research paper about haircut policy

Hair Rules: Race, Gender, and Stigmatization in Schools

Banks, Patricia A. 2021. 'Hair Rules: Race, Gender, and Stigmatization in Schools.' The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 25 (2)- 1-9.

9 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2021 Last revised: 27 Dec 2021

Patricia A. Banks

Mount Holyoke College

Date Written: March 4, 2021

As laws banning racial hair discrimination in schools are proposed across the United States, it is increasingly important to understand how grooming policies can stigmatize students. This essay engages social science theory and research on stigmatization and the case of Arnold v. Barbers Hill Independent School District to investigate the cultural constructions of male students who wear long locks. Drawing on content analysis of court documents around this Texas lawsuit involving two black male cousins who were disciplined in school because of refusing to cut their locks, I examine how school officials justified the school district’s hair rules through associating the defendants’ hairstyle with a range of stigmatizing attributes. The conclusion considers the potential for this court case, as well as hair discrimination legislation, to mitigate the stigmatization of boys who wear long locks, long braids, and long twists. I argue that to fully address the stigmatization of boys who wear these styles, laws and policies must be attentive to race as well as gender.

Keywords: hair discrimination; dress codes; natural hair; culture; law; policy

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Patricia A. Banks (Contact Author)

Mount holyoke college ( email ).

50 College Street South Hadley, MA 01075 United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.patriciaannbanks.com/

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Related Topics

• High school

Why Policies about Hair Matter for Educational Equality

• Race & Ethnicity
• Public Health

Connect with the author

My research explores how women of color make decisions about hair styling. Across countries and societies, legacies of slavery, colonialism, and the Civil Rights movement continue to influence the perception of afro-textured hair. Moreover, prejudicial views can adversely influence the social positions of African-American women in areas such as income, housing or employment markets . Schools have a special responsibility to actively address these issues, I argue, because racial biases are often rooted in reactions to people’s appearance.

What Explains Reactions to Afro-Textured Hair?

For African American women, stereotypes about “good hair” versus “bad hair” can be traced all the way back to distinctions between house slaves with relatively higher social stature and field slaves with low social stature. To this day, the social status of women can be influenced by whether they are perceived to have “good hair,” that is, sleek or wavy hair that falls and “flows in the wind.” “Bad hair,” in contrast, can be a source of shame and frustration. Many women experience social pressure from their family and peers to adhere to the dominant beauty ideal of long, straight hair -- either by chemically relaxing their own hair or by wearing weaves or wigs that hide their hair’s natural texture. 

Across countries and societies, women of color attest to the prejudice and stereotypes associated with particular hairstyles. The meaning of the Afro, for instance, is inextricably linked to the Civil Rights Movement and the iconic image of civil rights activist Angela Davis. The Afro is thus seen as the assertion of a strong Black identity, sometimes evoking the stereotype of the “angry-radical-revolutionary-Black woman.” In contrast, dreadlocks are at times associated with crime and deviance, and evoking the stereotype of the weed-smoking Rastafari. To avoid negative stereotyping and social exclusion, many women refrain from wearing hairstyles suitable to the texture of their hair, even if such styles feel rooted in their cultural and ethnic heritage.

Adopting straight hairstyles, whether they feel comfortable or not, may be seen as a way to improve women’s chances in the job and dating market. In fact, research looking at skin color has found that light-skinned women fare significantly better with regards to educational attainment, employment status, and the social status of their spouse compared to dark-skinned women. My research demonstrates that similar effects exist for hair texture. Furthermore, research has shown that White women exhibit biases toward afro-textured hair – which they tend to regard as less beautiful, less attractive, and less professional than straight-textured hair.

Taken together, these findings highlight the subtle but pervasive ways in which hair issues complicate the lives and claims to equal rights of African-American women. The effects can show up in implicit as well as explicit ways. In one illustrative 2016 example, 15-year-old Ashanti Scott was subject to a new dress code at Butler Traditional High School banning “dreadlocks, cornrolls, twists, mohawks” (sic), and required “afros [be] no more than two inches in length.” Although the Butler school administration suspended the policy shortly after complaints began to flood in via social media, this story is far from isolated. In the U.S. educational system, students of color are frequently subject to unfair and harmful rules policing their personal appearance.

Physical and Psychological Costs

My work explores not only the sources of policies policing appearance in racially unfair ways; I also examine the physical and psychological costs of such policies. First, my research shows that the perceived need to straighten hair can impose significant physical and psychological costs. Secondly, many hairstyling options available to women of color, including braiding styles and weaves, are associated with the risk of permanent scalp issues or hair loss. Lastly, the constant need to manage their appearance and identity undermines women’s confidence and self-esteem. In fact, I have heard from some women who admitted to calling in sick and refusing to leave their house, if their hair was not perfectly straight on a particular day.

In contrast, women who were encouraged to embrace their cultural and ethnic heritage and take pride in their hair as well as skin color were more likely to develop a positive self-image from an early age. These women not only avoided bodily harms such as burnt scalps, but were also more likely to develop positive self-esteem. In addition, these women were less likely to assume their natural hair texture could be a barrier to educational or career success.

Ways to Achieve and Teach Equal Rights

My findings emphasize the need to address the social and historical factors underlying the policing of hair in schools, in order to treat the next generations more fairly, and to reduce the risk for physical and psychological injuries stemming from discriminatory school policies and dress codes. Crucially, teachers and school administrators are responsible for making choices that eliminate discrimination in the education of the next generation of citizens. Because people’s reactions to each other’s appearance is often the first place where racial discrimination finds expression, they should be especially mindful of the ways dress-codes and other policies about personal appearance can unfairly impact students and faculty of color.

Centralized interventions are not always the best way to spark change and broader. The use of social media can be highly effective. With her mother’s support, Ashanti Scott chose to challenge her school’s hair policy in social media – and the spread of her message led to a widespread condemnation and a swift reversal in school policy. Other efforts can include the use of parent committees to suggest appropriate schools-wide standards. And official interventions can produce shifts in school dress codes, as happened through a letter from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office condemning Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden for expelling students because their hair did not comply with discriminatory dress-codes. Finally, teachers and administrators may need to learn more about the history of Black hair and the physical and psychological injuries African-American women often suffer as they struggle to meet unfair standards of beauty. In other words, diversity teaching for and by teachers should not only focus on the variety of skin tones but should also include lessons on other outward reflections of racial identity such as hair textures and styles.

Brief prepared as Yale Fox International Fellow 2017-2018, Yale University.

Read more in Johanna Lukate, ““Blackness Disrupts my Germanness: On Embodiedment  and Questions of Identity and Belonging Among Women of Colour in Germany,” in To Exist is to Resists: Black Feminism in Europe, edited by Akwugo Emejulu and Francesca Sobande (Pluto Press, forthcoming).

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• DOI: 10.1007/S10436-010-0171-5
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Central bank haircut policy

• James T. E. Chapman , Jonathan Chiu , Miguel Molico
• Published 1 August 2011
• Annals of Finance

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HAIRCUT POLICY: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE STUDENTS

Why this petition matters

This issue is proposed in light of recent events and findings on the connection between haircut policy and student achievement. This case demonstrates not only how Filipino students desired to be free, but also how students must be content with their lives.

We can look through our students' desire to be able to wear anything they want and in whatever fashion they choose.

This problem with haircut policies should not be an impediment to learning, projecting students' styles and allowing or denying opportunities to reveal who they are and enhance their confidence by wearing the hairstyle they desire

Learning in school shall not be wasted just because of your haircut our education system lacks of.

The purpose of this project focuses on the HAIRCUT POLICY; FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE STUDENTS

Everyone wanted to be free and confident, especially students who wanted to be tidy and show off their haircuts rather than being forced to wear haircuts they didn't like.

Help me encourage and promote positivism and helps our fellow Filipino students by working together.

Decision Makers

Haircuts, interest rates, and credit cycles

• Research Article
• Published: 25 July 2022
• Volume 76 , pages 69–109, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• Zehao Liu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1510-4844 1   na1 &
• Chengbo Xie 2   na1  

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In the presence of lenders’ wrong perception of collateral quality, haircuts help to reduce the excessive financing costs due to the gap between lenders’ perceived and actual risk. We study the credit cycles driven by the dynamic interaction between the terms of the collateralized loan contracts and lenders’ beliefs. Risky loans are more sensitive to collateral quality information than safe loans because defaults reveal the information about collateral quality. Endogenously determined information revelation can explain the increases in haircuts during the recent financial crisis and the positive relationship between the long quiet period and the impact of the crisis. The asymmetry between boom and bust dynamics can explain the difference in the opacity of collateralized loan contracts, the asymmetric impacts of revealed good and bad news, and can help to predict financial crises. A macroprudential policy of setting a minimum haircut can reduce output fluctuation, and a policy combining a minimum haircut and a collateral insurance can both stabilize the economy and further improve social welfare.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Nicholas Yannelis (the Editor), an Associate Editor, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments.

Zehao Liu would like to thank the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72003189).

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Zehao Liu and Chengbo Xie have contributed equally to this work.

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School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

School of Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China

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Liu, Z., Xie, C. Haircuts, interest rates, and credit cycles. Econ Theory 76 , 69–109 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00199-022-01447-z

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Barbershops as a setting for supporting men's mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study from the UK

Georgina ogborn.

