Studies on Poverty and Protected Groups

The Role of Rising Female Labor Force Participation for Inner City Gentrification

Lena Edlund – Columbia University; Maria Sviatschi – Columbia University

Gentrification is evident in a number of inner cities in the United States. Increasingly, families with young children are choosing city over suburban living. This study investigates the rise of dual-earner couples among high-income households as a driver of gentrification. This research hypothesizes that such families have high willingness-to-pay for a short commute (since there is no full-time homemaker) and therefore choose to locate close to work. Since skilled jobs are disproportionately located in city centers, the strive for a short commute results in gentrification of previously poverty stricken but centrally located areas. This project aggregates census tract-level information on household demographics from the Decennial Censuses and various years of the American Community Survey and matches to zip code-level real estate prices.

Inside the Labyrinth: Housing Segregation in America

Yana Kucheva – Stanford University; Richard Sander – University of California, Los Angeles

This project examines trends in residential segregation and the effects of several waves of government policy upon residential segregation between the 1950s and 2010. Decennial Census microdata from the period between 1960 and 2010 are used to examine four interrelated questions regarding the significance of fair housing legislation and the processes under-lying racial residential segregation. This research examines: (1) general patterns of black migration across neighborhoods between 1960 and 2010; (2) the characteristics of black pioneers who move into white neighborhoods; (3) the Schelling process of racial “tipping”; and (4) the role of inter-urban migration in producing residential segregation.

Native American Economic Development

Christian Dippel – University of California, Los Angeles; Dustin Frye – University of Colorado at Boulder

This project studies changes in Native American economic development as indicated by average incomes and measures of income inequality over the past several decades. The broad aim is to understand today’s large differences in economic development between different tribes and between different reservations, rather than between different Native American individuals. First, this project estimates the effect of local governance on differences in average incomes among reservations. Second, it estimates the dynamics of income inequality and income growth across reservations and tribes. This requires building aggregate tribal and reservation characteristics from individual records in the Decennial Census and American Community Survey data. U.S. Census Bureau Research at the Center for Economic Studies and the Research Data Centers: 2014 43

The Economic Geography and Dynamics of Businesses on Indian Reservations: The Role of Space, Demographics, and Tribal Institutions

Richard Todd – Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

This research attempts to assess whether the business sector on American Indian reservations differs significantly from its off-reservation counterpart. Specifically, does the reservation business sector exhibit distinctly different spatial density, as well as entry, exit, and growth rate dynamics and technology, and if so, why? This project applies multivariate econometric models to relate the observed differences to spatial, demographic, and institutional factors. This research will also enhance existing Census Bureau business data by geocoding for reservation location.

Understanding the Relationships between the School Breakfast Program and Food Insecurity

Jason Fletcher – University of Wisconsin; David Frisvold – University of Iowa

The main objective of this project is to produce new causal evidence of the importance of the School Breakfast Program (SBP) in reducing food insecurity in school-aged children. This research also examines whether the SBP cushions the impacts of high food prices on food insecurity in families and whether the SBP has been effective in dampening the rise in food insecurity during the recent recession.

How Long Will They Stay? Foreign-Born Outmigration from U.S. Destinations

Jack DeWaard – University of Minnesota

This project develops and analyzes a set of new summary measures of foreign-born internal migration and settlement within the United States, providing new information on the growing foreign-born populations and their characteristics. Prior research has examined whether and why foreign-born populations migrate internally within the United States, as well as documented to where foreign-born populations go if they do migrate. However, the existing research has not addressed the question of exactly how long foreign-born populations can be expected to settle in U.S. locations. The temporal dynamics and stability of foreign-born populations in the United States have direct implications for local labor markets, education, health, and social services. They are likewise implicated in a number of social and political processes, including intergroup relations and civic participation. Using both publicly available data and restricted access data from the Decennial Censuses and American Community Survey multiyear file, the project develops a set of multiregional population estimates summarizing the expected (average) duration of settlement for 12 foreign-born groups.

Measuring Income and Poverty from a Multi-Year Perspective

Sarena Goodman – Columbia University; Joshua Mitchell – U.S. Census Bureau; Jeffrey Liebman – Harvard University; Clara Zverina – Harvard University

This project examines the value of supplementing official Census Bureau measures of poverty, income, and the income distribution with measures based on multiple years of income, potentially up to an individual’s entire lifetime. The research studies how perspectives of income inequality and the career paths of low-wage workers differ, when viewed from an annual and a lifetime perspective. It also analyzes how the distributional impacts of the Social Security system and the tax system (including the Earned Income Tax Credit) differ when viewed from a lifetime perspective rather than from an annual perspective. This research aims to produce a comprehensive analysis of the impact of government tax and transfer programs on the lifetime income distribution, incorporating components such as TANF and SSI not yet modeled from a lifetime perspective. This research will also analyze how a multi-year approach alters measures of poverty among the elderly. Finally, this research extends a micro-simulation model of the Social Security system to incorporate some limited behavioral responses.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship with a Focus on Latino Entrepreneurship

Craig Carpenter – Michigan State University; Myriam Quispe-Agnoli – University of Georgia; Anil Rupasingha – Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

This research investigates the factors associated with the location and dynamics of Latino-owned businesses (LOB) and the effects of LOB on local economic performance, with comparisons to businesses owned by Asians, blacks, and native whites. Using data from the 2002 and 2007 Survey of Business Owners, this study examines the dynamics of LOB, measured in terms of business start-ups, growth, and closure using firm/establishments and employment, and examines the effects of LOB on income growth, employment growth, changes in poverty, and population growth in local communities in the United States. U.S. Census Bureau Research at the Center for Economic Studies and the Research Data Centers: 2014 53