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Following an influential article by Friedberg (1998) on the response of divorce rates to the adoption of unilateral divorce laws,Wolfers (2006) explored the sensitivity of Friedberg's results to allowing for dynamic response. We in turn explore the sensitivity ofWolfers's results to variations in estimation method and functional form, and we find that the results are extremely fragile. We conclude first that the impact of unilateral divorce laws remains unclear. Second, we make the methodological point that identification in differences-in-differences research becomes weaker in the presence of dynamics, especially in the presence of unit-specific time trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of recent U.S. trends in intergenerational income mobility have produced widely varying results, partly because of large sampling errors. By making more efficient use of the available information in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we generate more reliable estimates of the recent time series variation in intergenerational mobility. Our results, which pertain to the cohorts born between 1952 and 1975, do not reveal major changes in intergenerational mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the release of health plan performance ratings influence employee health plan choice? A natural experiment at General Motors (GM) Corporation provides valuable evidence on this question. During the 1997 open enrollment period, GM disseminated a health plan report card for the first time. By comparing 1996 and 1997 enrollment patterns, our analysis estimates the impact of the report card information while accounting for fixed, unobserved plan traits. Results indicate that employees are less likely to enroll in plans requiring relatively high out-of-pocket contributions. Results with respect to report card ratings suggest that individuals avoid health plans with many below average ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]