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Caitlin Myers

@caitlinmyers

Econ prof @Middlebury. Applied micro, causal inference, health, public, labor, economics of abortion. Widow. Wife. Mom of 4.

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01.09.2023
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Latest posts by Caitlin Myers @caitlinmyers

Undergraduate economists, check out the Williams Pier conference. It's a great opportunity to share your work!

02.03.2026 11:55 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
CeMENT: Mentoring for Junior Faculty

Applications are OPEN for CSWEP’s 2026 CeMENT Mentoring Workshop! πŸŽ‰ Come get feedback on your research, practical advice for navigating the tenure track, and a community that will lift you up.

Details & application here πŸ‘‰ www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

@aeacswep.bsky.social #EconSky

08.12.2025 19:26 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 21 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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Larry Summers’ sexism is jeopardizing his power and privilege, but the entire economics profession hinders progress for women In 2024, only about 1 in 3 newly minted economics Ph.D.s were women.

Excellent op-ed from @yanarodgers.bsky.social placing the Summers scandal---and the lifetime ban announced today by the AEA---in context.
theconversation.com/larry-summer...

02.12.2025 19:58 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Statement from the American Economic Association

The AEA has imposed a lifetime ban on Lawrence H. Summers’ membership and participation in AEA activities. See the full statement here. www.aeaweb.org/news/aea-sta...

02.12.2025 16:01 πŸ‘ 602 πŸ” 159 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 74

"lessons from almost dying in childbirth at conference"
The CSWEP newsletter presents interesting testimonies about career and family

www.aeaweb.org/content/file...

26.11.2025 17:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Y’all, this CSWEP newsletter is a banger. Five women economists generously share their stories about navigating family and career. πŸ”₯ @jialanw.bsky.social @kmpjones.bsky.social Sarah Hamersma, Kosali Simon, and Sarah Baird. It was an honor to "edit" (which mostly involved sitting back for good reads)

25.11.2025 21:09 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

CSWEP strongly condemns Larry Summers’ behavior as revealed in the email correspondence with the late Jeffrey Epstein. While abuse of power in the economics profession is not new, rarely has the intent behind such abuse been so clearly stated.

19.11.2025 19:25 πŸ‘ 159 πŸ” 69 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 4

No reason to think Texas is unique. But we're getting the data to directly test this question soon. Stay tuned!

02.10.2025 17:58 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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When abortion access shrinks, property crime rises, new research finds Researchers found a β€œstrikingly large” relationship between restrictions on abortion and property crime, underscoring the connection between abortion bans and poverty.

Fascinating new research from @caitlinmyers.bsky.social and others shows that when laws restrict abortion, we see a jump in property crimes such as car theft, burglary.

It underscores how financially destabilizing unplanned pregnancy can be β€” and how ill-equipped our safety net is to address it.

16.09.2025 10:56 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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'Natural experiment' in Texas shows property crime went up when abortion access fell A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds property crime went up in Texas after a 2013 law closed half the state's clinics that provide abortion.

@oaldridge.bsky.social @npr.org covered our new paper on the surprisingly large effects of abortion access on crime. Totally agree with Jonathan Gruber: we've got to follow this up and see if it replicates outside of Texas. On it!

(with @erdaltekin.bsky.social , Erkmen Aslim, Wei Fu, and Ben Xue)

15.09.2025 20:41 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Takeaway: When abortion access is restricted, the consequences extend past fertilityβ€”into labor markets, family finances, and property crime.

15.09.2025 20:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Findings:

- Abortions ↓, births ↑

- Labor force participation ↓

- Debt burdens ↑

- Income inequality ↑

- Housing insecurity ↑

- Property crime ↑ (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft)

15.09.2025 20:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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We exploit a natural experiment: clinic closures in Texas after HB-2 (2013) that sharply increased travel distances to the nearest abortion provider.

This lets us study how access shocks affect reproductive behavior, household economic well-being, and public safety.

15.09.2025 20:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Abortion, Economic Hardship, and Crime Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Excited to share our new paper on abortion, economic hardship, and crime (with Erkmen Aslim, Wei Fu, @erdaltekin.bsky.social , and Ben Xue).

