Firms often fail to adopt profitable opportunities. Working with a FinTech to randomize offers to 33,978 firms in Mexico and show the role of behavioral biases such as memory and trust, from @paul_gertler, @SeanKHiggins, @umalmend, and @waldo_tk

Huge congratulations to @orianabandiera (@STICERD_LSE, @hubequalrep, @LSEEcon) who has been granted the IEA Fellow award for 2024 in recognition of her significant contribution to the field of Economics!

Showing that alternative data from digital transactions through a delivery app are effective at predicting creditworthiness for borrowers with no credit history, from Laura Chioda, @paul_gertler, @SeanKHiggins, and Paolina C. Medina

Hi, I am excited to share my job market paper, titled “Exchange Rate Pass-through and Expenditure-Switching Revisited.” The conventional wisdom on this topic is that low pass-through generates less expenditure-switching than high pass-through. In this paper, I demonstrate and explain the opposite, and consider policy implications. 1/9

Reducing added sugar early in life can significantly lower the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood. Less exposure to sugar in utero and during the first 2 years of life was associated with a 35% reduction in diabetes risk, a 20% reduction in hypertension risk, and a 30% reduction in obesity risk among children conceived or born around the 1950s sugar rationing in the United Kingdom. As adults, they also experienced the onset of diabetes and high blood pressure 2–4 years later. Less sugar exposure in utero was beneficial on its own and explained about one-third of the protective effects on disease—reducing diabetes and hypertension risk by 8–15%. But the effects were most pronounced when sugar restriction lasted until 6 months of age and beyond—the longer one was exposed to sugar restriction, the lower their disease risk. - Less sugar exposure in utero and in the first year of life reduced disease risk by 15%–25%. - Less sugar exposure in utero and in the first 2 years of life reduced disease risk by 19%–36%. The idea that maternal and early-life nutrition can impact future health is known as the “fetal origins hypothesis.” It’s why I spent many months researching and learning about the myriad factors that would influence my own child's development and why I continue to do so. Early life is a sensitive time for development. Although this study has its limitations, it should make us more aware of how sugar intake in particular can affect the long-term health of our children. Study referenced - PMID: 39480913

Our new paper in @ScienceMagazine studies how exposure to sugar in utero and in early life affects risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Spoiler: a low sugar diet can protect against and delay disease onset! @tadejagracner @paul_gertler

This Friday, we are hosting the Cities and Development conference. It will be streamed. When we started this in 2016, it was barely a field in econ. Amazing work is now happening, but cities are still underrated. If you're in Cambridge and want to come, send me a DM for info.

“Altruistic” doctors who prioritize patient care over income and profit achieve dramatically better health outcomes with older patients, a finding that has powerful implications for U.S. health care systems and policies.