increases the probability of own opioid misuse by around 7 percentage points in a population where 17 percent ever misuses opioids. The effect is driven by individuals without a college degree and those who live in the same county as their best friends.

Adamopoulou, Effrosyni, Jeremy Greenwood, Nezih Guner, and Karen Kopecky. 2024. “The Role of Friends in the Opioid Epidemic.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Research Associate Jere Behrman co-authors a paper with Shireen AlAzzawi, Hai-Anh Dang, Vladimir Hlasny, and Kseniya Abanokova. 

Abstract: Various challenges are thought to render female-headed households (FHHs) vulnerable to poverty in the Arab region. Yet, previous studies have mixed results and the absence of household panel survey data hinders analysis of poverty dynamics. We address these challenges by proposing a novel typology of FHHs and analyze synthetic panels that we constructed from 20 rounds of repeated cross-sectional surveys spanning the past two decades from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Mauritania, Palestine, and Tunisia. We find that the definition of FHHs matters for measuring poverty levels and dynamics. Most types of FHHs are less poor than non-FHHs on average, but FHHs with a major share of female adults are generally poorer. FHHs are more likely to escape poverty than households on average, but FHHs without children are most likely to do so. While more children are generally associated with more poverty for FHHs, there is heterogeneity across countries in addition to heterogeneity across FHH measures. Our findings provide useful inputs for social protection and employment programs aiming at reducing gender inequalities and poverty in the Arab region.

AlAzzawi, Shireen, Hai-Anh Dang, Vladimir Hlasny, Kseniya Abanokova, and Jere Behrman. 2023. “Female Headship and Poverty in the Arab Region: Analysis of Trends and Dynamics Based on A New Typology.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Research Associate Jere Behrman co-authors a paper along with Muhammad Farhan Majid and Hanna Wang. 

Abstract: Most minimum wage (MW) research focuses on wage and employment impacts in high-income countries. Little is known about broader impacts, including on parental and child health in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) where most people affected by MWs live. This study studies MW effects on employment, earnings, parental health and child health in Indonesia, the third most-populous LMIC. Results include: MWs improve men’s earnings, parental hemoglobin, and child height-for age and reduce pregnancy complications. This study highlights nuanced but positive roles MWs may play in improving parental and child health, despite not directly affecting women’s earnings and labor supplies.

Majid, Farhan, Jere R. Behrman, and Hanna Wang. 2023. “Minimum Wages and Intergenerational Health.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Min Kim writes a paper on Financial Literacy, Portfolio Choice, and Wealth Inequality.

Abstract: I develop a general equilibrium model in which households allocate their wealth to safe and risky assets (“bonds” and “stocks”) and accumulate financial literacy to raise their risk-adjusted stock returns. Calibrated to match financial literacy and stock market participation rate of U.S. households, the model demonstrates that a policy subsidizing financial literacy acquisition increases short-run stock investments. In equilibrium, however, the resulting aggregate capital growth lowers the average equity premium, thereby moderating the subsidy’s impact. The policy mitigates wealth inequality by inducing heterogeneous portfolio adjustments across the wealth distribution. With the subsidy, the middle wealth quartiles acquire more financial literacy and shift their portfolios toward stocks. The top quartile attains its maximum literacy level prior to the subsidy and shifts toward bonds to compensate for lower stock returns. The ratio of total wealth held by the top quartile versus the rest of the population decreases.

Kim, Min. 2023. “Financial Literacy, Portfolio Choice, and Wealth Inequality: A General Equilibrium Approach.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Medpage Today features Linda Aiken talking about the late Claire Fagin. She says she was a "nurse visionary with the savvy to make things happen". 

Citations:

"Nurse Community Mourns 'Trailblazer' Claire Fagin, PhD, RN." Medpage Today, S Firth, February 6, 2024. 

Research Associate Petra Todd co-authors a paper along with Shasha Wang.