School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

Cerys Bowden-Howe

Maya kleijn, daniel michelson, associated data.

For supplementary material accompanying this paper visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.520.

The data used in this study are not publicly available owing to the conditions of participant consent.

Previous research has highlighted the need to promote help-seeking by men with mental health problems.

To investigate barbers’ views about offering mental health support for men in barbershops, with a specific focus on the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We used a sequential mixed-methods qualitative design with online data collection. In Phase 1, 30 barbers in Southern England completed surveys exploring perceptions of their clients’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, experiences of informal supportive roles and scope for providing formal mental health support in barbershops. Phase 2 involved member validation interviews and explored practice implications with three Phase 1 respondents.

Thematic analysis identified three overarching themes: ‘more than a haircut’ (describing how the physical and relational contexts of barbershops can offer a supportive environment for clients); ‘impacts of COVID-19’ (describing stressors related to the pandemic and implications for clients’ mental health and barber–client relationships); and ‘formal mental health strategies’ (describing opportunities for, and potential barriers to, formalising mental health support in barbershops).

Conclusions

Barbers were aware of their clients’ worsening mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Barbershops were generally considered to be a suitable setting in which to promote good mental health, monitor for signs of mental ill health and provide information about local mental health services. Future work is needed to co-produce and evaluate formal mental health promotion and prevention strategies in barbershops. Particular attention should be given to service innovations that preserve the credibility and trust that are fundamental to the barbershop experience for many males.

Around one in eight men experience mental health problems 1 and suicide is a leading cause of death among men globally. 2 Unmet needs for mental healthcare among men have been reported extensively in prior research, with males under-represented in referrals to conventional talking therapies 3 due to stigma, internalised role expectations and low mental health literacy. 4 , 5 Evidence suggests that men may prefer supportive strategies that reframe help-seeking as reflecting conventionally masculine attributes such as ‘being brave’ and ‘in control’, allow for meaningful interpersonal connections, involve trusted providers and take place in familiar community settings. 5 , 6

Public health initiatives linked to barbershops have shown promise in addressing disparities in health outcomes for men with conditions such as hypertension and prostate cancer 7 , 8 and there is now growing interest in building partnerships between barbers and healthcare providers to deliver community-based mental health programmes. As well as being a frequently used community resource (e.g. males in the UK visit a barber every 2.5 weeks on average 9 ), barbershops offer an environment in which clients can talk openly with their barbers about health and personal issues, 10 , 11 connect with fellow clients 8 and gain confidence in their appearance 12 . In many communities, interpersonal skills are seen as fundamental to the role, such that the customer should leave with ‘an uplifted spirit, happy, satisfied and feeling good about themselves’ 13 and conversations between barbers and clients can range from light-hearted fun to deeply meaningful and ‘quasi-therapeutic’. 10 , 11

The evidence is less clear about the benefits of providing formal mental health support through barbershops. Various initiatives have been influenced by the ‘barbershop model’ of health promotion that emerged in the 1980s to address health problems in African-American communities, for whom barbershops have historically provided a safe gathering place with important social and cultural functions. 14 Key components of the barbershop model have included training barbers to improve health literacy and offering guidance on how to initiate client referrals to professional healthcare providers. However, mental health outcome data have been scarcely reported and the applicability to other populations and contexts is uncertain, despite international interest and examples of public funding. 15

The current study was concerned with understanding the barriers and facilitators to providing informal and formal mental health support for men in barbershops in the UK, with a particular focus on identifying promising approaches that could be applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. COVID-19 mortality rates have been significantly higher in males than females, and the prevalence of depression in males doubled during the first year of the pandemic. 16 Disproportionate impacts have been borne by males from Black and minority ethnic groups, who have contracted and died from COVID-19 at significantly higher rates compared with White communities, as well as facing relatively higher levels of stress and mental health problems linked in part to precarious housing, employment and financial conditions. 17 , 18

Expanding community-centred approaches to mental health provision is a cornerstone of the UK Government's ‘COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan’. 19 Formative research is needed to explore how barbers can contribute to such efforts and to investigate how established informal support structures may be strengthened further, particularly given the disruptions to social networks caused by COVID-19 control measures. We investigated three research questions. First, how do barbers prefer to engage with their male clients in relation to mental health issues? Second, what mental health impacts have been observed by barbers during the COVID-19 pandemic? And third, what is the scope for providing formal mental health support in barbershops?

A sequential mixed-method qualitative design was used. 20 A hybrid deductive–inductive approach was applied during a survey-based insight generation phase (Phase 1), followed by member validation interviews and exploration of practice implications (Phase 2). Mixed-method formative designs of this type have been used in other community-based mental health service research to enhance the richness of data available to inform community-based participatory interventions. 21 All procedures involving human participants were approved prior to study commencement by the University of Sussex Ethics Committee (reference: ER/GO73/2). We assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. The study has been reported in line with consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ). 22 A completed COREQ checklist is provided among the supplementary materials available at http://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.520 .

Participants

Eligible participants were male barbers working in barbershops catering exclusively or primarily to male clients in the South of England. In the first instance, we focused recruitment on neighbourhoods in the counties of East and West Sussex with relatively high levels of income deprivation. 23 , 24 Starting in January 2021, Google Search was used to locate barbershops in relevant areas and these businesses were then contacted individually via telephone, email and Facebook accounts. Sampling was extended to other parts of Southern England to increase uptake in the latter stages of recruitment (March to April 2021). The survey completion target was 30, based on reasonable estimates of survey response rate in similar samples 25 and taking into account the depth and detail of individual responses needed to address the research questions. 26 We aimed to interview a smaller number of participants in Phase 2, where the priority was to engage in reciprocal discussions to help improve the credibility, validity and transferability of Phase 1 findings. Opportunity sampling was used to find barbers who were available to participate in interviews during April 2021. No prior relationship was established between the researchers and participants. The participant flow is summarised in Fig. 1 .

Participant flow diagram.

An 11-item online survey was created with ten open-ended free-text questions formulated in line with the study research questions (i.e. covering approaches to engaging with clients’ mental health, perceptions of clients’ mental health during the pandemic, and scope for providing formal mental health support to clients; see Supplementary File 1). An additional forced-choice question was used to assess barbers’ views about common daily stressors encountered by their clients during the pandemic, with response options adapted from an existing checklist (Brief Daily Stressors Screening Tool, BDSST 27 ). The online survey also collected demographic information and included an ‘opt-in’ for respondents to be contacted about Phase 2.

Member validation interviews were planned in an online focus group format, but owing to scheduling difficulties were ultimately conducted as individual online interviews, using Zoom video-conferencing software. Open discussion was used to provide participants with opportunities to engage with, and add to, interpreted data from Phase 1, with specific prompts used to elicit implications for practice development (Supplementary File 2).

An outline setting out the study rationale and methods was sent to each identified barbershop's main email address or Facebook account. The message included weblinks to a detailed participant information sheet and consent form. Respondents who completed the consent form were automatically directed to the online survey. Those who additionally opted to take part in Phase 2 were contacted by email and offered a choice of times and dates for participating in an interview. Each interview was led by one female researcher while the other female researchers observed and took notes. The interviewers were all undergraduate psychology students at the time of data collection and had completed training in qualitative methods as part of their course; supervision was provided by a male clinical academic psychologist.

A summary of Phase 1 findings was presented at the beginning of each interview session. Following this, each participant commented and elaborated on interpreted data and practice implications. Interviews lasted for around 20 min, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. No repeat interviews were required and transcripts were not returned to participants.

Thematic framework analysis followed a series of steps involving familiarisation, identifying a thematic framework, indexing, charting, and mapping and interpretation. 28 This recursive process allowed the analysis to move back and forth through steps as required. Coding was guided by both predetermined categories (following logically from the research questions) and data driven codes. 29 A preliminary coding frame was developed by the first four named authors and then applied independently to a subset of surveys, followed by comparison of codes and iterative revision of the frame using qualitative data from both phases until data saturation was achieved. Higher-order themes were refined further in light of Phase 2 interviews and in consultation with the senior author (D.M.). Results from the categorical survey question (related to commonly experienced stressors) were summarised using frequency counts and percentages and have been embedded within the wider thematic narrative below.

Participant characteristics

Participants were drawn from across Southern England, with the majority ( n  = 22, 73%) from Sussex. Two-thirds of the participants cut men's hair exclusively and the mean age of their clients was distributed categorically as follows: 18–25 years ( n  = 11, 37%); 26–35 years ( n  = 15, 50%); and 36–45 years ( n  = 4, 13%).

Thematic analysis

Figure 2 provides an overview of three over-arching themes and their sub-themes. These are elaborated in the narrative below and supported by illustrative quotes.

Matrix of study themes.

More than a haircut

Barbers described how they provided a holistic service with a number of mental health-promoting benefits. The ‘unique relationship’ sub-theme emphasised the distinctive nature of the barber–client relationship, which was considered to be deeper than many other service provider–client relationships:

‘[Clients] become part of our barber community’ (Respondent 24, average (avg) client age 26–35) ‘You've a really impartial position on their lives’ (Respondent 10, avg client age 26–35).

