Ben Sprung-Keyser

Looking for a predoc position? I’m hiring!

Come work with me at Wharton. You will work on a variety of topics related to upward mobility, migration, and the effectiveness of government policy.

Apply by Feb 21: wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recrui...

A Welfare Analysis of Tax Audits Across the Income Distribution* Abstract. We estimate the returns to IRS audits of taxpayers across the income distribution. We find an additional $1 spent auditing taxpayers above the 90

#QJE Feb 2025, #2, “A Welfare Analysis of Tax Audits Across the Income Distribution,” by Boning, Hendren, Sprung-Keyser (@bsprungkeyser.bsky.social), and Stuart: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

Excited for Fri's
#ASSA2025 8am New Frontiers in Environmental Economics!

🌐 www.aeaweb.org/conference/2...
🗺️ Room: Parc 55, Cyril Magnin 2
🔥 Trade, food, land, clean energy, bunching, air poll., MVPF, etc

w @bsprungkeyser.bsky.social @wolframschlenker.bsky.social @mattkahn1966.bsky.social et al

“We find an additional $1 spent auditing taxpayers above the 90th income percentile yields more than $12 in revenue, while audits of below-median income taxpayers yield $5.”

Insightful and important analysis of the returns and costs of tax audits across the income distribution by Boning, Hendren, and Sprung-Keyser (@bsprungkeyser.bsky.social) now in the QJE (@qjeharvard.bsky.social)

A Welfare Analysis of Tax Audits Across the Income Distribution Abstract. We estimate the returns to IRS audits of taxpayers across the income distribution. We find an additional ${\$}$1 spent auditing taxpayers above t

Recently accepted by #QJE, “A Welfare Analysis of Tax Audits Across the Income Distribution,” by Boning, Hendren, Sprung-Keyser (@bsprungkeyser.bsky.social), and Stuart: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

Opinion | Kamala Harris Has Proposed an ‘Opportunity Economy.’ This Is How to Make It a Reality. What we can learn from the science of economic opportunity.

Great NYT op-ed from Raj Chetty today about the opportunity economy, citing awesome research from my colleague @bsprungkeyser.bsky.social (ungated link) www.nytimes.com/2024/09/20/o...

Also be sure to check out these papers on the long-run effects of Medicaid

Brown, Kowalski, and Lurie 2020: academic.oup.com/restud/artic...

Goodman-Bacon 2021: www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Miller and Wherry 2018 jhr.uwpress.org/content/earl...

Wherry et al 2018 direct.mit.edu/rest/article...

The Policy Impacts Library This library provides a standardized database of MVPF estimates derived from rigorous empirical research. The details page for each policy provides an in-dept

For more on the welfare consequences of these policies, be sure to check out the Policy Impacts Library:

policyimpacts.org/policy-impac...

Our work, drawing upon estimates from Laura Wherry, Sarah Miller, Andrew Goodman-Bacon, and many others, suggests the long-term savings from these types of policies can offset much or all of their upfront costs. On average, $1 spent on medicaid for children saved $1.78 (cc: Nathan Hendren)

Awesome to see the CBO acknowledge the long-term impact of policy on both human capital development and government savings. This aligns with our findings at
@policyimpacts.bsky.social

www.cbo.gov/publication/...