Research & Publications

Abstract The eBook editions of this book are available as open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Abstract The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) promises to deliver $270 billion in tax incentives starting in 2023, expanding on the existing $18 billion in federal income tax credits for clean energy investments. Despite the continued investment in clean energy tax credits, not all communities have historically benefited equally from these programs. This work investigates the presence of disparities in the residential energy tax credit (RETC) program, which was recently expanded under the IRA. We use quantile regression models to explore disparities in the participation in and average value received from the RETCs across demographics. Because tax credit programs result in second-tier benefits such as job creation, we compare the relationship between RETC participation and the presence of clean jobs across demographics. We find that rural communities, renter-occupied communities, and communities of color are disproportionately participating less in the RETC. However, we observe that when renter-occupied or communities of color do participate, they see higher average value comparatively as well as more clean jobs associated per tax return with the RETC. While disparities across demographic groups persist in participation in the RETC, these findings suggest that renter-occupied or communities of color see more benefits when they do participate.

Abstract <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>This paper uses exogenous variation in sleep induced by sunset time to present the first human capital estimates of (i) the effects of child sleep from the developing world and (ii) the long-run effects of child sleep in any context. Later sunset reduces children’s sleep: when the sun sets later, children go to bed later but fail to compensate by waking up later. Sleep-deprived children study less and increase nap time and indoor leisure activities. Short-run sleep loss decreases children’s test scores. Chronic sleep deficits translate into fewer years of education and lower primary and middle school completion rates among school-age children.</jats:p>

Abstract Giving birth during adolescence is linked to a variety of negative outcomes, including poor health and well-being. Girls who have been displaced by conflict are at increased risk for becoming young mothers. While prevalence rates and health outcomes have been documented, rarely have the complex personal narratives of early motherhood been examined from the perspectives of mothers themselves, particularly in the Global South. This study relies on in-depth, inductive, narrative analysis of qualitative interviews with 67 young mothers and 10 relatives in South Sudan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) who had been displaced by conflict. This study provides deep insights into the contributing circumstances and consequences of young motherhood from sexual and reproductive health and well-being perspectives, with additional insights on mothering in humanitarian crisis.