The ‘positive space’ sub-theme reflected how the barbershop served as a welcoming and supportive space that offered an escape from daily life, and from which clients typically emerged with uplifted spirits and renewed confidence:

‘People come, they have a laugh, they have a joke, and they have a good time’ (Respondent 13, avg client age 18–25) ‘I always try and keep things upbeat; your client should leave feeling fresh not frantic after a visit’ (Respondent 10, avg client age 26–35) ‘A barbershop is a hub for men where they can relax, unwind, open up and distract themselves from the pressures of life’ (Respondent 23, avg client age 36–45) ‘The environment we create in the shop makes it a safe place for anyone to talk’ (Respondent 14, avg client age 26–35).

The ‘power of a conversation’ sub-theme captured how authentic and non-judgemental conversations are an especially valued aspect of the barbershop experience for many clients:

‘Speaking to someone with an unbiased opinion is important to them […] they open up about their worries or challenges and reach out’ (Respondent 23, avg client age 36–45) ‘Just listen and let someone be open, as talking is the best thing to do’ (Respondent 13, avg client age 18–25).

The ‘adapting to expectations’ sub-theme recognised how barbers adapted their interpersonal approach for different clients, some of whom may be less comfortable discussing personal matters:

‘Most clients just chat about their day, but for some it's an important opportunity to discuss something affecting their life’ (Respondent 22, avg client age 18–25) ‘A lot of guys just like to sit in silence for half an hour and relax’ (Respondent 18, avg client age 26–35) ‘There are different types of male customers […] some are happy to talk, some will completely blank you’ (Respondent 8, avg client age 18–25).

Impacts of COVID-19

This theme encompassed descriptions of common stressors experienced by clients (sub-theme 1), mental health impacts for clients and barbers (sub-theme 2) and implications of the pandemic for barber–client relationships (sub-theme 3).

Direct health concerns related to COVID-19 ( n  = 9, 30%) were less commonly endorsed than social and economic impacts of the pandemic. In particular, ‘loneliness’ ( n  = 24, 80%) and ‘financial restrictions’ ( n  = 24, 80%) were the two most frequently noted sources of stress after ‘close persons’ ( n  = 25, 83%). Other reported categories of stressor were ‘dissatisfaction with occupation/education’ ( n  = 16, 53%), ‘other persons’ ( n  = 12, 40%) and ‘other health concerns’ ( n  = 7, 23%). Relatedly, barbers noted a strong pent-up demand for reconnecting with the social aspects of barbershops after COVID-19 public health restrictions affecting the industry were relaxed in mid-2020:

‘People after the first lockdown were more desperate to come back to have a conversation and see people’ (Respondent 11, avg client age 26–35) ‘We are here to make people feel good about themselves, haircut, chat, people have missed this over lockdown’ (Respondent 26, avg client age 26–35).

Barbers reported that many clients had revealed experiences of worsening mental health during post-lockdown barbershop visits:

‘Definitely more people are saying they're struggling with their mental health through COVID’ (Respondent 6, avg client age 36–45) ‘People are now putting their hands up and saying I've had it [worsening mental health], I've got it, I struggle with it and more people are coming out about it’ (Respondent 6, avg client age 36–45).

In some cases, clients’ mental health disclosures had aroused heightened concern from their barber and led to direct supportive efforts beyond the barbershop setting:

‘I had a client who was very much impacted by the lockdown that they thought about taking their own life […] I've kept contact […] and made them aware of the suicide prevention schemes’ ( Respondent 1, avg client age 18–25).

Mental health impacts were also experienced by barbers themselves:

‘I struggled with mental health myself, I needed a purpose’ (Interviewee 3, London) ‘There are a lot of barbers in the industry that suffer from mental health [problems] […] it's a hard job to do when you're not feeling 100% yourself’ (Respondent 11, avg client age 26–35).

Notwithstanding renewed demand for barbers’ services, residual impacts of lockdowns extended to the atmosphere in some barbershops and the quality of barber–client relationships:

‘The barbershop isn't the same as it was a year ago, it's totally different now’ (Interviewee 2, Sussex) ‘Those regulars […] can't open up again or have lost that initial banter with you so it's almost like starting again really’ (Respondent 11, avg client age 26–35).

Formalising mental health strategies

Many barbers recognised the potential to formalise mental health strategies in barbershops, although this was accompanied by concerns about overstepping role boundaries without appropriate training and in the context of competing workplace demands. The ‘mental health promotion’ sub-theme reflected suggestions about how barbers could play an important role in raising awareness of mental health problems and services, building on their existing position as informal providers of psychological support. Aside from passing on relevant information verbally during a haircut, suggestions were made about using posters and leaflets to share details of mental health services:

‘I think the NHS [National Health Service] could provide contact details that we can inconspicuously provide to a client that we may think needs help if they so wish’ (Respondent 14, avg client age 26–35) ‘It's about in that little time you are with someone cutting their hair, giving them the right places to go to get help’ (Respondent 12, avg client age 18–25) ‘It's about getting information out to them quick and giving them information on who is available for them to talk to straight away’ (Respondent 6, avg client age 36–45).

Some barbers had already taken concerted steps towards raising the profile of mental health in their settings:

‘Especially after COVID there is going to be a need for mental health support […] we can let them know we are here for them […] we need to get barbers involved quick’ (Respondent 6, avg client age 36–45) ‘We are going to be doing more with mental health in the shop, we are going to start putting stuff out there to show people we do care’ (Interviewee 2, Sussex).

The ‘watchful waiting and monitoring’ sub-theme related to suggestions that ongoing relationships with clients provide opportunities for monitoring mental health over time and for intervening sensitively at the right moment, particularly with clients for whom self-stigma may limit spontaneous help-seeking:

‘Show people we do care, we're not just there to cut their hair […] then people may open up a bit more’ (Interviewee 2, Sussex) ‘Just letting guys know it's ok to talk about things’ (Respondent 18, avg client age 26–35) ‘Double checking if he was okay and offering my ears if he needed to vent or talk about his mental health’ (Respondent 21, avg client age 26–35) ‘Be relaxed about it, don't go looking for it but being able to know what to say and how to help if you did come across someone who is crying out for support’ (Respondent 4, avg client age 26–35) ‘The largest stumbling block in regard to men's mental health is getting them to speak about it at all. Men tend not to discuss it’ (Respondent 17, avg client age 36–45) ‘They don't want to be seen as weak’ (Respondent 6, avg client age 36–45).

The ‘training needs’ sub-theme reflected barbers’ self-identified requirements for formal training in how to recognise mental health problems in clients and signpost them to appropriate services:

‘Giving barbers some training […] about the indicators that people are struggling with their mental health would be a good thing’ (Respondent 18, avg client age 36–45) ‘If we were trained, we would know how to approach the situation tactfully, to make sure you make things better and not worse’ (Interviewee 3, London) ‘If a barbershop wants to help with strategies to support mental health, I think a voluntary programme provided by the NHS in which professional clinicians can offer knowledge on warning signs/potential advice/do's and don'ts on what to say could help the industry’ (Respondent 14, avg client age 26–35).

Flexible training models were advocated in line with differing business models:

‘[Training should] definitely be different for every barbershop […] appointment-based barbershops would be better, compared to walk-in ones’ (Interviewee 1, Sussex) ‘What you think may work in one shop may not work in another’ (Respondent 13, avg client age 18–25).

A small number of barbers referred to existing training in suicide awareness (‘BarberTalk’):

‘Pushing more barbers to do this free course is definitely the way forward’ (Respondent 21, avg client age 25–35).

The ‘role boundaries’ sub-theme recognised concerns among some barbers about moving too far beyond their core professional role and making unwelcome incursions into clients’ private lives:

‘Clients don't need to be counselled by me’ (Respondent 12, avg client age 18–25) ‘There is only so much you can do as a barber unless you are trained […] but if you are trained you wouldn't be cutting hair as you would be a therapist’ (Interviewee 2, Sussex) ‘Not every barber is going to have the same view about it, some get it and want to help but some don't, and they avoid talking about mental health’ (Respondent 13, avg client age 18–25) ‘I don't feel I am responsible for helping people with their mental health’ (Respondent 2, avg client age 18–25) ‘I wouldn't want to break the trust of a client confiding certain details to me’ (Respondent 18, avg client age 26–35) ‘Some clients may hate the fact that you're suggesting they may need help. You don't want to lose customers’ (Respondent 9, avg client age 26–35).

The ‘logistical challenges’ sub-theme recognised that the demands of running a busy barbershop can limit scope for formalised mental health strategies:

‘Our appointment times are higher than the average barbershop, which means we have more time at our disposal to encourage meaningful conversations’ (Respondent 14, avg client age 26–35) ‘I haven't got the time to support people with their mental health’ (Respondent 2, avg client age 18–25) ‘Us barbers, we can't even think about doing anything else as it's so busy’ (Interviewee 2, Sussex) ‘They don't want to take that on as well as running a business, as running a business is stressful in itself’ (Interviewee 1, Sussex).

Physical space was also identified as a limiting factor:

‘We don't have a lot of space between clients and barbers so there would be a lack of confidentiality’ (Respondent 8, avg client age 18–25).

Finally, the ‘benefits to barbers’ sub-theme emphasised how supportive activities can have reciprocal benefits for those who work in barbershops:

‘If barbers were provided with workshops on topics related to mental health, we would not only be more well versed in how to handle potential situations effectively, it would lead to stronger client connections overall. So, from a business perspective, it's also a win’ (Respondent 10, avg client age 26–35) ‘From an employer's point of view, it's not just people coming into your barbershop, but also the people working in it too’ (Interviewee 1, Sussex).

