Working Papers

1. The Cold War and the US Labor Market

   with Ilyana Kuziemko↗, and Suresh Naidu↗

   Working Paper

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   We argue that the Cold War contributed to the inclusive growth of the post-war decades. On the labor-demand side, we isolate exogenous shifts in military procurement across states and firms. We show that military procurement increases manufacturing employment and reduces inequality. Overall, the 1950s-to-1990s decline in defense pro- duction explains roughly one-quarter of the decline in manufacturing employment and nearly one-tenth of the rise of top-ten income share. On the labor-supply side, the Cold-War-era draft removed millions of young men from the labor force, significantly reducing young male civilian unemployment. Military procurement also increased voter support for hawkish foreign policy.

2. Adding Salt to the Womb: The Impacts of Salt Iodization from Infancy to Adulthood

   with Kate Musen↗

   Working Paper

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   We estimate the effects of the 1924 introduction of iodized salt in the U.S. by exploiting pre-1924 geographic variation in iodine deficiency. Iodized salt reduced infant mortality by 1.1 deaths per 1,000 births (1.6%) for counties at the 75th percentile of iodine deficiency relative to the 25th percentile. These effects are concentrated in urban counties—where iodized salt was disproportionately available—explaining 1/3 of the decline in the urban-rural infant mortality gap in the 1920s. We show that the long-term effects on labor market outcomes are consistently large among urban-born individuals, reconciling conflicting results in the literature.

Works in Progress

1. Skin Tone and Racial Inequality: Evidence from the 20th Century

   with Kamelia Stavreva↗
2. The 1980s Recession and US Labor Market Inequality

   with Kamelia Stavreva↗
3. From Callbacks to Careers: Do Audit Studies Predict Workforce Diversity

   with Kamelia Stavreva↗, Adina Sterling↗, and Emmanuel Yimfor↗