Highlighted Publications




 

The study asks which neighborhoods in the United States give children the best chances of rising out of poverty. Using Census and IRS data on more than 20 million children born between 1978 and 1983, the researchers link childhood Census tracts to adult outcomes such as income, incarceration, and teen birth rates. They find large neighborhood gaps: for children from families earning $27,000, adult household income differs by about $12,850 across nearby tracts. Quasi-experimen

This study asks why Black and Hispanic homeowners earn lower housing returns than White homeowners. The authors use nationwide administrative data linking race, home purchases, and later sale prices for more than 13 million ownership spells. They find that minority homeowners earn about 2.3 percentage points lower unlevered annual returns mainly because they face far higher rates of distressed sales, such as foreclosures and short sales. When a sale is distressed, homeowners

The study asks whether homeowners are more likely to move when a new next-door neighbor is of a different race. The authors use national housing transaction data matched with mortgage records, allowing them to observe both household race and the exact timing and location of moves. They compare move rates for homeowners who receive a different-race neighbor immediately next door versus two or three doors away on the same block. Both Black and White homeowners are more likely t

This study asks whether the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges , which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, increased mortgage demand among same-sex couples. Using data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act covering nearly all U.S. mortgage applications between 1998 and 2019, the authors compared same-sex and different-sex couples before and after the ruling. They found that mortgage demand by same-sex couples rose by about 12% in states newly affected b

This study investigated whether the Massachusetts Medicaid Flexible Services Program (FSP) reduced food insecurity, housing insecurity,...

This study asks whether long-term economic outcomes are influenced by exposure to peers from wealthier families. Using data from over...

This study investigates how household exposure to housing price declines—specifically, negative equity—affected children’s educational...