Skip to Content

Research Highlights

Purdue University Research Center in Economics (PURCE) research focus areas include competition, crime, education, fiscal policy, health, innovation, market solutions, state policies, trade, and work.

Below, please find recent research stories highlighting the work of our faculty affiliates.

  • Airbnb

    Short-Term Rentals Make Housing Less Affordable

    Thursday, February 2, 2023

    The rapid expansion of short-term rental platforms (or STRs) has raised concerns among legislators seeking to regulate companies like Airbnb, a leading online hosting platform at the forefront of conversations surrounding the short-term rental market.

    Read more

  • Cocaine

    Deadly Gap

    Thursday, December 8, 2022

    The murder rate for one demographic group saw sharp increases throughout the 1980s and remained higher than other demographic groups that experienced long-term declines in their murder rates.

    Read more

  • vegetables

    Timing of Benefit Distribution has Major Effect on Crime

    Wednesday, November 30, 2022

    Researchers focus on policies that change the timing of benefit distribution in order to estimate the effects of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, receipt on crime.

    Read more

  • airplane

    New Research Predicts Post-Merger Airline Behavior

    Monday, November 7, 2022

    In the airline industry, anticompetitive mergers can lead to higher ticket prices. This is especially true when the newly joined airlines are the only nonstop carriers along a route.

    Read more

  • employment discrimination

    A Better Way to Detect Employment Discrimination, Employer Preferences

    Wednesday, September 7, 2022

    Relying on “correspondence audit studies” to examine discrimination has some glaring issues that make a new method of obtaining the same important insights invaluable.

    Read more

  • social security application

    Research Shows Claiming Benefits Early Increases Mortality for Men

    Tuesday, August 30, 2022

    Nearing retirement? You might want to rethink your options for when to start claiming benefits. New research shows that declining labor force participation leads to an immediate jump in mortality.

    Read more

  • Domestic violence

    Domestic Violence Arrests Fall During COVID-Lockdown; 911 Calls for Police Surged

    Friday, June 17, 2022

    While COVID-19-related stay-at-home orders undoubtedly saved many lives, new research highlights the effects of changes to expected police procedures and a need to better protect the vulnerable.

    Read more

  • Boy crying outside school

    Bullying in School Hampers Skill Development, Healthy Adulthood

    Friday, May 20, 2022

    While some costs of bullying – school absenteeism, suicidal thoughts – have been documented, little research has been done on the two-way relationship between bullying and skill accumulation.

    Read more

  • college graduation

    GPAs, College Graduation Rates are up — While our Standards are Down

    Friday, May 20, 2022

    More and more students are getting good grades, and more are graduating. New research shows GPAs have been rising and college graduation rates have increased because standards have been lowered.

    Read more

  • Construction worker at night

    Better Work Schedules: A Hidden Benefit of Immigration

    Wednesday, May 18, 2022

    Researchers provide a theoretical framework for understanding how immigrants impact native job amenities, including how immigration affects non-wage job characteristics.

    Read more

  • creativity

    Research Examines How Creativity Pays Off

    Monday, May 9, 2022

    A study that has followed almost every individual born in the UK in March 1958 throughout their life shows that their creativity as children predicts their success later in life.

    Read more

  • teen drivers

    Nighttime Driving Restrictions Reduce Accidents, Deaths Among Teen Drivers

    Sunday, May 1, 2022

    In most countries, traffic accidents are teenagers’ leading cause of death. A ban on nighttime driving with multiple passengers more than halved crashes, casualties, and deaths targeted by the ban.

    Read more

  • Even During a Financial Crisis, Physicians have Patients’ Best Interests at Heart

    Friday, April 22, 2022

    Research from a Purdue University finance expert answers a somewhat dark question: do financial shortfalls at hospitals lead to physicians favoring more expensive procedures to compensate for a weak bottom line?

    Read more