This study investigated men's mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of barbers. Participants described how the physical and relational contexts of barbershops ordinarily contribute to a welcoming, non-judgemental and relaxed environment with a variety of mental health-promoting benefits. The loss of informal support available in barbershops was seen as being highly relevant during the pandemic, with study participants commonly reporting adverse mental health effects among their clientele and personally. Disruptions to normal social and economic functioning were recognised as major contributing factors to the suggested rise in mental ill health. Some barbers in the study had taken proactive steps towards formalising the support available through their workplaces, and others were open to such activities. However, concerns were also raised about overstepping professional boundaries and managing competing workplace demands.

Other studies have identified young adults, especially those from minority ethnic communities and those experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, as a high-risk demographic for adverse mental health outcomes during the pandemic. 30 Males in particular have been over-represented among emergency psychiatric presentations during periods of lockdown, 31 whereas higher incidence of self-reported anxiety and depression has been found among females. 32 There are also indications that men (at least from certain occupational groups) have been relatively less likely to seek formal help for mental health problems occurring during the pandemic. 33

Barbers participating in the current study recognised that barbershops ordinarily provide men with a safe and familiar setting in which to socialise and discuss sensitive matters that may not be readily disclosed to others. Previous research has established that informal social interactions can enhance social belonging and cognitive functioning 34 , 35 and that social connectedness is a strong and consistent predictor of positive mental health. 36 There was consensus among participants that lockdowns, social distancing and other pandemic restrictions had made it harder to create supportive environments for clients. Future research could usefully explore whether and how barbers and their customers successfully reconnect, and the extent to which these relationships might have been permanently altered.

Many barbers in our sample were keen to explore formal strategies for supporting their clients’ mental health and they identified corresponding training needs in identifying and responding sensitively to signs of distress. Further suggestions were made about using printed materials and targeted verbal information to raise clients’ awareness of external services. We note that mental health promotion programmes designed for males in other community settings have often used gender-sensitive language that recognises men's interests and preferences. Examples include using the language of sport (e.g. ‘mental fitness’ and football metaphors) and emphasising ‘stress’ as opposed to ‘anxiety’ or ‘depression’. 6 One study 37 notably devised a ‘Man Card’ (sized like a conventional business card), which set out the steps for helping a friend and also listed external mental health resources.

A number of participating barbers in our study were concerned about overstepping role boundaries, potentially intruding into clients’ private lives and consequently losing business. Logistical challenges were also identified related to balancing mental health promotion and prevention activities with the daily requirements of running a business, particularly after periods of closure and fluctuating demand during the pandemic. Training activities should take these concerns into account to ensure feasibility and acceptability in the barbershop setting. Corresponding evaluations are required to demonstrate effects on barbers’ knowledge and behaviours, as well as downstream effects on clients’ mental health.

Limitations

We acknowledge limitations relating to our methods of data collection and sampling. First, the study relied primarily on self-reported qualitative surveys, limiting the scope for elaborating on topics and clarifying participants’ responses. The use of survey methods was pragmatic given the prevailing restrictions on in-person meetings at the time of the study and scheduling limitations that restricted participants’ availability. These limitations also impacted on the participant validation phase (Phase 2), which was designed so that participants could engage with, and add to, survey data and its interpretation. In practice, Phase 2 coincided with a period when barbershops were due to reopen in England for the first time after a 10-week mandated closure and most of the Phase 1 survey participants were too busy to participate. Second, the validation interviews were intended to be conducted as focus groups, but scheduling constraints necessitated individual interviews. Third, the study was conducted solely from the perspective of barbers and we did not directly engage with their clients. Barbers in the study recognised that some customers were relatively open and comfortable with discussing their mental health, whereas others merely attended for a haircut. Future research should investigate the diversity of clients’ views to better understand what, how and for whom formal mental health support can be made available through barbershops. Specific attention should also be paid to opportunities and strategies for building social connections between users of barbershops and facilitating community action on a wider scale. This would be consistent with the important role played by social networks in strengthening individual and collective resilience more generally during the COVID-19 crisis. 38

Implications

This study was conducted against the backdrop of COVID-19 restrictions, at a time when psychosocial interventions led by community stakeholders have been an important focus of public policy and service development. Long recognised as a safe space for men to talk, barbershops provide an important locale for informal mental health support with the potential for building social connections and linking to formal public mental health systems. Given the emphasis placed on positive barber–client relationships in this context, it is vital that formal interventions should avoid potential pitfalls such as blurring professional boundaries and compromising confidentiality. Larger studies are now needed to elaborate how service innovations can effectively preserve the credibility and trust that are central to the barbershop experience for many males.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the participating barbers for their time and insights. Additional thanks are extended to Stefan Avanzato ( https://avanzatogroominglounge.com ) for his contribution to the initial conception of the study.

Author contributions

G.O. led the drafting of the manuscript and contributed to study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. C.B.-H., P.B. and M.K. contributed to drafting of the manuscript, study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. D.M. critically revised the manuscript, contributed to study conception and design, and supervised data analysis and interpretation.

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Supplementary material

Data availability, declaration of interest.

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Philippine Schools’ Haircut Policy: Effective? Argumentative Essay

The standard haircut policy for most schools and universities in the Philippines is 2 x 3 or better known as “barber’s cut”. To give you a clear picture, the hair is cut two inches shaved on the sides, and three inches shaved on the back. Some schools that implement such policy are Aquinas School, St. Andrew’s School, and Don Bosco Technical Institute. Like every other policy, haircut policy applies to a certain category of people; males only. By regularly having a haircut, the students keep in mind that they have something to accomplish at a certain time every month.

That is the disciple that the school administrators emphasize. In my opinion, the 2 x 3 haircut policy is not necessary for implementation in schools because it has no effect or contribution to a student’s learning. “The barber’s cut looks neat and clean, according to the administration of the schools that implement the policy. It makes the student look decent and respectable. Fine young men are how male students with such hair style are treated. It’s quite hygienic as well because the possibility of messing up the hair through over-styling is removed.

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It is also easy to groom this hair style, so it saves students time. ” In schools, where we are taught right Christian values, ironically is the same place where being judgmental is inevitable. Just because one has longer hair than the prescribed, it doesn’t make him any less of a person. One can also look neat and presentable by sporting a hairstyle without resorting to this “white side wall” cut. Take for instance the hairstyle of local celebrity, Robi Domingo. He managed to graduate with flying colors in Ateneo de Manila University!

Pardon my ignorance, but I cannot understand what is so time consuming with styling male’s hairstyle when you can only finger combed a shorter hair? Isn’t styling ladies long shoulder length hair, more tedious than male’s ear-line hairstyle? How come the policy only applies to male then? Everyone wants to look good. I certainly want to look good. But by sporting a barber’s cut, how can I? Other people aren’t comfortable with it either. Also, there are other ways to discipline students other than the implementation of this haircut policy. Perhaps an even stricter policy on cleanliness would be more accepted by everybody.

Additionally, either having hair cut short or growing it long won’t have any effect on a student’s learning in school. So, why do we need to abide by such rule? It’s everybody’s right to choose how he or she should look. Forcing a student to look different from how he would like to, has a considerable effect on his confidence and self-esteem, which can then affect his performance in school. Lack of self-esteem can cause depression, and depression hinders performance. It is a shallow reason to show unsatisfactory performance in school just because of the lack of self-esteem due to barber’s cut.

Schools should probably change it to a policy that gives them freedom regarding hair styles but mirrors the parameters of decency together with it. As long as the student looks decent and neat with the hair style he prefers, it should be allowed. Wouldn’t it be fairer if we have freedom on how we want to look? We have our own preferences on how we want to look. All of us want to appear the best we can, because it shows that you care for yourself. It’s a way to express who we are, and we shouldn’t be hindered from showing others our individuality.

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This plot shows the scaled mean values of pretax outcomes and prognostic covariates included in the synthetic control analysis of SSB volume purchased. Mean values are scaled to be between 0 and 100 on the basis of each variable’s maximum and minimum values found in the primary sample. Shaded dots correspond to the mean value for a treated city, and hollow dots correspond to its synthetic control. Other race and ethnicity, as determined by the 2010 US Census, included multiracial and Hispanic individuals.

This plot shows the percentage change in volume sold measured in ounces (orange squares) and the percentage change in shelf prices measured in US dollars (blue circles) for the augmented synthetic control with staggered adoption composite analysis. The plot shows the same information for the augmented synthetic control analyses of the 5 treated localities individually. Price elasticities of demand are provided, and 95% CIs and P values for each percentage change in price or volume are also provided.

A, This panel shows the percentage change in shelf prices (in US dollars) in response to implementing an excise SSB tax for the staggered adoption composite analysis. B, This panel shows the percentage change in volume sold (in oz). The blue line represents the composite treated unit, and the gray lines represent in-space placebo estimates from the donor pool, which comprise untaxed localities. Percentage changes are calculated for the average of the pretreatment means of each of the 5 treated localities. The light blue dotted line represents the start of the SSB tax. The composite effect size estimates and P values are provided in each panel.

