David Powell

Overview

Commentary

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  Opioids and a Crisis of Unintended Consequences

  The pain medicine OxyContin was reformulated in 2010 to make it more difficult to crush or dissolve. But this had unintended consequences, including a rise in hepatitis C infections as drug abusers switched from taking OxyContin to injecting heroin.

  Feb 20, 2019 The Hill

Publications

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  Journal Article

  A Transitioning Epidemic: How The Opioid Crisis Is Driving The Rise In Hepatitis C

  The 2010 reformulation of Oxycontin to prevent abuse of the drug (by making it crush-proof and therefore impossible to dissolve in liquid) had the unintended effect of driving some users to switch to heroin, which contributed to a dramatic rise in Hepatitis C.

  Mar 13, 2019

• Draft

  Draft

  The Value of Working Conditions in the United States and Implications for the Structure of Wages

  Documents variation in working conditions among workers in the United States, presents new estimates of how workers value these conditions, and assesses the impact of working conditions on estimates of the wage structure and inequality.

  Dec 28, 2018

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  Journal Article

  Supply-Side Drug Policy in the Presence of Substitutes: Evidence from the Introduction of Abuse-Deterrent Opioids

  The recent increase in heroin deaths is primarily fueled by the reformulation of OxyContin.

  Oct 31, 2018

• Draft

  Draft

  Imperfect Synthetic Controls: Did the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Save Lives?

  Recommends a two-step synthetic control method which allows for estimation of a specification with interactive fixed effects which nests more traditional additive fixed effects models.

  May 16, 2018

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  Journal Article

  A Supply-Side Perspective on the Opioid Crisis

  In dealing with the opioid crisis, supply-side policies that consider the full market (both prescription opioids as well as heroin and fentanyl), if coupled with effective treatment, are likely to be the most effective.

  Mar 1, 2018

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  Journal Article

  Do Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Addictions and Deaths Related to Pain Killers?

  States that provide legal access to marijuana through dispensaries experience lower treatment admissions for addiction to pain medication.

  Feb 8, 2018

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  Report

  Comparing Ex-Servicemember and Civilian Use of Unemployment Insurance

  Drawing from a data set with unemployment compensation for ex-service members and unemployment insurance claims from 2002 to 2012, this report provides a first portrait of the job search process of ex-service members relative to that for civilians.

  Feb 8, 2018

• Tool

  Tool

  Costs and Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Motor Vehicle–Related Injuries and Deaths: Supplement to Tool Documentation

  This report documents the update of an online tool to help assess costs and effectiveness of implementing up to 14 interventions and select those most effective in reducing death and injury from motor vehicle crashes for a given budget.

  Feb 2, 2018

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  Tool

  Motor Vehicle Prioritizing Interventions and Cost Calculator for States (MV PICCS)

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated interactive Motor Vehicle Prioritizing Interventions and Cost Calculator for States can help state decisionmakers prioritize motor vehicle injury-prevention interventions.

  Feb 2, 2018

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  Tool

  The American Working Conditions Survey Data: Codebook and Data Description

  This codebook describes the content and structure of the American Working Conditions Survey data (AWCS) which was fielded on the RAND American Life Panel (ALP) in 2015.

  Aug 14, 2017

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  Research Brief

  The American Working Conditions Survey Finds That More Than Half of Retirees Would Return to Work

  According to the American Working Conditions Survey, more older workers report having meaningful work compared with their prime-age counterparts, and more than half of retirees would return to work under the right conditions.

  Aug 14, 2017

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  Research Brief

  How Americans Perceive the Workplace: Results from the American Working Conditions Survey

  Half of American workers say that they work in their free time to meet workplace demands, 63 percent feel that they are doing useful work, and 46 percent of retirees age 50 and older say that they would return to work if conditions were right.

  Aug 14, 2017

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  Report

  Working Conditions in the United States: Results of the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey

  This report presents detailed findings from the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey about the prevalence and distribution of working conditions across the American workforce by age, gender, and education.

  Aug 14, 2017

• Draft

  Draft

  Inference with Correlated Clusters

  Introduces a method which permits valid inference given a finite number of heterogeneous, correlated clusters.

  Jun 6, 2017

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  Draft

  The Effect of the 2009 Influenza Pandemic on Absence from Work

  Using unique sick leave data from the Chilean private health insurance system, estimate the effect of the pandemic on missed days of work.

  Jan 10, 2017

• Journal Article

  Journal Article

  Supply-Side Drug Policy in the Presence of Substitutes: Evidence from the Introduction of Abuse-Deterrent Opioids

  Results suggest that a substantial share of the dramatic increase in heroin deaths since 2010 can be attributed to the reformulation of OxyContin.

  2017

• Draft

  Draft

  How Increasing Medical Access to Opioids Contributes to the Opioid Epidemic: Evidence from Medicare Part D

  Uses the introduction of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Part D) to explore how increasing medical access to opioids contributes to the opioid epidemic.

  Oct 13, 2016

• Draft

  Draft

  The Effect of Population Aging on Economic Growth, the Labor Force and Productivity

  Explores the magnitude of the effects of population aging on aggregate economic growth.

  Aug 24, 2016

• Draft

  Draft

  Synthetic Control Estimation Beyond Case Studies: Does the Minimum Wage Reduce Employment?

