Some ASSA sessions I would go to if I could, and some I'll certainly attend

I'm going to be a busy boy at the AEA/ASSA meetings, since as president of the AEA I'll preside over many champagne receptions and a few other things.  But the conference looks like fun. Here are just a few of the sessions that particularly caught my eye, even though I have conflicts with some of them...

Econometric Society Presidential Address

Session/Event

 Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018   5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Liberty Ballroom

Hosted By: ECONOMETRIC SOCIETY

Econometric Society Presidential Address
Drew Fudenberg, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Speaker(s)

Drew Fudenberg

,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Topic: Learning, Experimentation, and Equilibrium Refinements

************

Economic Applications of Machine Learning

Paper Session

 Friday, Jan. 5, 2018   8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Liberty Ballroom Salon A

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Daniel Björkegren, Brown University

A Large Scale Model of Travel Time and User Choice Behavior

Susan Athey

,

Stanford University

Robert Donnelly

,

Stanford University

•  View Abstract

Behavior Revealed in Mobile Phone Usage Predicts Loan Repayment

Daniel Björkegren

,

Brown University

Darrell Grissen

,

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab

•  View Abstract

Estimating Poverty and Wealth From Mobile Phone Data

Joshua Blumenstock

,

University of California-Berkeley

Gabriel Cadamuro

,

University of Washington

Robert On

,

University of California-Berkeley

•  View Abstract

Forecasting Economic Activity With Yelp Data

Edward Glaeser

,

Harvard University

Hyunjin Kim

,

Harvard Business School

Michael Luca

,

Harvard Business School

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Michael Luca

,

Harvard Business School

Marshall Burke

,

Stanford University

Greg Lewis

,

Microsoft Research

Shane Greenstein

,

Harvard Business School

************

Like Everybody Else: Experimental Economics of Conformity, Image, and Identity

Paper Session

 Friday, Jan. 5, 2018   2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 305

Hosted By: ECONOMIC SCIENCE ASSOCIATION

• Chair: James Andreoni, University of California-San Diego

Identity and Impact in Public Goods Contributions: A Field Experiment on Wikipedia

Yan Chen

,

University of Michigan

Rosta Farzan

,

University of Pittsburgh

Robert Kraut

,

Carnegie Mellon University

Iman YeckehZarre

,

University of Michigan

Ark Fangzhou Zhang

,

University of Michigan

•  View Abstract

Status Goods: Experimental Evidence From Platinum Credit Cards

Leonardo Bursztyn

,

University of Chicago and NBER

Bruno Ferman

,

Getulio Vargas Foundation

Stefano Fiorin

,

University of California-San Diego

Martin Kanz

,

World Bank

Gautam Rao

,

Harvard University and NBER

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 402.50 KB)

Preference Endogeneity and Conformity

Douglas Bernheim

,

Stanford University

Christine Exley

,

Harvard Business School

•  View Abstract

The Conformity Trap: Adaptation and Stagnation of Social Norms in a Changing World

James Andreoni

,

University of California-San Diego

Nikos Nikiforakis

,

New York University Abu Dhabi

Simon Siegenthaler

,

University of Texas-Dallas

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Alain Cohn

,

University of Michigan

Desmond Ang

,

University of California-San Diego

Florian Ederer

,

Yale University

Ariel Rubinstein

,

New York University

*********

Large Matching Markets

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018   8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 406

Hosted By: ECONOMETRIC SOCIETY

• Chair: SangMok Lee, University of Pennsylvania

Stable Matching in Large Economies​

Yeon-Koo Che

,

Columbia University

Jinwoo Kim

,

Seoul National University

Fuhito Kojima

,

Stanford University

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 1.06 MB)

The Cutoff Structure of Top Trading Cycles in School Choice

Jacob D. Leshno

,

Columbia University

Irene Lo

,

Columbia University

•  View Abstract

Need Versus Merit: The Large Core of College Admissions Markets

Avinatan Hassidim

,

Bar-Ilan University

Assaf Romm

,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ran I. Shorrer

,

Pennsylvania State University

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 401.95 KB)

Top Trading Cycles in Two-Sided Matching Markets: An Irrelevance of Priorities in Large Matching Markets

Yeon-Koo Che

,

Columbia University

Olivier Tercieux

,

Paris School of Economics

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Eduardo Azevedo

,

University of Pennsylvania

Utku Unver

,

Boston College

Scott Duke Kominers

,

Harvard University

Atila Abdulkadiroglu

,

Duke University

*************

Inner Workings of Organ Markets and Organ Allocation

Paper Session

 Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018   2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

