Why statistical offices should hire a comedian

Why Hire Loan Officers? Examining Delegated Expertise∗

I develop and estimate a model of expertise that weighs the tradeoffs of delegating loan decisions to loan officers. While loan officers can screen soft information, their preferences may distort decisions away from the lender’s objective. The model features rich heterogeneity (e.g. risk aversion, willingness to exert effort, and overconfidence) and addresses possible endogeneity with a natural...

Why firms refuse to hire underbidders

A prominent theory of wage rigidity claims that a social norm against underbidding may prevent wages from falling to market clearing levels. This social norm may therefore cause downwardly rigid wages and involuntary unemployment. Recently performed questionnaire studies have thrown doubt on the conjecture that there is a social norm against underbidding. In this paper we experimentally show th...

Should Employers Be Permitted not to Hire Smokers? A Review of US Legal Provisions

Background Increasingly, healthcare and non-healthcare employers prohibit or penalize the use of tobacco products among current and new employees in the United States. Despite this trend, and for a range of different reasons, around half of states currently legally protect employees from being denied positions, or having employment contracts terminated, due to tobacco use.   Methods We undertoo...

On Why the United States Should Not Attack Iran: A Conservative, Evangelical Christian Response

In the midst of American intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in the aftermath of the presidential election in Iran, support for American involvement in Iran has increased in some circles. In this piece, our desire is to give a conservative, evangelical Christian response to why America should not support any military action against Iran. A position advocated by many of us is “Just War.” I...

5G Technology: Why Should We Expect a shift from RF-Induced Brain Cancers to Skin Cancers?