Freakonomics, What Do A Full Moon, The Super Bowl, And Tax Day Have In Common?:
[The episode] explores the health implications of Tax Day, from increased car crash fatalities to the timing of babies being born. Host Dr. Bapu Jena explores two recent studies:
University of Toronto doctor and researcher Donald Redelmeier explains why fatalities from car crashes increase on Tax Day [The Full Moon and Motorcycle Related Mortality: Population Based Double Control Study]:
The increased risk on Tax Day extended all over the United States. It was mostly explained by working-age adults exactly as you would expect. And it also extended to pedestrians. So even if you yourself have filed your taxes early, it doesn't mean that all of those surrounding motorists have.
Williams College economist Sara LaLumia examines a small group of parents choosing when to have their babies based on tax deadlines [New Evidence on Taxes and the Timing of Birth]:
Late-December moms are going to have more cash on hand in the early months of their child's life, because they got the child-related tax benefits right away. January moms have to wait a whole year before they can get those tax benefits… December moms are a little bit less likely to work, particularly in the third month after giving birth, than the January mothers. Maybe having a little extra cash on hand is allowing people to buy a little bit more time before they returned to work.
RESOURCES
- “Income Effects on Maternal Labor Supply: Evidence From Child-related Tax Benefits,” by Philippe Wingender and Sara LaLumia (National Tax Journal, 2017)
- “The Full Moon and Motorcycle Related Mortality: Population Based Double Control Study,” by Donald A. Redelmeier and Eldar Shafir (BMJ, 2017)
- “New Evidence on Taxes and the Timing of Birth,” by Sara LaLumia, James M. Sallee, and Nicholas Turner (American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2015)
- “What a Difference a Day Makes: Quantifying the Effects of Birth Timing Manipulation On Infant Health,” by Lisa Schulkind and Teny Maghakian Shapiro (Journal of Health Economics, 2014)
- “Do Fatal Crashes Increase Following a Super Bowl Telecast?” by Donald A. Redelmeier and Craig L. Stewart (CHANCE, 2013)
- “Road Crash Fatalities on U.S. Income Tax Days,” by Donald A. Redelmeier and Christopher J. Yarnell (JAMA, 2012)
- “Driving Fatalities on U.S. Presidential Election Days,” by Donald A. Redelmeier and Robert J. Tibshirani (JAMA, 2008)