This figure shows the percentage change in volume sold (in oz) from the staggered adoption composite analysis in immediately adjacent bordering 3-digit zip codes. These data were examined in response to implementing an excise SSB tax in the 5 treated zip codes. The dark blue line represents the composite adjacent border unit, and the gray lines represent in-space placebo estimates from the donor pool. Percentage changes are calculated for the average of the pretreatment means of each of the 12 adjacent border localities. The light blue dotted line represents the start of the SSB tax. The composite effect size estimates and P values are provided.

eMethods. Supplemental Methods

eTable 1. Total Coverage of SSB Ounces Sold in Matched Nielsen Retail Scanner Data

eTable 2. Total Population (2010) by City within Taxed 3-Digit Zip Codes

eTable 3. Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimation Results for Composite and Individual City Analyses

eFigure 1. Comparing Treated and Synthetic Values of Prognostic Factors from the Analysis of SSB Shelf Prices

eFigure 2. Overlap of US Census Sociodemographic Characteristics Between Each Taxed City and the Donor Pool of Control 3-Digit Zip Codes

eFigure 3. Composite and Individual Locality Price Pass-Through

eFigure 4. Composite and Individual Changes in Volume Sales in Adjacent Border Zip Codes

eFigure 5. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates for Individual Locality Changes in Price

eFigure 6. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates for Individual Locality Changes in Volume Sales

eFigure 7. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates of Individual Locality Changes in Volume Sales of SSB Products in Border Areas

eFigure 8. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates for Composite Changes in Price and Volume Sales of SSB Products (Population Weighted)

eFigure 9. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates of Composite Changes in Volume Sales of SSB Products in Border Areas (Population Weighted)

eFigure 10. Composite and Individual Locality Demand Elasticity Estimates (Urbanicity > 0.85)

eFigure 11. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates for Composite Changes in Price and Volume Sales of SSB Products (Urbanicity > 0.85)

eFigure 12. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates of Composite Changes in Volume Sales of SSB Products in Border Areas (Urbanicity > 0.85)

eFigure 13. Composite and Individual Locality Demand Elasticity Estimates (Urbanicity > 0.9)

eFigure 14. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates for Composite Changes in Price and Volume Sales of SSB Products (Urbanicity > 0.9)

eFigure 15. Augmented Synthetic Control Estimates of Composite Changes in Volume Sales of SSB Products in Border Areas (Urbanicity > 0.9)

eFigure 16. TWFE Estimates of Composite Changes in Prices, Volume Sales, and Border Volume Sales

eFigure 17. TWFE Estimates of Individual Locality Changes in Prices

eFigure 18. TWFE Estimates of Individual Locality Changes in Volume Sales

eFigure 19. TWFE Estimates of Individual Locality Changes in Volume Sales of SSB Products in Border Areas

Data Sharing Statement

• Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tied to Higher Prices, Fewer Purchases JAMA Medical News in Brief February 13, 2024 Emily Harris
• Error in Figure JAMA Health Forum Correction February 16, 2024

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Kaplan S , White JS , Madsen KA , Basu S , Villas-Boas SB , Schillinger D. Evaluation of Changes in Prices and Purchases Following Implementation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes Across the US. JAMA Health Forum. 2024;5(1):e234737. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.4737

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Evaluation of Changes in Prices and Purchases Following Implementation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes Across the US

• 1 Department of Economics, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
• 2 Department of Health Law, Policy & Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
• 3 School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
• 4 Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 5 Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley
• 6 Division of General Internal Medicine, Center for Vulnerable Populations, San Francisco General Hospital/University of California, San Francisco
• Medical News in Brief Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tied to Higher Prices, Fewer Purchases Emily Harris JAMA
• Correction Error in Figure JAMA Health Forum

Question   What changes occurred in sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) prices and purchase volume after SSB taxes were implemented in 5 large US cities?

Findings   In this cross-sectional study, SSB taxes in Boulder, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Oakland, California; San Francisco, California; and Seattle, Washington, were associated with a 33.1% composite increase in SSB prices (92% pass-through of taxes to consumers) and a 33% reduction in purchase volume, without increasing cross-border purchases. The results were sustained in the months following tax implementation.

Meaning   The results suggest substantial, consistent declines in SSB purchases across several US cities; insofar as reducing SSB consumption can improve population health, scaling SSB taxes more broadly should be considered.

Importance   Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes are promoted as key policies to reduce cardiometabolic diseases and other conditions, but comprehensive analyses of SSB taxes in the US have been difficult because of the absence of sufficiently large data samples and methods limitations.

Objective   To estimate changes in SSB prices and purchases following SSB taxes in 5 large US cities.

Design, Setting, and Participants   In this cross-sectional study with an augmented synthetic control analysis, changes in prices and purchases of SSBs were estimated following SSB tax implementation in Boulder, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Oakland, California; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California. Changes in SSB prices (in US dollars) and purchases (volume in ounces) in these cities in the 2 years following tax implementation were estimated and compared with control groups constructed from other cities. Changes in adjacent, untaxed areas were assessed to detect any increase in cross-border purchases. Data used for this analysis spanned from January 1, 2012, to February 29, 2020, and were analyzed between June 1, 2022, and September 29, 2023.

Main Outcomes and Measures   The main outcomes were the changes in SSB prices and volume purchased.

Results   Using nutritional information, 5500 unique universal product codes were classified as SSBs, according to tax designations. The sample included 26 338 stores—496 located in treated localities, 1340 in bordering localities, and 24 502 in the donor pool. Prices of SSBs increased by an average of 33.1% (95% CI, 14.0% to 52.2%; P  < .001) during the 2 years following tax implementation, corresponding to an average price increase of 1.3¢ per oz and a 92% tax pass-through rate from distributors to consumers. SSB purchases declined in total volume by an average of 33.0% (95% CI, −2.2% to −63.8%; P  = .04) following tax implementation, corresponding to a −1.00 price elasticity of demand. The observed price increase and corresponding volume decrease immediately followed tax implementation, and both outcomes were sustained in the months thereafter. No evidence of increased cross-border purchases following tax implementation was found.

Conclusions and Relevance   In this cross-sectional study, SSB taxes led to substantial, consistent declines in SSB purchases across 5 taxed cities following price increases associated with those taxes. Scaling SSB taxes nationally could yield substantial public health benefits.

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a major source of nonnutritional calories and are associated with serious adverse health outcomes, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, gum disease, caries, and others that contribute to morbidity and mortality. 1 , 2 Because of the associations between SSBs and these outcomes, excise taxes on SSBs have been proposed in the US and around the world. As of November 2022, 8 US jurisdictions and more than 50 countries have implemented some form of SSB tax. 3 Several systematic reviews and meta-analyses have examined the association of SSB excise taxes with both prices and consumption. 4 - 6 The most recent international review finds a pass-through rate from distributors to consumers of 82% (95% CI, 66%-98%), a mean reduction in SSB sales of 15% (95% CI, −20% to −9%), and an average demand elasticity of −1.59 (95% CI, −2.11 to −1.08). 7

Yet, nearly all US-based studies of SSB taxes analyzed 1 taxed city and compared it with a control city. To our knowledge, only 2 existing studies have evaluated joint estimates of SSB taxes across multiple taxed cities. 8 , 9 However, recent statistical advances suggest that these estimates likely suffer from bias associated with conventional 2-way fixed effects (TWFE) approaches that cannot account for time-varying confounders, which differ between experimental and control populations. 10 Unbiased estimation of a composite effect, which provides a pooled estimate of SSB taxes across multiple taxed cities, is critical for understanding the generalizability of SSB tax outcomes to different localities with heterogeneous characteristics; such an estimate is complementary to existing estimates from individual localities with SSB taxes in place. This estimate, though imperfect, also better informs the potential effectiveness of a nationwide tax, which was recommended by a recent federal commission on diabetes 11 and is especially relevant considering the beverage industry’s recent efforts to preempt localities from levying SSB taxes. 12

In this cross-sectional study with an augmented synthetic control (ASC) analysis, retail sales data from Boulder, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Oakland, California; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California, were used to estimate the composite effect of SSB taxes on SSB prices and volume purchased. We applied recent advances in statistical methods to estimate an ASC model with staggered adoption, which produces joint estimates from taxes in several treated cities, despite different timing of policy implementation. Unlike conventional TWFE approaches, an ASC model with staggered adoption addresses time-invariant and time-varying unobserved confounders that differ between taxed cities and their untaxed comparators. 10 , 13 , 14 We also estimated composite changes in cross-border shopping in untaxed adjacent areas to examine if consumers offset SSB purchases in bordering localities following SSB tax implementation.

This study followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology ( STROBE ) reporting guideline for cross-sectional studies. 15 Informed consent was waived because the data were deidentified. The research was determined not to meet the criteria for human participant research by the institutional review board at the University of California, San Francisco. The data used in this analysis spanned from January 1, 2012, to February 29, 2020, and were analyzed between June 1, 2022, and September 29, 2023.

Retail scanner data on SSB prices (in US dollars) and volume sold (in ounces) and a staggered adoption ASC approach were used to estimate the composite change in prices and purchases following the implementation of SSB taxes in Boulder, Philadelphia, Oakland, Seattle, and San Francisco. We also estimated composite changes in cross-border shopping using adjacent, untaxed areas.

