<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>EconStor Community:</title>
    <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/262401</link>
    <description />
    <pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 01:07:58 GMT</pubDate>
    <dc:date>2026-05-07T01:07:58Z</dc:date>
    <item>
      <title>Managing what you measure: Evidence from federal infrastructure surveys</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/337493</link>
      <description>Title: Managing what you measure: Evidence from federal infrastructure surveys
Authors: Breuer, Matthias; Dong, Qingkai
Abstract: We study how federal information-collection requirements affect public infrastructure spending of local governments. Exploiting the introduction and revision of the federal survey on highway infrastructure, we find that county roads that are randomly sampled by the survey attract more local government spending. The increased spending is concentrated in capital outlays for road improvements and is somewhat pronounced for roads in poor condition. The spending seems successful in expanding the county road network and usage and reducing fatalities. Collectively, our evidence suggests that federal information-collection efforts shape the allocation of resources by providing information on road segments in need of resources but also by directing attention and resources to roads that happen to be sampled, irrespective of their need for resources.</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://hdl.handle.net/10419/337493</guid>
      <dc:date>2026-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The happiness crash of 2020</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339592</link>
      <description>Title: The happiness crash of 2020
Authors: Peltzman, Sam
Abstract: I document a sudden, sharp and historically unprecedented decline in self-reported happiness in the US population. It occurred during 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic, and mainly persists through 2024. This happiness crash spread across nearly all typical demographics and geographies. The happiest groups pre-Covid (e.g., whites, high income, well-educated and politically/ideologically right-leaning) tend to show the largest happiness reductions. The glaring exception is marital status, which has consistently been an important marker for happiness. The already wide happiness premium for marriage has, if anything, become slightly wider. With both married and unmarried reporting large declines in happiness the country has become segregated: slightly over half - the married adults - remain happy on balance; the unmarried, nearly half, are now distinctly unhappy. I also show that across a number of aspects of personal and social capital post-Covid deterioration is the norm, including a collapse of belief in the fairness of others and of trust in the US Supreme Court.</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339592</guid>
      <dc:date>2026-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Dynamism and politics in EU merger control: The perils and promise of a killer acquisitions solution through a law &amp; economics lens</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311856</link>
      <description>Title: Dynamism and politics in EU merger control: The perils and promise of a killer acquisitions solution through a law &amp; economics lens
Authors: Tzanaki, Anna</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311856</guid>
      <dc:date>2025-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The anatomy of marital happiness</title>
      <link>https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311858</link>
      <description>Title: The anatomy of marital happiness
Authors: Peltzman, Sam
Abstract: Since 1972, the General Social Survey has periodically asked whether people are happy with Yes, Maybe or No type answers. Here I use a net "happiness" measure, which is percentage Yes less percentage No with Maybe treated as zero. Average happiness is around +20 on this scale for all respondents from 1972 to the last pre-pandemic survey (2018). However, there is a wide gap of around 30 points between married and unmarried respondents. This "marital premium" is this paper's subject. I describe how this premium varies across and within population groups. These include standard socio demographics (age, sex, race education, income) and more. I find little variety and thereby surface a notable regularity in US socio demography: there is a substantial marital premium for every group and sub-group I analyze, and this premium is usually close to the overall 30-point average. This holds not just for standard characteristics but also for those directly related to marriage like children and sex (and sex preference). I also find a "cohabitation premium", but it is much smaller (10 points) than the marital premium. The analysis is mainly visual, and there is inevitably some interesting variety across seventeen figures, such as a 5-point increase in recent years.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311858</guid>
      <dc:date>2025-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

