Economic inequality research has long focused on household income and wealth or individual earnings. Recent evidence suggests that the share of total income is increasingly diverting from labor to capitol. Yet the reasons for the declining labor share of income are not yet clear. This project examines several potential causes for this decline, particularly looking at differences in skills among workers and how those skill differences affect firms’ decisions about production.

Through an intervention with the major U.S. retailer, The Gap, this project tests whether shifting hourly workers to more stable, predictive schedules, and providing them with additional hours result in cost savings and increased productivity for businesses. In the first year of work, Williams and her team made significant progress, including the launch of a pilot program that will test schedule-stabilizing practices to inform the larger intervention.

This project seeks to better understand the Federal Reserve’s efforts to identify and achieve an inflation target. Through a historical study, the author will determine and analyze periods in which the Fed prioritized stimulating growth and maximizing employment, versus the periods when it instead sought to control inflation. As the national debate over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dual mandate continues, this novel historical perspective has the potential to inform the conversation on a fundamental economic institution in important ways.

Has rising income inequality affected income mobility over the course of a working lifetime? This research project will uncover what has happened to earnings mobility during the era of rising earnings inequality, and will explore the underlying causes driving those shifts. The researchers will use an underexploited dataset from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate long-run intragenerational earnings mobility trends, with particular attention to differences in trends by race, gender, and education. They will estimate how much various key changes in the labor force—shifts in demographics, human capital, and returns to skills—have contributed to the mobility trends. This research will help researchers understand the relative importance of different factors to higher earnings mobility over a lifetime.

Political polarization and income inequality have both been on the rise since the 1980s. This project will explore whether increases in state-level income inequality within the United States have led to increases in nation-wide polarization. The researchers will explore to what extent changes in state-level inequality affect the ideological positions of parties within state chambers, as well as the median ideological positions of overall chambers.

Innovation and entrepreneurship have long been strengths of the U.S. economy. But the experiences of entrepreneurs vary dramatically. In particular, race, ethnicity, and gender may play a significant role in shaping these experiences. This project will look at the differences among businesses owned by individuals of different racial and ethnic groups, as well as women-owned businesses. The researchers will look at business survival, business size, profits, and innovation activities. They will also seek to understand how these variations interact with and are influenced by the regional characteristics in which the businesses operate. Understanding the underlying factors that influence successful entrepreneurism is key for boosting innovation and future economic growth.