The primary data set was the Nielsen Corporation’s retail scanner data. It consisted of product-week-store observations from selected chain stores in nearly all 3-digit zip codes across the US (871) over the study period from January 1, 2012, to February 29, 2020. The data included total units sold and the average sale price per unit for each observation. Beverage products from this data set were supplemented with nutritional and general product information from Label Insight (Nielsen Consumer LLC) 16 and hand-coded nutritional information. This enabled the classification of individual beverage products as SSBs or not, on the basis of tax regulations across the 5 cities. Artificially sweetened beverages were not included in the analysis, despite coverage in Philadelphia’s SSB tax. The eMethods in Supplement 1 contain additional details on product selection and tax status classification procedures.

The Table provides a summary of information about the study’s localities. There were 5 taxed 3-digit zip codes examined: 803 (Boulder), 191 (Philadelphia), 946 (Oakland), 981 (Seattle), and 941 (San Francisco). Each of these 3-digit zip codes formed the full set of taxed jurisdictions. The California cities Berkeley and Albany (947) were not included because they were taxed at different times and could not be separately identified from one another (see Limitations). Localities with sales taxes, which include the District of Columbia and Navajo Nation, were omitted because they tend to be smaller in magnitude and less likely to change purchasing behavior. Among the 5 treated localities in this cross-sectional study, the 3 dates in which SSB taxes were implemented varied by city—in Philadelphia, the SSB tax was implemented January 1, 2017; in Boulder and Oakland, July 1, 2017; and in San Francisco and Seattle, January 1, 2018. Tax amounts ranged from 1¢ per oz to 2¢ per oz. Cross-border purchasing was examined in all immediately adjacent 3-digit zip codes, of which there were 13 ( Table ). These areas did not contain any taxed jurisdictions.

Two primary outcome measures were examined, including the monthly change in total number of ounces of SSB products sold in treated localities compared with the synthetic control localities following tax implementation. Total ounces of SSB products sold was the outcome used in the cross-border shopping analysis.

This cross-sectional study used an ASC approach. 17 The original synthetic control method uses a data-driven approach to construct a synthetic control unit as a weighted average of all potential control units that best match the treated unit on both the pretreatment outcome and prognostic factors. 18 The ASC approach extends this method by (1) allowing for multiple treated units experiencing treatment at different times and (2) providing a robust correction procedure when the synthetic unit’s pretreatment outcomes do not closely match those of the treated units. Using a donor pool of untaxed, nonbordering 3-digit zip codes, a synthetic treated unit was constructed for each of the 5 treated cities using pretax SSB prices and purchases, as well as a set of time-invariant characteristics from the 2010 Decennial Census and 2016 American Community Survey. 19 , 20 Data were analyzed using R statistical software, version 4.3.2 (R Project for Statistical Computing).

The primary ASC analyses were estimated at the 3-digit zip code–by-month level. We used the weighted average shelf price of SSBs and aggregated the total ounces purchased of SSBs at this unit of observation. Then, separate estimations assessed the composite posttax implementation change in shelf prices and volume sold in treated localities compared with a synthetic locality for each. Each individual city was given equal weight in calculating the composite outcome. The percentage change in shelf prices and volume sold was computed using pretax average shelf prices and volume sold in the treated localities.

Adhering to the approach in the study by Abadie, 21 the donor pool was limited to units with similar characteristics, namely jurisdictions within 1 SD (0.35) of the mean urbanicity level of the 5 treated localities (0.98), following the US Census definition of urban vs rural. A total of 284 three-digit zip codes remained, including the 5 treated localities, but omitting the 13 border localities. Sociodemographic and geographic characteristics used in constructing the synthetic units are shown in Figure 1 and described in the second section of the eMethods in Supplement 1 . These characteristics were chosen on the basis of previous research examining SSB taxes. 22 - 25

To determine the statistical significance of the ASC average treatment effects, which are calculated as the average posttax percentage changes in SSB prices and purchases for treated units relative to that of the synthetic control units, placebo estimates were generated for each donor unit one by one, as if each of those units had been treated. 18 Because treated localities implemented taxes at different times, this procedure was repeated for each treated locality, generating 279 × 5 = 1395 placebo estimates. To generate P values, the ratio of mean squared prediction error in the posttax vs pretax period was computed for the composite unit estimate and each placebo estimate, which were then ranked from largest to smallest. 26 The P value was calculated as the ratio of the composite unit ranking to the total number of units (1396) and indicated statistical significance when P  < .05. More details are provided in the eMethods in Supplement 1 .

To fully quantify the changes following SSB taxes in treated cities, we also explored whether purchasing behavior changed in adjacent 3-digit border zip codes. The same ASC procedure was implemented, except all adjacent border localities were considered treated, and taxed cities were excluded. Because border localities tended to be semiurban or suburban, the subsample of donor pool units was modified to those featuring an urbanicity level within 1 SD (0.35) of the mean urbanicity of the 13 border localities (0.75). A total of 369 three-digit zip codes remained, including the 13 border localities. This analysis used the same Census characteristics and P value calculation approach.

To assess sensitivity, 2 different urbanicity cutoffs were used to determine the donor pool subsample. Both an urbanicity level of 0.9 and 0.85 were used, reducing the donor pool of 3-digit zip codes to 204 and 226, respectively.

The main analytic sample included 28 512 three-digit zip code–by-month observations from 297 three-digit zip codes across 98 months. Using nutritional information from the supplementary hand-coded and Label Insight data, 5500 unique universal product codes (UPCs) were confirmed as SSBs according to the tax designations. The sample included 26 338 stores—496 located in treated localities, 1340 in bordering localities, and 24 502 in the donor pool. The Table provides summary information for each group of localities.

Figure 1 compares each treated unit with its corresponding synthetic unit, focusing on pretax mean SSB volume in ounces and the 12 sociodemographic and geographic covariates. (In Supplement 1 , eFigure 1 displays the price analysis comparisons.) Variables were scaled to be between 0 and 100, so that the units of measure were comparable. In most instances, these values were highly similar (within 5 index points), and no comparisons differed by more than 14 index points. In Supplement 1 , eFigure 2 displays sample distributions of each Census characteristic.

In the composite treated locality, shelf prices of SSB products increased by an average of 33.1% (95% CI, 14.0%-52.2%; P  < .001) in the 2 years following tax implementation, relative to the average percentage change in the composite synthetic locality. This corresponded to an average price increase of 1.3¢ per oz ( Figure 2 ) and a 92% price pass-through rate (eFigure 3 in Supplement 1 ). The volume of SSBs purchased declined by an average of 33.0% (95% CI, −2.2% to −63.8%; P  = .04) during the same time frame, relative to the average percentage change in the composite synthetic locality. This corresponded to an average monthly change of 18 534 oz/store-month ( Figure 2 ). Together, these estimates yielded a −1.00 price elasticity of demand, suggesting SSB purchasing behavior was responsive to changes in shelf prices ( Figure 2 ). Figure 2 also shows changes in shelf prices and volume purchased for the 5 taxed localities individually. The demand elasticity estimates were relatively consistent across taxed localities, ranging from −0.80 (Philadelphia) to −1.37 (Seattle). Shelf price changes for individual cities were significant at the 10% level, yet null changes in volume purchased could not be rejected for each city at the 10% level.

Figure 3 A shows time-varying ASC results for SSB shelf prices, and Figure 3 B shows this information for volume sales. The blue line indicates the difference between the composite treated unit and synthetic unit, and the gray lines represent each placebo estimate. In both analyses, a close fit between the composite treated unit and synthetic unit was found in the pretax period. There was a steep, immediate increase in shelf prices and decrease in volume sales following tax implementation, which was sustained in the months thereafter.

Each city in the composite analysis was equally weighted. The procedure and context through which each city introduced an SSB tax varies, and the findings are intended for policymakers considering tax implementation in specific geographies. The population-weighted composite estimates are similar (eFigures 8 and 9 in Supplement 1 ).

The analyses for different urbanicity cutoffs generated similar results (eFigures 10 and 13 in Supplement 1 ). In Supplement 1 , eFigures 5 and 6 show the individual city ASC analyses.

Figure 4 shows the time-varying ASC results for cross-border SSB volume sales. There was no statistically significant mean change in cross-border purchases of SSBs following tax implementation (−2.4%; 95% CI, −12.8% to 8.1%; P  = .67), which remained stable in the years following the tax. No significant change in cross-border SSB volume purchases was observed in each taxed city (eFigure 4 in Supplement 1 ). Estimates for different urbanicity cutoffs provided similar findings (eFigures 12 and 15 in Supplement 1 ). In Supplement 1 , eFigure 7 displays the time-varying cross-border analyses for each taxed city.

In this cross-sectional study with an ASC analysis, SSB excise taxes were associated with large, consistent declines in SSB purchases across 5 US taxed cities following tax-driven price changes. Quasi-experimental methods were used to estimate the overall changes following SSB taxes implemented at different times and locations relative to a synthetic control of untaxed areas. The results show shelf prices of SSB products increased by an average of 33.1% (1.3¢ per oz) in the years following SSB tax implementation, corresponding to a 92% price pass-through rate from distributors to consumers. Volume sales fell by 33.0% during the same time frame, without evidence of changes in cross-border shopping in untaxed adjacent areas.

Although the estimates generally support previous estimates from single-city studies, these results help answer the critical question of how much variation across taxed localities is due to the unique characteristics of a locality vs the generalizable outcomes of a tax. Compared with a recent international meta-analysis of SSB taxes, the results suggest a slightly higher pass-through rate, a substantially larger reduction in volume purchased, and moderately less demand responsiveness to price changes. 6 These modest discrepancies may reflect differences in geographic areas of comparators, store sample composition, and greater accounting of unmeasured confounders in this analysis than in previous studies. Additionally, conflicting findings have been found regarding cross-border purchasing following SSB taxes, with some studies pointing to significant increases and others finding no changes. 27 - 30 The results provided no evidence of changes in cross-border purchasing.

