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.

These four researchers will investigate how inequality in the distribution of income and wealth impacts consumption, a major component of economic growth. Specifically, they will create a new dataset that will help them and other researchers explore these questions. They will look at how disparities in income and wealth have affected decisions about consumption and saving since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2009. The results will be important for growth modeling, for determining how inequality affects economic growth, and for understanding the differences in who has benefited from recent patterns of income growth in the economy.

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, U.S. policymakers and the public are more aware than ever of the dangers of large increases in private debt. But we are now left with a considerable amount of debt that many households can’t even begin to dig out from under, which not only holds back consumption but also drastically increases wealth inequality. Many analysts recommend partial debt forgiveness as a way of helping households better handle their debt loads. This research, which includes the compilation of a brand-new data source, will help economists evaluate debt-relief programs that have implications for tax policy, housing finance, and student loan concessions.

If policymakers want to help low- and medium-income families pay down their debt, we need to better understand how families manage their debt and debt payments. This research will look at the different strategies families take to handle debts, including the tactic of “debt juggling,” where households pay just enough to avoid going into collection but make no progress in paying off the debts. The research will subsequently look at how policies informed by behavioral economics could help improve families’ debt management strategies.