 Pennsylvania Convention Center, 201-C

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Eric Budish, University of Chicago

The Inner Workings of Kidney Exchange Markets

Nikhil Agarwal

,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Itai Ashlagi

,

Stanford University

Eduardo Azevedo

,

University of Pennsylvania

Clayton Featherstone

,

University of Pennsylvania

Omer Karaduman

,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

•  View Abstract

A Regulated Market for Kidneys

Mohammad Akbarpour

,

Stanford University

•  View Abstract

Strategic Behavior in the Kidney Waitlist

Nikhil Agarwal

,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Itai Ashlagi

,

Stanford University

Paulo J. Somaini

,

Stanford University

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Utku Unver

,

Boston College

Glen Weyl

,

Microsoft Research

Benjamin R. Handel

,

University of California-Berkeley

******

Here are some sessions I'm looking forward to attending ex officio:

AEA/AFA Joint Luncheon - Fee Event

 Friday, Jan. 5, 2018   12:30 PM - 2:15 PM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon G & H

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION & AMERICAN FINANCE ASSOCIATION

• Chair: David Scharfstein, Harvard Business School

Presiding: David Scharfstein, Harvard Business School
Speaker: Raghuram Rajan, University of Chicago

Speaker(s)

Raghuram Rajan

,

University of Chicago

Topic: Liquidity and Leverage

************

AEA Richard T. Ely Lecture

Session/Event

 Friday, Jan. 5, 2018   4:45 PM - 5:45 PM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon G & H

Hosted By: American Economic Association

Speaker: David Laibson, Harvard University
*************




AEA Nobel Laureate Luncheon-Fee Event
Session/Event
 Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018   12:30 PM - 2:15 PM
 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon G & H
Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• Chair: Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Nobel Laureate Luncheon Honoring the 2016 Nobel Laureates in Economics: Oliver Hart, Harvard University and Bengt R. Holmstrom, Massachusetts Institute of Technology--Fee Event--
Presiding: Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics--
Speakers: Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago
**********

AEA Awards Ceremony and Presidential Address

Session/Event

 Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018   4:30 PM - 5:45 PM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon G & H

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Awards Ceremony & Presidential Address
Presiding: Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Speaker: Alvin E. Roth, Stanford University
Topic: Markets and Marketplaces
****************

New Insights on Classic Questions in Matching Theory

Paper Session

 Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018   10:15 AM - 12:15 PM

 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Liberty Ballroom Salon A

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Alvin E. Roth, Stanford University

The Lattice of Envy-free Matchings

Qingyun Wu

,


Stanford University

Alvin E. Roth

,


Stanford University

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 297.93 KB)
•  Download PowerPoint (PDF, 208.47 KB)

Deferred Acceptance with Compensation Chains

Piotr Dworczak

,


Stanford University

•  View Abstract

Virtual Demand and Stable Mechanisms

Jan Christoph Schlegel

,


University of Lausanne

•  View Abstract

Lone Wolves in Competitive Equilibria

Ravi Jagadeesan

,


Harvard University

Scott Duke Kominers

,


Harvard University

Ross Rheingans-Yoo

,


Harvard University

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Alexander Teytelboym

,


University of Oxford

Change in Swedish law about sexual assault

From The Guardian:
Swedish rape law would require explicit consent before sexual contact

"Sweden is moving closer to making changes to its rape laws that would require people to get explicit consent before sexual contact.
...
"Under current Swedish law someone can be prosecuted for rape only if it has been proved that they used threats or violence. Under the proposal, rape could be proved if the accuser hadn’t given their explicit verbal agreement or clearly demonstrate their desire to engage in sexual activity.
...
"The proposal is part of a series of initiatives being put forward. Others would make it illegal for Swedes to hire prostitutes abroad, and increase sentences for offenders. Buying sex in Sweden is already illegal."

Opioids and harm reduction: drug checking and Safe Injection Facilities

From Mason Marks writing on the Bill of Health blog at Harvard Law School:

The Opioid Crisis Requires Evidence-Based Solutions, Part III: How the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction Dismissed Harm Reduction Strategies

" it is noteworthy that the Commission ignored harm reduction strategies such as drug checking, which could reduce deaths due to consumption of contaminated opioids. Many countries including Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands offer free and confidential drug checking (also known as pill testing) to drug users. Drug checking could reduce consumption of adulterated drugs and provides opportunities to support and counsel users who may otherwise receive no contact with medical or public health professionals. Drug checking is also a valuable source of information about drug use such as pricing, availability, effects, and composition of street drugs. This information can be used to further our understanding of drug use and its effects.