  Generalizes the case study synthetic control estimator to permit estimation of the effect of multiple treatment variables, which can be discrete or continuous, then estimates the impact of the minimum wage on the employment rate of teenagers.

  Mar 3, 2016

• Tool

  Tool

  Costs and Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Motor Vehicle–Related Injuries and Deaths: Project Report and Online-Tool Documentation

  This report documents production of an online tool to help assess costs and effectiveness of implementing up to 14 interventions and select those most effective in reducing death and injury from motor vehicle crashes for a given budget.

  Dec 14, 2015

• Research Brief

  Research Brief

  How to Get the Biggest Impact from an Increase in Spending on Traffic Safety

  According to analysis with a free new tool, allocating increased federal traffic safety funding by cost-effectiveness ratios rather than equally among states would save more than double the number of lives and prevent almost five times the injuries.

  Dec 14, 2015

• Research Brief

  Research Brief

  A New Tool to Help Decisionmakers Select Interventions to Reduce Traffic Crash Deaths and Injuries

  This brief describes an interactive tool that can help statedecisionmakers choose policies that are effective in reducing motor vehicle accidents in their states and appropriate to state budgets, saving lives and reducing economic and societal loss.

  Dec 14, 2015

• Research Brief

  Research Brief

  Should Traffic Crash Interventions Be Selected Nationally or State by State?

  According to analysis using a new, free tool, a national allocation of funds for traffic crash prevention might cost less than allocating according to state-by-state needs, but it might save significantly fewer lives and reduce far fewer injuries.

  Dec 14, 2015

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  Research Brief

  Which Behavioral Interventions Are Most Cost-Effective in Reducing Drunk Driving?

  Drunk driving is extremely dangerous, but not all drunk driving policies are equally cost-effective in all states. This brief describes a tool that can help decisionmakers choose policies that are appropriate for their states and state budgets.

  Dec 14, 2015

• Journal Article

  Journal Article

  Assessing the Effects of Medical Marijuana Laws on Marijuana Use: The Devil Is in the Details

  This paper sheds light on previous inconsistencies identified in the literature regarding the relationship between medical marijuana laws (MMLs) and recreational marijuana use by closely examining the importance of policy and the timing of when particular policy dimensions are enacted.

  2015

• Draft

  Draft

  Estimating Intensive and Extensive Tax Responsiveness: Do Older Workers Respond to Income Taxes?

  Studies the impact of income and payroll taxes on intensive and extensive labor supply decisions for workers ages 55-74 using the Health and Retirement Study.

  Jun 18, 2014

• Draft

  Draft

  Did the Economic Stimulus Payments of 2008 Reduce Labor Supply? Evidence from Quantile Panel Data Estimation

  Explores whether the economic stimulus payments of 2008 had significant impacts on labor supply.

  May 27, 2014

• Draft

  Draft

  Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in Private Health Insurance

  Uses claims data from a large firm to study the independent roles of both moral hazard and adverse selection in private health insurance markets.

  Mar 21, 2014

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  Journal Article

  Medical Care Spending and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Workers' Compensation Reforms

  Following workers' compensation reforms in California, workers with low back injuries received less medical care, leading to an 8% drop in post-injury earnings relative to other injured workers. These results suggest that medical spending can impact health and that health affects labor outcomes.

  2014

• Draft

  Draft

  The Effect of Local Labor Demand Conditions on the Labor Supply Outcomes of Older Americans

  Measures the effects of local labor demand conditions on a host of outcomes for older individuals including employment, retirement, Social Security claiming, wages, and job characteristics.

  Nov 19, 2013

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  Draft

  Optimal Health Insurance and the Distortionary Effects of the Tax Subsidy

  Applies a model to understand how the income tax subsidy distorts optimal cost-sharing in health insurance.

  Feb 7, 2013

• Draft

  Draft

  A New Framework for Estimation of Quantile Treatment Effects: Nonseparable Disturbance in the Presence of Covariates

  Introduces an unconditional quantile regression (UQR) estimator that can be used for exogenous or endogenous treatment variables.

  Feb 7, 2013

• Draft

  Draft

  The Exporter Productivity Premium along the Productivity Distribution: Evidence from Unconditional Quantile Regression with Firm Fixed Effects

  Examines the productivity distribution of both exporting and non-exporting firms in German manufacturing industries while recognizing that it is potentially important to condition on firm fixed effects for estimation of this exporter premium.

  Mar 10, 2011

• Draft

  Draft

  Heterogeneity in Income Tax Incidence: Are the Wages of Dangerous Jobs More Responsive to Tax Changes than the Wages of Safe Jobs?

  Compares the wage response of dangerous jobs to the wage response of safe jobs.

  Jan 18, 2011

• Draft

  Draft

  Income Taxes, Compensating Differentials, and Occupational Choice: How Taxes Distort the Wage-Amenity Decision

  Introduces a two-step methodology which uses compensating differentials to characterize the tax elasticity of occupational choice.

  Jan 12, 2011

• Draft

  Draft

  Unconditional Quantile Treatment Effects in the Presence of Covariates

  Discusses identification of unconditional quantile treatment effects when it is necessary or simply desirable to condition on covariates.

  Dec 6, 2010