Abstract: In the US, women for decades have gone to college at higher rates than men, but they are less likely to choose applied-STEM college majors or occupations. Using the NLSY79 and 97 datasets, this paper assesses the importance of adolescent skills and high school course-taking in explaining gender disparities in four-year college completion, college major, and occupational choice. It considers five cognitive skill areas (math, verbal, science, administrative, and mechanical) and one non-cognitive measure and examines how gender skill gaps evolve over a twenty-year time span. Logistic, CART and nonparametric random forest models are estimated to identify the skill sets, course-taking and family background characteristics that best predict educational and occupational choices. Results show that women are on average on par with men in mathematics skills and exceed men in verbal and noncognitive skills, but they lag behind in mechanical and, to a lesser extent, science skills. Estimates show that a combination of mathematics and mechanical skills along with intensive high school exposure to science and math courses are key predictors of choosing applied-STEM majors and careers. This paper also develops and implements a nonparametric decomposition approach to quantify how eliminating adolescent gender skill disparities would affect women’s and men’s entry into STEM fields.

Todd, Petra E. and Shasha Wang. 2023. “Understanding Gender Disparities in STEM Major and Occupation Choices: A Random Forest Approach.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Penn Medicine features Atheendar Venkataramani's research that found statistically significant decreases in sleep duration among Black adults, after exposure to deaths of unarmed Black individuals during police encounters.

Citations:

"Black Adults Across the U.S. Suffer From Sleep Problems Following Exposure to News About Unarmed Black Individuals Killed by Police During Police Encounters." Penn Medicine, February 5, 2024. 

A S Venkataramani, et al. "Officer-Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health," JAMA Internal Medicine. 

The article featuring Venkataramanis' study shows that black people were consistently more likely to report harmfully low levels of sleep after such a killing than they did before it occurred, the researchers found, regardless of whether the killing was a nearby event or a high-profile incident captured in media.

Citation:

"After Police Kill Unarmed Black People, Sleep Worsens — but Only for Black People," The New York Times, E Baumgaertner, February 5, 2024.

Penn Today highlights research associate Dorothy Roberts addressing the question on civil rights being enough, during the 23rd annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice. 

Citations:

"‘Are Civil Rights Enough?’" Penn Today, K Garcia, January 31, 2024. 

Knowledge at Wharton features Duncan Watts for his study on quantifying individual and collective common sense. 

Citations:

"What Is Common Sense?" Knowledge at Wharton, N Magubane, January 30, 2024. 

D J Watts, et al. "A Framework For Quantifying Individual and Collective Common Sense," PNAS. 

Check out the first Penn Population Studies Newsletter of 2024. This newsletter showcases researchers featured in the news, upcoming events such as PARC aging chats and the aging retreat, updates on the PSC Colloquium Series, and information on the Quartet Pilot Research Project Competition.

Penn Today features research associate Duncan Watts for his study on individual and collective common sense. 

Citations:

"The Commonalities of Common Sense." Penn Today, N Magubane, January 23, 2024. 

D J Watts, et al. "A Framework for Quantifying Individual and Collective Common Sense," PNAS. 

Citations:

"Two-And-A-Half Decades of Research in Malawi." Penn Today, E Moser, January 22, 2024. 

“Coaches try to break goals down to a point that the first levels of goal achievement are almost guaranteed… Psychologists call this goal gradients—the idea that people work much harder to achieve goals that are seen as being in reach.” Volpp said. 

Citation: 

"How AI Can Help Humans Become More Human," Time, A Huffington, January 22, 2024.

Parents quotes research associate Paula Fomby on contraceptive methods. 

Citations:

"American Families Will Shrink in the Near Future, New Study Says." Parents, B A Mayer, January 19, 2024. 

MarketWatch quotes Olivia Mitchell, stating that individuals experiencing loneliness or depression are significantly more susceptible to falling victim to fraud.

Citations:

"A Rude Awakening: Lack of Financial Literacy Hurts The Young. What About Older People?" MarketWatch, M Stettner, January 18, 2024. 

Penn LDI features Courtney Boen's research, which illuminates the health consequences of a Racialized Society and explores potential strategies for mitigation. 

Citations:

"How Racism “Gets Under the Skin” and Prematurely Ages Black People." Penn LDI, C Tachibana & H Levins, January 17, 2024. 