Some experts argue that drug dealers will be less likely to add dangerous adulterants to their products if they know that consumers have a mechanism to test their contents. The identification of drug contents can alert authorities to the presence of synthetic opioids, which can lead to public warnings and announcements that may further drive dealers to withdraw deadly additives from the market. The practice can also improve law enforcement efforts to reduce the illegal importation and sale of synthetic opioids. Dr. Carl Hart, Chair of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University, supports the use of free and anonymous drug checking in the United States. In a Scientific American article, heargues that the opioid crisis is a distinctly American problem. According to Hart, “Throughout Europe and other regions where opioids are readily available, people are not dying at comparable rates as those in the U.S., largely because addiction is not treated as a crime but as a public health problem.” Drug checking is one example of how European countries approach drug abuse from a public health angle rather than a punitive law enforcement perspective.

Critics of drug checking argue that it could normalize drug use or “send the wrong message” to potential users. For instance, the practice could create the appearance of safety when in fact the drugs being consumed are dangerous. ...

"Supervised injection facilities (SIFs), arguably a more controversial option than drug checking, were also ignored by the President’s Opioid Commission. SIFs provide a place for people to inject drugs under professional supervision to minimize the risk of HIV and hepatitis C infection, drug overdose, and death. They are primarily used in Switzerland, Canada, and Australia. However, the City of Denver is taking steps to become the first U.S. city to offer SIFs. In November, a plan for a pilot program won unanimous approval from a bipartisan ten-member legislative committee. However, the City’s General Assembly must approve the plan in January 2018 for it to move forward. Seattle and San Francisco are considering similar proposals. The State of Vermont is also considering using SIFs. On November 29, 2017, a commission of health and law enforcement professionals, led by State’s Attorney General Sarah George, recommended that Vermont make SIFs a part of its opioid strategy. However, the Vermont Commissioner of Public Safety and the Vermont Association of Police Chiefs disagree. The Commissioner stated, “Facilitating the ongoing use of heroin through SIFs sends the wrong message, at the wrong time, to the wrong people.”

...

"A 2014 review published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, examined the outcome of 75 studies and concluded that SIFs are an effective harm-reduction strategy not associated with increased drug use or crime. In early 2017, the Massachusetts Medical Society published its analysis of SIFs. It found that peer-reviewed research published in leading academic journals, such as JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine, supports the conclusion that SIFs produce positive outcomes such as reduced mortality and increased access to drug treatment.

...

"Admittedly, there could be an “ick factor” associated with SIFs, and overly zealous drug control advocates could find them repugnant. However, when thousands of lives are at stake, emotional reactions to SIFs must be weighed against the scientific evidence. If the evidence suggests that SIFs are effective, then lawmakers must be courageous and allow their decisions to be guided by science rather than emotions such as disgust."

Is there an equivalence between (not) paying kidney donors and boxers or football players?

Kim Krawiecz makes a point, in several installments:

December 21, 2017
If You Oppose Paying Kidney Donors, You Should Oppose Paying Football Players And Boxers Too 
"Having concluded that simply advocating for compensated kidney donation was not sufficiently controversial, Phil Cook and I are now turning our sights on professional sports – specifically, professional football and boxing. In a piece just posted to SSRN, we contrast the compensation ban on organ donation with the legal treatment of football, boxing, and other violent sports in which both acute and chronic injuries to participants are common. While there is some debate about how best to regulate these sports in order to reduce the risks, there appears to be no serious debate about whether participants should be paid. Indeed, for the best adult football players, college scholarships and perhaps a professional contract worth multiple millions are possible."


December 22, 2017
Paying Kidney Donors, Football Players, And Boxers: Medical Risks
"the medical risks to a professional career in football, boxing, and other violent sports are much greater both in the near and long term than the risks of donating a kidney. Injuries in such sports are common, and retired players are very often disabled by the long-term effects of these injuries as well the cumulative effect of thousands of blows to the body."

December 24, 2017
Paying Kidney Donors, Football Players, And Boxers: Informed Consent And It’s Limits
"We believe that if NOTA were amended to allow payments to donors, potential kidney donors could be protected against being unduly tempted through the existing structure of screening, counseling, and delay, perhaps with some additional protections to prevent hasty decisions. On the other hand, it is not clear that NFL recruits have such protections in place.

