My research focuses on topics in environmental economics, public health, and economic history. In my dissertation I measure the external social costs of atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site and explore how radioactive pollution from these tests altered health and economic outcomes for American populations.
Publications
Meyers, K. (2019). In the Shadow of the Mushroom Cloud: Nuclear Testing, Radioactive Fallout, and Damage to U.S. Agriculture, 1945 to 1970. The Journal of Economic History, 79(1), 244-274. doi:10.1017/S002205071800075X
Meyers, K. & Thomasson, M.A. (2020) Can pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916. Cliometrica. doi:10.1007/s11698-020-00212-3
Book Chapters
Meyers, K., & Rhode, P. (2020). Yield Performance of Corn under Heat Stress: A Comparison of Hybrid and Open-Pollinated Seeds during a Period of Technological Transformation, 1933-1955 (No. w27291). National Bureau of Economic Research. Link Chapter NBER Volume “Economics of Research and Innovation in Agriculture” edited by Petra Moser (NYU)
Non-peer reviewed Publications
Meyers, K. & Thomasson, M.A. (2021). Fermetures d'écoles, épidémies et niveau de scolarité : une perspective historique basée sur l'épidémie accès libreREF. Revue d’Économie Financière 139-140 L'économie, la finance et l'assurance après la Covid-19 - open access link
Meyers, K. (2021). Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. By Anne Case and Angus Deaton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020. Pp. x, 312. $27.97, hardcover. The Journal of Economic History, 81(1), 323-325. doi:10.1017/S0022050721000024
Working Papers
A Shot in the Arm of Public Health: Did the 1954 Salk Polio Vaccine Field Trial Promote Vaccine Access?
What is the societal impact of large-scale vaccination efforts? This paper uses the largest vaccine trial in human history, the 1954 Salk polio vaccine field trial, to measure how such campaigns affect patterns in public health. This three-month trial both provided access to a novel vaccine and resulted in a large scale mobilization of medical and governmental resources for the purpose of childhood vaccination. Using differences in trial participation across counties and the timing of Federal funding for the public provision of vaccines, I present evidence that locations more exposed to the trial were more likely to host immunization programs and experienced greater access to vaccines in later years. Furthermore, trial participation is also associated with declines in both all-cause and infant mortality. These declines correspond with the availability of federal funding for public vaccine provision. Together, this evidence suggests that the transitory experience with the Salk trial led to persistent expansions in vaccine access. Paper Link.
Some Unintended Fallout from Defense Policy: Measuring the Effect of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing on American Mortality Patterns, updated 12-23-21
To better understand the health and social costs associated with radioactive pollution and nuclear weapons development, I study a historical period of atmospheric nuclear testing in the 1950s. Using records measuring annual county level fallout patterns for the continental U.S., I analyze how radioactive fallout affects public health in vital statistics records. I find that atmospheric nuclear testing performed in Nevada contributed to substantial and prolonged increases in overall mortality and cancer mortality. These increases in mortality occur over a broader geographic region than previous research would suggest. Paper Link
Measuring Policy’s Role in Mediating Responses to Agricultural Productivity Shocks
As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, policy's role in shaping producer responses to adverse shocks becomes more relevant. Contemporary agricultural policies such as crop insurance are often tied to farmers’ production histories. Using changes in agricultural productivity caused by radioactive fallout from nuclear testing between 1951 to 1958, I find such “use-it or lose-it” policies can encourage producers to divert resources toward rather than away from adversely affected crops. These policies encouraged farmers to “double down” on adversely affected crops, and led producers to plant an additional 2.6 million acres of wheat in the years following fallout exposure. This result suggests treating policy as a fixed factor may obscure the role policy plays in shaping producer behavior. This could cause researchers to misstate the social costs of disruptive events such as climate change.
Current Grant Funded Projects:
“The cascading impacts of flood control regulations and infrastructure on individuals and communities” with Anthony Wray (SDU) . Center for Population Studies Seed Grant, 90,000DKK (13,800USD).
We propose the study on the development and impact of flood control regulations and infrastructure throughout the twentieth century in the United States. The analysis will follow three avenues of inquiry. First, we consider individual behavioral responses to the regulations and investments in infrastructure. How were migration patterns affected? Second, we explore effects on communities as captured by economic growth, land values, and resilience to future floods. How did communities that implemented stricter flood protection legislation evolve differently than others? Third, we turn to demographic change in assessing local impacts on population health and mortality risk.
Carlsberg Foundation, Socio-economic Effects of Vaccines (SEV) Research Infrastructure, with Peter Jensen (Linnaeus University), 82,309DKK(12,600USD).
The Socio-economic Effects of Vaccines (SEV) Research Infrastructure will collect, digitize, and uncover historical data regarding U.S. vaccine interventions during the mid-20th Century. The goal is to create a database concerning vaccine trials, surveillance of disease and vaccine coverage, and government vaccination programs from archival resources. Vaccine trials, such as the Salk Polio Vaccine Trial of 1954, and government programs, such as the Polio Vaccine Assistance Act of 1955 and Vaccine Assistance Act of 1962, provided idiosyncratic access to vaccines for some populations.
Other projects:
Identifying the causes of technological diffusion, the case of hybrid corn seed from 1933-1955 with Paul Rhode (University of Michigan).
Hybrid corn seed rapidly replaced historically dominant open pollinated corn varieties. These seeds were initially expensive but farmers readily adopted them during a period of historically low commodity prices. Using novel unpublished USDA manuscripts on hybrid corn adoption we study how weather and other factors influenced the diffusion of hybrid corn seed.
Base acreage restrictions, production controls, and agricultural decision making
In 1954 the USDA enacted production controls for wheat to curb over production and support commodity prices. The rules for base acreage for wheat had been on the books for almost two decades but were not enacted until this point. Base acreage rules for wheat were tied to moving averages of past cultivated acreage. I construct a novel county-year panel of base acreage regulations for 1951 to 1970. Using this historic record I will study how the enactment of these regulations affected the distribution of wheat production and farmers’ reactions to weather events.