To further contextualize the findings, we estimated a TWFE event-study model, detailed in the third section of the eMethods in Supplement 1 . This model has been the primary approach taken in previous SSB tax evaluation studies. In Supplement 1 , eTable 3 shows the point estimates are generally comparable with the ASC estimates, although some moderate differences exist. Inspection of the prepolicy coefficients in the event-study plots suggests that these estimates have varying degrees of bias associated with imperfect pretrends (eFigures 16-19 in Supplement 1 ). 31 , 32 The TWFE estimates are much more precisely estimated than the ASC estimates, in part because the TWFE CIs may be overly narrow. 33 - 35 Nevertheless, this trade-off highlights this study’s focus on generating unbiased estimates at the partial expense of precision.

It is important to interpret these estimates in the context of projected health benefits. Several studies have found that a 15% to 20% increase in price/decrease in consumption generates significant health benefits, including reductions in myocardial infarction events, ischemic heart disease, coronary heart events, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. 36 - 38 This study estimated a 33.1% increase in price and a corresponding 33.0% decrease in volume, suggesting health benefits at least as substantial as those found previously.

Additionally, studies have suggested that SSB taxes are highly cost-effective. 22 , 37 , 39 Wang et al 37 found a nationwide tax could have avoided $17 billion in medical costs between 2010 and 2020. Lee et al 39 found approximately $53 billion in cost savings throughout an average individual lifetime. More recently, White et al 22 found that a 27% reduction in consumption in Oakland is expected to accrue more than $100 000 per 10 000 residents in societal cost savings during a 10-year period. This study’s findings suggest SSB taxation would likely generate significant improvements in population health and substantial cost savings.

First, the retail scanner data identify purchasing behavior and not direct consumption. It is possible, though unlikely, that taxed populations consumed a different share of purchased SSBs than did untaxed control populations (eg, producing more waste). Second, the data were geocoded by 3-digit zip code. This prevented Berkeley and Albany (3-digit zip code 947) from being included because they could not be separately identified and were taxed at different times. The 3-digit zip codes for included taxed cities contained a small number of untaxed jurisdictions, accounting for less than 7% of the total population of these areas (eTable 2 in Supplement 1 ). However, this misclassification should only lead to an underestimate of the changes following tax implementation.

We also lacked nutritional information for certain beverage UPCs. Of the UPCs of SSBs in the scanner data, we successfully matched 84.0% of sales volume in ounces using Label Insight and hand-coded data featuring nutritional information. To the extent that the set of unmatched UPCs was similar across taxed and untaxed jurisdictions, the findings should be unaffected. Additionally, the scanner data contained only a subsample of all stores in each zip code; thus, the data did not include all volume sales. Using SSB tax revenues to estimate total volume sales in treated localities, coverage from this set of products was 12.7% (eTable 1 in Supplement 1 ). The coverage estimates were similar but slightly lower than recent SSB tax evaluations using Nielsen data. 29 , 40 Lower coverage in Philadelphia was partially due to the exclusion of artificially sweetened beverages from this analysis. Coverage could not be calculated in donor zip codes because there were no SSB taxes in place. However, the ASC estimation generated a reliable counterfactual group from the existing sample of donor zip codes, which should mitigate any unintended bias caused by unequal SSB coverage across treatment and control localities.

Next, although the ASC estimates for each individual city in the volume analysis ( Figure 2 ; eFigure 6 in Supplement 1 ) were similar to those in prior studies, 7 they were relatively imprecise, and a null effect could not be rejected at the 5% level. Furthermore, although the composite estimates for the volume analysis were much more precise, reductions in purchases as small as 2% or as large as 64% could not be ruled out at a 95% CI level. While synthetic control methods deliver less biased estimates than difference-in-differences approaches, they also generate less statistical power. 41 However, difference-in-differences studies involving a small number of treated units may underestimate the true variance of effect estimates. 33 - 35 As more localities introduce SSB taxes, synthetic control methods with staggered adoption will have greater precision.

In addition, only posted shelf prices were observed in the scanner data, which may lead to underestimates of pass-through rates. While excise taxes are generally reflected in shelf prices, certain retailers may have only included the tax once products were scanned at the register. 42 Moreover, the scanner data were primarily composed of information from large chain stores. Thus, these results may not extend to independent stores, although similar estimates have been found in those settings. 43 Finally, the 5 treated localities studied here, while geographically distinct and racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse, were not fully representative of the US population. Therefore, the findings may not be fully generalizable on a national scale, a limitation most relevant to less urban populations.

In this cross-sectional study with an ASC analysis, SSB taxes in Boulder, Philadelphia, Oakland, San Francisco, and Seattle were associated with 33.1% composite increases in SSB prices (92% pass-through rate) and 33.0% reductions in SSB purchases, with no offset through cross-border purchases of SSBs. The changes in prices and purchases remained stable in the years following tax implementation. The findings have important implications for the potential efficacy of SSB taxes across larger geographic jurisdictions and at the national level. Scaling SSB excise taxes across the US would likely generate significant population health benefits and medical cost savings.

Accepted for Publication: October 26, 2023.

Published: January 5, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.4737

Correction: This article was corrected on February 16, 2024, to fix the upper 95% CI value in Figure 3A from 52.5% to 52.2%.

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License . © 2024 Kaplan S et al. JAMA Health Forum .

Corresponding Author: Scott Kaplan, PhD, Department of Economics, US Naval Academy, 106 and 107 Maryland Ave, Annapolis, MD 21402 ( [email protected] ).

Author Contributions: Prof Kaplan had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Drs Basu and Villas-Boas contributed equally to this work.

Concept and design: All authors.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Kaplan, White, Madsen, Schillinger.

Drafting of the manuscript: Kaplan, White, Schillinger.

Critical review of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.

Statistical analysis: Kaplan, White.

Obtained funding: Schillinger.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Kaplan, Madsen, Schillinger.

Supervision: Kaplan, White, Basu, Villas-Boas, Schillinger.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Basu reported grants from the National Institutes of Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; personal fees from the University of California, San Francisco; Collective Health; Waymark; and HealthRIGHT 360 outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Funding/Support: This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK116852 and 2P30 DK092924), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (U18DP006526).

Role of the Funder: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Disclaimer: All estimates and analyses in this article are by the authors and not by the Nielsen Corporation. Researchers’ analyses were calculated (or derived) based in part on data from Nielsen Consumer LLC and marketing databases provided through the NielsenIQ data sets at the Kilts Marketing Data Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The conclusions drawn from the NielsenIQ data are those of the researchers and do not reflect the views of NielsenIQ. NielsenIQ is not responsible for, had no role in, and was not involved in analyzing and preparing the results reported herein.

Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 2 .

Additional Contributions: We thank University of California, Berkeley undergraduate students Youssef Andrawis, Ryan Andresen, Anqi Chen, Matthew Chill, Maggie Deng, Amanda Gold, Drake Hayes, Nan Hou, Liam Howell, Hongxian Huang, Zixia Huang, Jason Liu, Julie Maeng, Michael Quiroz, Emaan Saddique, Caroline Wu, Yuemin Xu, April You, Haolin Zhang, and Yihui Zhu for assistance with entering and cleaning the nutritional data and beverage classification.

The University of Chicago The Law School

Whose judicial data is it, anyway, in his latest research project, aziz huq focuses on making public data from courts more accessible.

Editor’s Note: This story is the first in an occasional series on research projects currently in the works at the Law School.

Every court case and judicial proceeding generates an enormous amount of data, some of which is either non-public or difficult to access.

What to do with that data is a question that Aziz Z. Huq, the Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor at the Law School has been pondering lately. Huq is coauthoring a paper with Northwestern Law School Professor (and former Chicago Law School Public Fellow) Zachary D. Clopton that they hope will begin a thoughtful discussion of who should control this judicial data and who should have access to it.

If currently hidden data were made accessible and affordable, Huq explains, attorneys and researchers could use it to help find answers to a wide range of constitutional and public policy questions. For example:

• W hen is the provision of legal counsel effective, unnecessary, or sorely needed?
• When and where is litigation arising and what are the barriers to court access?
• Are judges consistent when they determine in forma pauperis status?
• Do judges ’ sentencing decisions reflect defendants ’ observed race, ethnicity, or gender?
• Are any state and local governments infringing on civil rights though their policing or municipal court systems?

According to Huq and Clopton, judicial data could be used to help clarify the law in ways that advance legality and judicial access, reveal shortfalls in judicial practice, and enable the provision of cheaper and better access to justice.

That potential has increased dramatically with the advent of AI and large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT.

“I had been writing about public law and technology, especially AI, for about five years. I became curious recently about why, of all the branches of government, only courts have been left largely to their own devices when it comes to collecting, archiving, and releasing information about its work,” said Huq.

While the legislative and executive branches have an extensive body of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions channeling Congress and executive branch information—and countless public debates about transparency and opacity in and around both elected branches—the federal judiciary still relies on ad hoc procedures to determine what data to collect, preserve, and make available.