"Whether and when sane, sober, well-informed, adults should be banned by government authority from choosing to engage in an activity that risks their own life and limb is an ancient point of contention. There are a variety of hazardous activities that are permitted with no legal bar to receiving compensation. Included on this list are such occupations as logging, roofing, commercial fishing, and military service. Also included are violent sports such as football, boxing, and mixed martial arts (MMA). These examples illustrate a broad endorsement of the principle that consenting adults should be allowed to exchange (in a probabilistic sense) their physical health and safety for financial compensation, even in some instances where the ultimate product is simply providing a public entertainment.
...
"In short, to the extent that the ban on compensated kidney donation is grounded in a concern that the lure of money may cause donors to disregard the risks of the procedure and subsequent long-term effects, that concern applies with even more force to participation in violent sport.

"This, of course, is just a taste of our analysis and evidence, so read the full paper* for more."

*If We Allow Football Players and Boxers to Be Paid for Entertaining the Public, Why Don't We Allow Kidney Donors to Be Paid for Saving Lives?
Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 81, No. 3, 2018
and by Philip J. Cook Kimberly D. Krawiec

December 25, 2017
Paying Kidney Donors, Football Players, And Boxers: Exploitation, Race, Class

"We believe that using words like “coercion” and “exploitation” to characterize the introduction of a new option by which poor people (and others) could earn a substantial amount of money provides more heat than light on this situation. The legitimate ethical concern is that so many Americans are poor, with inequality increasing over time. But that observation does not support a ban on compensation, which in fact limits the options available to the poor and thereby makes a bad situation (their lack of marketable assets) worse. But for anyone not persuaded by this argument, we note that these social-justice concerns apply with at least equal force to compensating boxers; most American professional boxers were raised in lower-income neighborhoods, and are either black or Hispanic.
...
"As more has become known about the dangers of the repeated head trauma, similar arguments regarding football have become more prominent. About 70% of NFL players are black, and Pacific Islanders are also overrepresented as compared to the American population. Accordingly, much attention has been paid to the concussion crisis as a race and class problem. As one observer recently noted, “What’s a little permanent brain damage when you’re facing a life of debilitating poverty?” In reality, NFL players are better educated themselves, and come from better educated homes, than is average for Americans, in part because the NFL typically recruits college students. Still, some NFL players, like some would-be kidney donors, come from poverty."


December 26, 2017
If You Oppose Paying Kidney Donors, You Should Oppose Paying Football Players And Boxers Too: Wrap-Up

"In this series of posts, I’ve discussed a new draft that Phil Cook and I are circulating, If We Allow Football Players and Boxers to Be Paid for Entertaining the Public, Why Don't We Allow Kidney Donors to Be Paid for Saving Lives?. Our claim, which I laid out in my first post, is that there is a stronger case for compensating kidney donors than for compensating participants in violent sports. If this proposition is accepted, one implication is that there are only three logically consistent positions: allow compensation for both kidney donation and for violent sports; allow compensation for kidney donation but not for violent sports; or allow compensation for neither. Our current law and practice is perverse in endorsing a fourth regime, allowing compensation for violent sports but not kidney donation.

A common argument in support of the ban on kidney donation is that if people were offered the temptation of substantial compensation, some would volunteer to donate against their own “true” best interests. This argument is often coupled with a social justice concern, namely that if kidney donors were paid, a large percentage of volunteers would be poor and financially stressed, and for them the offer of a substantial financial inducement would be coercive. In sum, a system of compensated donation would provide an undue temptation, and end up exploiting the poor.

To these arguments we offer both a direct response, and a response by analogy with violent sport. My posts have touched on a few key points. First, the medical risks to a professional career in football, boxing, and other violent sports are much greater both in the near and long term than the risks of donating a kidney. On the other hand, the consent and screening process in professional sports is not as developed as in kidney donation. The social justice concerns stem from the fact that most players are black and some come from impoverished backgrounds."

The post goes on to point out that the (life savings) benefits to kidney patients from kidney donation are huge, and it's hard to argue that they are less deserving or get less benefit than sports spectators. But you get the idea...

Why Don’t Americans Eat Horse?

From Eater.com, a long interesting summary of
Why Don’t Americans Eat Horse?
The red meat is common in many cultures, but rarely makes it on menus in the U.S. by Tim Forster

"Killing horses isn’t technically banned in the U.S.; variations on an outright horse slaughter ban have surfaced but floundered in Congress several times since 2006. But appropriations committees did successfully ban funding to the USDA to inspect horse meat in 2007 — and if there’s no money for inspections, there’s no guarantee of safety, therefore it can’t be sold. In the words of a USDA spokesperson, “If there is no mark of inspection, then horse meat is not allowed to move in our national commerce.” This spelled the end for America’s three horse-slaughter facilities, closed a decade ago. (Their products had primarily been sent overseas.)"

He makes the cultural argument (cowboys tamed the West), but I'm not convinced...