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.
Archives: Grant
Long-run earnings mobility and earnings inequality: Evidence from SIPP linked administrative earnings data
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.
State legislative political polarization and income inequality in the United States
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.
Minority entrepreneurship and economic disparities: Revisited from a development perspective
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.
Wealth, income, and consumption: a microeconomic approach to a macroeconomic question
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.
Measuring the effects of debt forgiveness
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.
Financial innovation to reduce inequality and promote equitable growth
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.
From economic growth to decent jobs and middle class prosperity? Post-1979 U.S. employment performance in international perspective
Labor market institutions differ substantially across developed nations, and the result is a fair amount of variation in the quality of jobs created. This research will shed light on how economic growth translates into high-quality jobs characterized by decent wages and stability, or, in simple terms “good jobs.” The research will provide a detailed exploration of the quantity and quality of American employment growth since 1979 by economic sector, occupation and demographic group. It will conduct similar in-depth work on two other wealthy, large, and diverse countries, Canada and France, as well as a cross-country analysis of approximately 25 countries aimed at the same objective. The research will facilitate more nuanced comparisons between policy progress in the United States versus that of other developed nations.
Inside monopsony: A mixed methods approach to understanding how labor standards shape employment practices in the restaurant industry
This research will look at how regional variations in labor market regulations influence the types of businesses that locate in those regions, and the employment practices of those businesses. The analysis will focus on San Francisco, which has relatively comprehensive locally enforced labor standards, and the North Carolina Research Triangle, which lacks strong labor standards. This research project seeks to understand how locally-enacted labor standards that aim to reduce inequality reshape the structure of work in low-wage industries, with a specific focus on the restaurant industry.
Schedule stability for hourly workers – Phase I of II
This research will investigate the interaction of business time-scheduling policies and changing family structures. Unpredictable work hours, more common among low-wage workers, may reduce worker productivity and thus economic growth. In conjunction with at least one corporate partner, the researchers will test the impact of effective scheduling systems on employees via a controlled intervention. They will divide workers into groups, with certain groups receiving greater control over their schedules, and then examine the resulting absenteeism and attrition rates for each group. The research will test the hypothesis that an improved work-life fit will lead to greater job satisfaction for hourly workers, who will in turn be less likely to leave their jobs when family obligations interfere with their schedule, and ultimately will result in enhanced economic security for these workers. At the same time, the research will explore whether employers who implement scheduling practices that improve work-life fit are able to retain experienced employees who are more productive than newly-hired employees.