Ben Sprung-Keyser
@bsprungkeyser
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Assistant Professor at @Wharton, Business Economics and Public Policy. Co-Director at @PolicyImpacts.
Joined December 2010
Excited to share new work on the returns to US environmental policy. We use the MVPF framework to examine 96 policies spanning subsidies, nudges and revenue raisers. Check out this thread from @nhendren82:.
🚨*New Paper Alert*🚨. What are the most effective ways to fight climate change? What are the returns to subsidies for wind and solar? What about EV subsidies or energy efficient appliance rebates? How about raising revenue through fuel taxes or cap and trade auctions?. 1/:
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RT @nhendren82: Come work with me @policyimpacts at @MITEcon! We're hiring pre-doctoral fellows to start next summer. Work closely with me….
policyimpacts.org
Nathaniel Hendren is hiring multiple Predoctoral Researchers to work closely with him at Policy Impacts starting next summer at MIT. Apply by October 5, 2025 to meet the priority deadline.
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Looking for a predoc position? I’m hiring!. Come work with me at @Wharton BEPP. You will work on a variety of topics related to upward mobility, migration, and the effectiveness of government policy. Apply by Feb 21:
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RT @QJEHarvard: #QJE Feb 2025, #2, “A Welfare Analysis of Tax Audits Across the Income Distribution,” by Boning, Hendren (@nhendren82), Spr….
academic.oup.com
Abstract. We estimate the returns to IRS audits of taxpayers across the income distribution. We find an additional $1 spent auditing taxpayers above the 90
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RT @_josephshapiro: Excited for #ASSA2025 New Frontiers in Environmental Economics session! . 🌐 Fri 8am (session link below👇).🗺️ Room: Parc….
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RT @QJEHarvard: Recently accepted by #QJE, “A Welfare Analysis of Tax Audits Across the Income Distribution,” by Boning, Hendren (@nhendren….
academic.oup.com
Abstract. We estimate the returns to IRS audits of taxpayers across the income distribution. We find an additional $1 spent auditing taxpayers above the 90
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RT @PolicyImpacts: 📢 Call for Proposals . Measuring the causal effect of a policy change and seeking to measure its Marginal Value of Publi….
policyimpacts.org
Policy Impacts seeks proposals from early-career scholars who are currently conducting well-identified analyses of government policy changes and who are seeking to translate those estimates into...
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RT @nhendren82: 📢 Call for Proposals 📢. Measuring the causal effect of a policy change and seeking to measure its Marginal Value of Public….
policyimpacts.org
Policy Impacts seeks proposals from early-career scholars who are currently conducting well-identified analyses of government policy changes and who are seeking to translate those estimates into...
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RT @nberpubs: Extending the use of the marginal value of public funds framework to search for the most effective ways to address climate ch….
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RT @RDMetcalfe: Incredibly excited to be releasing this working paper today with colleagues Bob Hahn, @nhendren82, and @bsprungkeyser. We….
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Wanna read more? Check out the paper here: And thanks to the whole team at @PolicyImpacts !.
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5) Researchers normally report the “cost per ton of CO2 abated.” But, those measures don't account for the full sets of benefits and costs of climate policy. So, they fail to capture the lessons of the MVPF approach.
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3) Climate-focused revenue raisers such as fuel taxes and cap-and-trade are particularly efficient means of raising revenue. 4) International climate subsidies have the potential to produce very high returns, even when only considering the impact on US residents and US taxpayers.
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What do we find?. 1) Subsidies for renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar, have the highest returns in our sample. 2) Energy conservation and vehicle subsidies, such as EV subsidies, have comparatively low MVPFs.
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RT @nhendren82: 🚨*New Paper Alert*🚨. What are the most effective ways to fight climate change? What are the returns to subsidies for wind a….
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Looking for a predoc position for next year? I’m hiring!. Come work with me at @Wharton BEPP. You will work on a variety of topics related to upward mobility, local labor markets, migration, and the effectiveness of government policy. Apply by May 31:.
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Also be sure to check out these papers estimating the long-run effects of Medicaid. Brown, Kowalski, and Lurie 2020: Goodman-Bacon 2021: Miller and Wherry 2018: Wherry et al 2018:
direct.mit.edu
Abstract. Exploiting a discontinuity in childhood Medicaid eligibility based on date of birth, we find that more years of childhood eligibility are associated with fewer hospitalizations in adultho...
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For more on the welfare consequences of these policies, be sure to check out the Policy Impacts Library:
policyimpacts.org
This library provides a standardized database of MVPF estimates derived from rigorous empirical research. The details page for each policy provides an in-depth discussion on the way in which the MVPF...
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