As a result, Huq and Clopton believe that “a lot of valuable data is either lost or stored in a way that makes it hard to use for the public good.”

Meanwhile, the authors note that large commercial firms such as Westlaw (owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation), Lexis (owned by the RELX Group), and Bloomberg are moving to become the de facto data managers and gatekeepers who decide on the public flow of this information and who capture much of its value.

“At minimum, these developments should be the subject of more public discussion and scholarly debate,” said Huq. “Until now, however, one of the biggest obstacles to having that discussion is a lack of information about what data is at stake. It became apparent that we didn’t know why we knew what we knew, and we didn’t know what we didn’t know.”

The Scope of the Data

There were no studies about the full scope and depth of judicial data currently being preserved by the various courts’ disparate procedures—and no certainty about what other data could be preserved if there was a concerted effort to do so.

To fill that gap, Huq and Clopton drew on primary sources and previous scholarship, and then supplement ed that research with anonymized interviews with selected judicial staff and judges.

They quickly discovered that, with no regulatory framework to guide them, institutional practices varied widely among federal courts. Different courts save different types of data, organize it differently, and make different types available to the public.

Even significant judicial data that has been collected is often kept just out of reach. For example, the cover sheets that are filed in every civil case contain a treasure trove of useful information, such as the court’s basis of jurisdiction, the type of relief sought, and the nature of the suit .

“A comprehensive database of civil cover sheets,” the authors write, “would be an extremely valuable source of insight into the timing, cyclicality, substance, and distribution of civil litigation in federal courts.”

Defective Delivery of Data

While federal courts make some data available via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) database, that archive is neither comprehensive nor easy to use, and with a 10 cents per page public access fee, expensive, especially for large research projects. Moreover, its search capabilities are limited; PACER does not allow the user to search by judge and does not permit full-text or natural-language searches.

The Federal Judicial Center ’ s Integrated Database suffers from similar defects, as do the courts’ various statistical reports.

Huq and Clopton’s paper demonstrates how these database design choices — kludgy interfaces, limited search options, requiring downloads to proceed page-by-page and at a fee — have the effect of partly privatizing this info by driving the public to commercial firms, who then get to decide what data they want to make available and at what price.

Data Should Be Open, Not Opaque

In the authors’ view, openness and transparency are critical ingredients for making an institution that all Americans would recognize as a true “court.”

“To be clear,” Huq said, “we are not saying the courts must disclose everything. We recognize that there are privacy and other interests at stake and there needs to be some balance and debate around them. But we do believe there are some things we could all agree that the courts could be required to do now. So, our article focuses on that low-hanging fruit and seeks to provoke a conversation rather than partisanship.”

Huq and Clopton’s article will be published this summer by the Stanford Law Review .

Charles Williams is a freelance writer based in South Bend, Indiana.

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A 2022 Supreme Court opinion.

Supported by

The Gun Lobby’s Hidden Hand in the 2nd Amendment Battle

In the battle to dismantle gun restrictions, raging in America’s courts even as mass shootings become commonplace, one name keeps turning up in the legal briefs and judges’ rulings: William English, Ph.D.

A little-known political economist at Georgetown University, Dr. English conducted a largest-of-its-kind national survey that found gun owners frequently used their weapons for self-defense. That finding has been deployed by gun rights activists to notch legal victories with far-reaching consequences.

He has been cited in a landmark Supreme Court case that invalidated many restrictions on guns, and in scores of lawsuits around the country to overturn limits on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and the carrying of firearms. His findings were also offered in another Supreme Court case this term, with a decision expected this month.

Dr. English seems at first glance to be an impartial researcher interested in data-driven insights. He has said his “scholarly arc” focuses on good public policy, and his lack of apparent ties to the gun lobby has lent credibility to his work.

But Dr. English’s interest in firearms is more than academic: He has received tens of thousands of dollars as a paid expert for gun rights advocates, and his survey work, which he says was part of a book project, originated as research for a National Rifle Association-backed lawsuit, The New York Times has found.

He has also increasingly drawn scrutiny in some courts over the reliability and integrity of his unpublished survey, which is the core of his research, and his refusal to disclose who paid for it. Other researchers say that the wording of some questions could elicit answers overstating defensive gun use, and that he cherry-picked pro-gun responses.

The Bruen decision in 2022 upended Second Amendment law by sweeping away any modern-day gun restrictions that could not be tied to a historical antecedent. The ruling led to a surge in firearms cases — to an annual average of 680 today compared with 122 in the decade before. Pro-gun rulings have also risen: The 74 issued last year make up a quarter of all such rulings since 2000, according to researchers at the University of Southern California. Courts have struck down restrictions on high-capacity magazines in Oregon, handgun purchases in Maryland and assault weapons in California.

Dr. English’s brief in the Bruen case.

Here’s an example of that missing context.

The paper quotes a survey question, omitting the setup to it, which is highlighted below in blue.

Many policymakers recognize that a large number of people participate in shooting sports but question how often guns are used for self-defense. Have you ever defended yourself or your property with a firearm, even if it was not fired or displayed? Please do not include military service, police work, or work as a security guard.

Other questions followed the same pattern of omission. This one, about AR-15-style rifles, included text before and after the question in the version respondents saw, but not in the paper.

Some have argued that few gun owners actually want or use guns that are commonly classified as ‘assault weapons.’ Have you ever owned an AR-15 or similarly styled rifle? You can include any rifles of this style that have been modified or moved to be compliant with local law. Answering this will help us establish how popular these types of firearms are.

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In the media: "Watts happening to work? The labour market effects of loadshedding"

Expanded access to electricity has been a boon to development in many low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa, but erratic supply has proved a major constraint to economic growth. Now, in the first study on the effects of load-shedding on employment, Tim Köhler and Prof. Haroon Bhorat of the DPRU find that prolonged and regular power outages are significantly and negatively associated with job retention, working hours, and earnings.

Their recently published research paper “ Watts happening to work? The labour market effects of loadshedding ” considers the labour market effects of ongoing power outages (loadshedding) in South Africa.

The research has also been disseminated via 3 blog/OpEd articles, published by:

• The Conversation on 29th May: https://theconversation.com/power-cuts-have-hit-south-africas-labour-market-hard-the-biggest-toll-has-been-on-jobs-new-research-230793
• SA-TIED in May: https://sa-tied.wider.unu.edu/article/watts-happening-to-work-the-labour-market-effects-of-south-africas-electricity-crisis-0
• Econ3X3 on 24th June: https://www.econ3x3.org/article/watts-happening-work-labour-market-effects-loadshedding

UCT also published a press release on the 30th May, titled: High levels of loadshedding are costly for SA’s labour market – report finds

Press/media clippings include:

• How power cuts have affected employment , BusinessLive -  3 June 2024
• How load shedding killed jobs and salaries in South Africa , BusinessTech -  2 June 2024
• Power cuts have hit SAs labour market hard… , Moneyweb -  2 June 2024
• Power cuts have hit South Africa’s labour market hard: the biggest toll has been on jobs — new research, TimesLive -  30 May 2024

As well as two radio interviews/podcasts :

• 4 June 2024: Hot Business: Expert: Impact of loadshedding on jobs
• 5 June 2024: " The Impact of Load Shedding on Labour Market Outcomes "; episode of  “The Economics Minute” podcast; 7 May 2024.

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Evidence vs. Hyperbole: The Relationship between Election Laws and the Health of Democracy

There is extraordinary variation in the laws that govern how citizens vote in US elections. In most areas of election policy, states are given wide latitude around districts, procedures, requirements, and ballot counting. This paper summarizes recent trends in voting policies and the authors’ research on the effects of voting laws on partisan election outcomes.

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Justin Grimmer is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Morris M. Doyle Centennial Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University. His research develops and applies new statistical methods to study political representation. He is the author, most recently, of Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences .

Eitan Hersh is a professor of political science at Tufts University. His research focuses on US elections and civic participation. He is the author of Politics Is for Power and Hacking the Electorate . He regularly testifies in voting rights court cases.

View the discussion thread.

Join the Hoover Institution’s community of supporters in ideas advancing freedom.

Is Software Eating the World?

When explaining the declining labor income share in advanced economies, the macro literature finds that the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor is greater than one. However, the vast majority of micro-level estimates shows that capital and labor are complements (elasticity less than one). Using firm- and establishment-level data from Korea, we divide capital into equipment and software, as they may interact with labor in different ways. Our estimation shows that equipment and labor are complements (elasticity 0.6), consistent with other micro-level estimates, but software and labor are substitutes (1.6), a novel finding that helps reconcile the macro vs. micro-literature elasticity discord. As the quality of software improves, labor shares fall within firms because of factor substitution and endogenously rising markups. In addition, production reallocates toward firms that use software more intensively, as they become effectively more productive. Because in the data these firms have higher markups and lower labor shares, the reallocation further raises the aggregate markup and reduces the aggregate labor share. The rise of software accounts for two-thirds of the labor share decline in Korea between 1990 and 2018. The factor substitution and the markup channels are equally important. On the other hand, the falling equipment price plays a minor role, because the factor substitution and the markup channels offset each other.

We thank Salome Baslandze, Andrea Eisfeldt, Bart Hobijn, Matthias Kehrig, Joseba Martinez, and Ezra Oberfield for helpful comments, and Sungjoong Kim and Hyunjung Joo for their assistance at the Regional Data Center of Statistics Korea. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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