My Research


I study the causes and consequences of social policy in the United States. I measure how programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and the tax system affect people's lives, and I use experiments to investigate how citizens understand, judge, and vote on those programs. I use field experiments, survey experiments, and quasi-experimental analysis of administrative and clinical data. I also build Experimental Software that embeds interactive economic games in popular survey platforms, so participants can vote on policies with real money at stake.


— Current Projects —

  • Medicaid Work Requirements. Why are people who meet Medicaid work requirements still dropped from the program?

    As an ARTEMIS Fellow with J-PAL North America, I am designing an assessment study and randomized controlled trial that separates Medicaid enrollees who are not working from those who lose coverage to paperwork or confusion about the rules. The study can guide agencies on how to maintain patient coverage and avoid costly enrollee churn.

  • The Burden of Taxes. Does paying taxes turn the poor against policies that help them?

    Using economic experiments, we find that people with low income vote for less redistribution when they must pay taxes to receive benefits. Removing that burden while holding net benefits constant produces robust support, as rationality predicts. A policy's design shapes whether it keeps the support of the people it helps.

  • Rising Premiums. Whom do ACA Marketplace enrollees blame when their premiums go up?

    Using KFF panel data, I find that enrollees often assign blame by partisanship rather than by which officials made the decision. A follow-up study links survey responses to validated voter turnout in the 2026 midterms to test whether harm and blame change who votes.

  • Moral Conviction. When does harm make compromise harder?

    People become more politically active and less willing to compromise when they see an issue as a matter of right and wrong. In survey experiments, I test how conviction depends on who was harmed (an ally, an opponent, a criminal, or a victim) and who is blamed.


— Manuscripts Under Review —

  • Experimental Tests of the Merit Theory of Redistribution
    Carter, B. and DeScioli, P.
  • Invited by editor to revise and resubmit at American Political Science Review.
  • What Mobilizes the Mobilizers? How Text and Email Messages Shape GOTV Efforts
    Carter, B., Caton, C., Kernell, G., Martin, A., McCabe, K., McCann, J., and Singh, R.
  • From Bipartisan to Partisan: How Elite Cues Override Aesthetic Intuition in Federal Architecture Preferences
    Del Ponte, A., Carter, B.
  • Taxation Without Access: Deservingness Misperceptions and Support for Immigrant Health Insurance
    Sawyer, M., Carter, B.


— Peer-Reviewed Publications —