Urban Institute

About: Urban Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicaid & Population. The organization has 927 authors who have published 2330 publications receiving 86426 citations.

Insurance and Behavioral Economics: Improving Decisions in the Most Misunderstood Industry

Abstract: This book examines the behavior of individuals at risk and insurance industry decision makers involved in selling, buying and regulation. It compares their actions to those predicted by benchmark models of choice derived from classical economic theory. Where actual choices stray from predictions, the behavior is considered to be anomalous. Howard C. Kunreuther, Mark Pauly and Stacey McMorrow attempt to understand why these anomalies occur, in many cases using insights from behavioral economics. The authors then consider if and how such behavioral anomalies could be modified to improve individual and social welfare. This book describes situations in which both public policy and the insurance industry's collective posture need to change. This may require incentives, rules and institutions to help reduce both inefficient and anomalous behavior, thereby encouraging behavior that will improve individual and social welfare.

Patchwork Policies: State Assistance for Immigrants under Welfare Reform

Abstract: Despite significant federal benefit restorations and considerable assistance provided by states, the social safety net for immigrants remains weaker than before welfare reform. Although many states stepped in to help immigrants, few fully replaced lost federal benefits and state variation in available safety net services has increased. This report, based on a survey of state officials in all 50 states, found that most states that created substitute programs placed conditions on program eligibility rendering many immigrants ineligible, often targeted only specific groups of immigrants, or provided lower benefits than the federal programs which they replaced. The paper ranks states according to the availability of their safety net to immigrants.

Food security during infancy: implications for attachment and mental proficiency in toddlerhood.

Abstract: Objective This study examined the associations between household food security (access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food) during infancy and attachment and mental proficiency in toddlerhood. Methods Data from a longitudinal nationally representative sample of infants and toddlers (n = 8944) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—9-month (2001-2002) and 24-month (2003-2004) surveys were used. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect associations between food insecurity at 9 months, and attachment and mental profi- ciency at 24 months. Results Food insecurity worked indirectly through depression and parenting practices to influence security of attachment and mental proficiency in toddlerhood. Conclusions Social policies that address the adequacy and predictability of food supplies in families with infants have the potential to affect parental depression and parenting behavior, and thereby attachment and cognitive development at very early ages.

School Choice: An Examination of the Empirical Evidence on Achievement, Parental Decision Making, and Equity

Abstract: Support for all forms of school choice—public school choice, charter schools, and public-private choice—has been growing in recent years. Arguments in favor of greater choice rest on two propositions: that choice would serve to give more control over educational decisions to parents who in turn would choose good schools for their children, and that competition between schools for students will help reduce inefficiencies in the delivery of education, and, in doing so, improve educational outcomes. This review focuses on quantitative assessments of the impact of choice on educational outcomes. Several questions are examined in detail. First, is there any evidence that the various alternatives to traditional public schools—magnet schools, charter schools, and private schools—are delivering education in a fundamentally different and more efficient fashion? In other words, after accounting for differences in the backgrounds of the students attending these schools, are they better at educating students? Second,...