ABSTRACT Citizenship offers enhanced opportunities for immigrants, but the complex naturalization process can be a barrier. We evaluate a preregistered, large‐scale randomized trial that tested the impact of a low‐cost letter that combined informational content with active encouragement from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to potentially eligible Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) to apply for naturalization. Within a nationwide population of 1,861,178 individuals in LPR status for 6 to 9 years, we find that the letter increased naturalization applications by 1 percentage point (12%). This increase was positive across all groups tested, though the effects were larger for families in higher income zip codes and those who did not submit the fee waiver application, suggesting that financial and time constraints, along with administrative burdens, play a role in naturalization submission rates.
ABSTRACT Meritocratic recruitment is a central tenet in Weber's theory of bureaucracy, which states that employees should be hired based on merit. However, extensive research has shown evidence of hiring discrimination against minorities, breaking with basic principles in bureaucratic selection. This paper examines whether ethnic and racial minorities are discriminated against when bureaucratic organizations use civil service exams to assess candidates' merit and fitness for positions. Drawing on data from the local government of New York City and a candidate list fixed effects approach, we find that Black and Hispanic candidates are slightly more likely to be hired than White candidates with similar exam scores, suggesting that these ethnic minorities hold a small advantage in bureaucratic selection. However, examining the starting compensation levels of new hires, we show that minorities are hired at lower salaries and are compensated less for high exam scores than comparable White hires. Our findings suggest that civil service exams might be an important lever for securing fair and unbiased bureaucratic selection but also that they do not prevent discrimination in later steps of the recruitment process.
We estimate the health and well-being effects of subsidized access to long-term care (LTC). Our analysis exploits the staggered implementation of Spain's 2007 System of Autonomy and Care for Dependent People (SAAD), which expanded publicly funded and universal LTC subsidies and supports, as well as its subsequent reform. Using two decades of administrative and survey data and leveraging exogenous regional and individual-level variation in program exposure, we find that access to SAAD benefits reduces the care receiver's depressive symptoms by approximately 10 percentage points, increases its survival probability by 2.6-3 percentage points, and raises its life satisfaction by 0.24-0.50 scale points. Cost-effectiveness estimates indicate that the implied cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained lies below commonly accepted efficiency thresholds for public health spending in Europe. These findings document sizeable health returns and efficiency gains from publicly subsidized LTC provision.
This paper evaluates the effects of a novel and large-scale program in King County, Washington, that provides fare-free public transportation to individuals with low incomes. Using both experimental and quasi-experimental methods together with rich administrative and survey data, we find that providing free transit has very limited effects on mobility or downstream outcomes related to health and well-being. We examine possible explanations for the modest effects, which contrast with findings from prior research. Our results suggest that changes in the external environment post-COVID-19 pandemic, including changes in norms around fare evasion, reduced the price elasticity of demand for travel by transit among individuals with low incomes.
