We invite you to a FAIR Seminar with Elaine M. Liu. Elaine is a Professor of Economics at the University of Houston. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. Professor Liu’s research lies at the intersection of the fields of development economics, health economics, labor economics, and behavioral economics.
Title: Externalities of Marijuana Legalization: Marijuana Use in Non-Legalizing States
(Joint with Marit Hinnosaar and Eva Loaeza-Albino)
Abstract: We study the impact of distant connections on marijuana use. Using data on Facebook friendships, we investigate whether connections to states where recreational marijuana is legalized affect marijuana use in areas where it remains illegal. We find that areas more connected to legalized states have a larger increase in marijuana use. These results indicate that even non-local connections can impact behavior. Our findings suggest that studies measuring the impact of marijuana legalization using a standard difference-in-differences approach, without accounting for the network, underestimate the direct effect on the state that legalized.