We study how abortion access affects economic hardship and crime in Texas using clinic closures after HB-2.

www.nber.org/papers/w34245

15.09.2025 20:24 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Any economists out there who might be interested in writing about choosing a childfree life? I'm editing an upcoming CSWEP newsletter on fertility choices and hoping to include this perspective. Shoot me a message if you might be my person!

08.08.2025 17:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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And I'm going to shamelessly present my very first Sankey diagram (showing flows of OBGYNS between states). Thanks to the awesome bsky.app/profile/asja... for the Stata Sankey package used to make it!

22.04.2025 16:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Obstetrician and Gynecologist Practice Locations Before and After Dobbs Decision This cohort study examines changes in obstetrician and gynecologist practice locations before vs after the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization US Supreme Court decision.

Find the paper here jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

22.04.2025 16:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ob/gyns in states with abortion bans face risks, but new study shows that most stayed after Dobbs | CNN Doctors across the United States who provide obstetrics and gynecology care have been confronted with new restrictions and uncertainties – and sometimes significant legal risks – that continue to unfo...

Excellent coverage of our new paper out today @jama network open. Joint with Becky Staiger, @vbolotnyy.bsky.social, Sonya Borrero, @maya-rossin-slater.bsky.social, Jessica Van Parys.
www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/h...

22.04.2025 16:46 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Abortion and Economic Policy, Part II: β€œThe Key Economic Decision Many Women Will Make in Their Lifetimes” One of the key arguments the state of Mississippi presented to the court in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was that there was no reliable way to study the impact that the Roe v....

If you're curious about how the economists' amicus brief in Dobbs came to be.... Thanks to @grouchybagels.bsky.social @rooseveltinstitute.org for a great interview!

www.firesidestacks.com/p/abortion-a...

10.04.2025 17:44 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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The Women Most Affected by Abortion Bans After the Dobbs decision, births rose in states with bans, but more for some women than others.

Society members @caitlinmyers.bsky.social; Suzanne Bell, PhD, MPH; Diana Foster, PhD; and Alison Norris, MD, PhD contributed their expertise to a NY Times article spotlighting new research from Dr. Myers and Society Changemaker Mayra Pineda-Torres, PhD.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u...

28.03.2025 20:07 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Women Most Affected by Abortion Bans After the Dobbs decision, births rose in states with bans, but more for some women than others.

Coverage of our new @nber.org working paper @upshot.nytimes.com @sangerkatz.bsky.social. Really appreciate the perspectives of the various folks they interviewed.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u...

17.03.2025 17:23 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

It's taken years to collect these data. More than 40 research assistants called every abortion facility in the country for appointment availability information...repeatedly. Gratitude to these hard-working students and to the Society of Family Planning for funding the data collection. [10/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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The effects of bans don't appear to decrease after shield laws came online and expanded telehealth access. One explanation is that people substitute from driving to telehealth abortion. The populations who are β€œtrapped” by distance might not be reached by shield law provision. [9/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Black and Hispanic women, unmarried women, and less educated women are the most affected by abortion bans. [8/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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We throw fancier models at the data and essentially see the same thing: distance and appointment availability mediate the effects of abortion bans. [7/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Within ban states, births increased the most where distances increased the most. The effects were additionally mediated by appointment availability in the destination. [6/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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We use a county-level analysis to learn who is most affected by the bans. Texas’ ban left Houstonians with a 600-mile drive to Kansas, where appointment availability was constrained. But residents of El Paso had less than 30 miles to drive to New Mexico, where appointments were available. [5/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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These abortion numbers don't capture abortion pills being mailed into these states. With incomplete abortion surveillance, we turn to births and see a corresponding pattern, suggesting that everyone who wanted an abortion was not finding a way to get one. [4/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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We use estimates of state resident abortions from @imaddowzimet.bsky.social to show that the national rise in abortions is driven by increases in abortions in states where abortion access expanded after Dobbs. Meanwhile, resident abortions fell in states that restricted access. [3/10]

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Despite post-Dobbs bans, abortions actually increased 11% in 2023. Do abortion bans actually stop anyone from getting abortions? [2/10] www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/desp...

17.03.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0