"Biological Age vs. Chronological Age: The Racial Health Disparities." Youtube, LDIvideo. 

C Boen, et al. “Patterns and Life Course Determinants of Black-White Disparities in Biological Age Acceleration: A Decomposition Analysis,” Demography. 

C Boen, et al. "Death by a Thousand Cuts: Stress Exposure and Black–White Disparities in Physiological Functioning in Late Life," Oxford Journals. 

Annenberg School for Communication highlights a new report by Dolores Albarracín on identifying effective ways to halt the spread of misinformation online, including debunking and “prebunking".

Citations:

"Eight Ways To Prevent and Fight Health Misinformation, Backed by Psychological Science." Annenberg School for Communication, H Reissman, January 15, 2024. 

Penn LDI highlights Dolores Albarracín shedding light on a new factor in understanding how people think of climate change: exposure to record-breaking heat.

Citations:

"Navigating Climate Perceptions Through Communication Strategies." Penn LDI, M Bolas, Januray 11, 2024.

D Albarracin, et al. "Record-Breaking Heat Days Disproportionately Influence Heat Perceptions," Scientific Reports. 

“We’ve substantially caught up, which is incredible. It’s actually an amazing feat.” said Buttenheim regarding falling rates of vaccination in children.

Citation:

"America Is Having a Senior Moment on Vaccines," The Atlantic, D Engber, January 11, 2024.

Research Associate Hans-Peter Kohler co-authors a paper along with Alberto Ciancio, Fabrice Kampfen, and Rebecca Thornton. 

Abstract: Providing personal health information allows individuals to take action to improve their health. If treatment is not available, however, being informed about having a life-threatening disease could lead to feelings of despair or fatalistic behaviors resulting in negative health outcomes. We document this possibility utilizing an experiment in Malawi that randomized incentives to learn HIV testing results in a context where anti-retroviral treatment (ART) was not yet available. Six years after the experiment, receiving an HIV+ diagnosis reduced survival rates by 23% points and this effect persists after 15 years. We show that HIV+ persons who learned they were HIV+ engaged in more risky health behaviors, have greater anxiety and a higher discount rate. We do not find any effects of receiving an HIV - diagnosis on survival.

Ciancio, Alberto, Fabrice Kämpfen, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Rebecca Thornton. 2024. “Surviving Bad News: Health Information without Treatment Options.” University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC).

Knowledge at Wharton highlights Olivia Mitchell's study making a case for deferred income annuities with some equity exposure in defined contribution plans.

Citations:

"Why Retirement Gets Better With Annuities." Knowledge at Wharton, S Parameshwaran, January 9, 2024. 

O S Mitchell, et al. “Fixed and Variable Longevity Annuities in Defined Contribution Plans: Optimal Retirement Portfolios Taking Social Security into Account,” Wharton Pension Research Council. 

The New York Times features research associate Dennis Culhane for his study on modern homelessness. 

Citations:

"Can a Big Village Full of Tiny Homes Ease Homelessness in Austin?" The New York Times, L Tompkins, January 9, 2024. 

“What really kills you is when they tell you it will arrive on Monday but it arrives on Friday,” says Fernández-Villaverde. Regarding supply chain shock post pandemic. 

Citation: 

"How Supply-Chain Snarls Made Everyone Wrong on Inflation," The Wall Street Journal, J Lahart, January 4, 2024.

Related Article: 

The Surprising Linchpin in the Global Supply Chain

Penn LDI highlights health policy research blogs featuring PARC and PSC associates. 

Citations:

"LDI Research Blogs That Caught Your Attention in 2023." Penn LDI, K Kamara & M Bolas, January 3, 2024. 

Penn LDI showcases attention-grabbing news articles that spotlight some of the PARC and PSC research associates. 

Citations:

"LDI News That Caught Your Attention in 2023." Penn LDI, H Levins, January 3, 2024. 

Responding to the release of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress that cited a “record level” of homelessness, Penn LDI highlights Dennis Culhane pointing out to the New York Times that the “record” “is partly a manufactured problem.”

Citations:

"Homelessness Across U.S. Hit Record Level in 2023." Penn LDI, H Levins, January 3, 2024.