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on Urban Economics and Policy |
| By: | Ariel J. Binder; Max Risch; John L. Voorheis |
| Abstract: | We document the intergenerational mobility of housing capital in the United States using a new dataset linking Decennial Census data to administrative property and income-tax records for over 3.4 million families. We find that housing capital is substantially more persistent across generations than earnings. Moreover, the gap in housing capital between White and Black children widens sharply across the parental distribution, more so than the earnings gap. Using a capital accumulation and transmission framework, we study how assets and earnings jointly shape intergenerational housing capital persistence. Less than half of this persistence operates through children's earnings, leaving substantial scope for direct transmissions of capital assets and knowledge. Differences in earnings explain most of the White-Black housing gap at the bottom of the parental distribution, but less than half at the top. Finally, we present quasi-experimental evidence that local housing supply constraints amplify intergenerational persistence by widening homeownership gaps between children from lower- and higher-resource families. Together, our findings indicate that economic resources are more concentrated across generations than studies focused on income alone would imply. |
| JEL: | D31 E24 O18 R31 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35256 |
| By: | Binder, Ariel (U.S. Census Bureau); Risch, Max (Carnegie Mellon, Tepper School of Business); Voorheis, John (Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau) |
| Abstract: | We provide new county-level estimates of intergenerational mobility, covering multiple economic concepts: total income, labor income, homeownership, housing wealth, and total wealth. This is possible via small-area estimation techniques and linked survey and administrative data covering millions of U.S. children born between 1978 and 1986. We find that relative mobility in wealth concepts shows less spatial clustering and more spatial variation than relative mobility in income concepts. Many cities and their suburbs exhibit lower relative mobility (i.e. higher intergenerational persistence) in wealth concepts than in income concepts. Next, we show that various local characteristics are associated with some concepts of economic mobility but not with others. For example, we estimate a strong negative association between the local severity of the Great Recession and child income, regardless of parent position in the income distribution. However, the negative association between recession severity and wealth only exists among children from poorer families. We provide a public-use data package to facilitate further research. |
| Keywords: | housing markets, intergenerational mobility, homeownership, wealth, income, Great Recession |
| JEL: | E24 O18 R31 D31 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18651 |
| By: | Berlinski, Samuel; Giannola, Michele |
| Abstract: | We study the relative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and interaction of family- and school-based learning interventions using a randomized controlled trial in Colombia that assigns children to a parental engagement program, a teacher professional development program, both, or a control group. Both interventions are grounded in a child-centered learning approach that emphasizes active engagement and the progression from informal to formal mathematical understanding. Each intervention independently generates sizable and statistically similar gains in early numeracy (0.17 and 0.20). Combining them produces no additional learning gains, suggesting that the two interventions act as substitutes over the time horizon and skill domain we study. When benefits accruing to future cohorts are taken into account, the teacher development program becomes at least as cost-effective as the parental engagement intervention. Our results suggest that, in this setting, strategically concentrating resources on a single binding constraint either at home or in school maximizes the short-run learning gains per dollar spent. |
| JEL: | I21 I25 O15 J13 C93 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14613 |
| By: | Ratra, Vastav; Harman, Oliver; Bhimsaria, Shruti; Dobermann, Tim |
| Abstract: | India’s development hinges on the interaction between urbanisation, rural transformation, and migration, which together shape economic growth, inclusion, and climate resilience. • Urban areas are growing rapidly but face infrastructure, governance, and environmental challenges, while rural regions struggle with stagnant incomes and limited opportunities. • Migration serves as both a coping mechanism and a pathway to opportunity, but migrants face systemic barriers in cities, especially in accessing services and protections. • Local governance institutions are under-equipped to manage complex transitions, with gaps in planning, service delivery, and fiscal autonomy. • Urban poverty needs to be better understood, especially as migration places increasing pressure on city systems. To ensure cities can accommodate expanding populations while promoting equity, they must be better equipped to deliver affordable housing, inclusive public services, and dignified livelihoods. This paper calls for integrated, evidence-based policies and research to address cross-cutting issues and support inclusive, climate-resilient development across urban and rural India. |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2025–07–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:138623 |
| By: | Bharti, Nitin (University of Western Australia); Malik, Samreen (New York University, Abu Dhabi); Mukhopadhyay, Abhiroop (Indian Statistical Institute); Prakash, Nishith (Northeastern University) |
| Abstract: | Despite near-universal school enrollment across many developing economies, the provision of quality education that cultivates lifelong learning and the capacity to apply knowledge in novel circumstances remains elusive. We conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 132 public schools in Uttar Pradesh, India, to evaluate a guided, discovery-based science pedagogy at two intensity levels: a high-intensity Mobile Science Lab (MSL) and a lower-intensity Lab on Bike (LoB). MSL improves motivational beliefs and self-confidence by 0.15--0.18 standard deviations, reduces perceived barriers to education by 0.23 standard deviations, raises engagement by 0.17--0.22 standard deviations, and increases standardized test scores by 0.22--0.34 standard deviations across all subjects. LoB produces limited average effects, with gains concentrated among students completing all sessions. These findings demonstrate that pedagogical design and delivery intensity are critical determinants of multidimensional human capital formation, and that discovery-based pedagogy can shift motivational beliefs, engagement, and achievement in low-capacity public school systems. |
| Keywords: | Experiential Pedagogy, Curiosity, Student Engagement, Randomized Controlled Trial, Human Capital, India |
| JEL: | C93 D83 I21 I24 O15 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18677 |
| By: | ZENAGUI, Sid Ahmed |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a spatial Overlapping Generations (OLG) model to analyze the interactions between human capital, environmental quality, and regional dynamics in shaping intergenerational quality of life (QoL) across European regions from 2000 to 2025. Using a rich dataset of regional economic, social, and environmental indicators harmonized at the NUTS-2 level, the model incorporates human capital and pollution spillovers, household utility, and regional policy interventions. Empirical results reveal that intergenerational persistence of human capital and environmental externalities significantly influence long-term welfare, while spatial interactions reinforce core–periphery disparities. Counterfactual simulations of education investments, carbon pricing, green R&D, and EU cohesion policies demonstrate that integrated multi-sector interventions maximize aggregate welfare, reduce inequality, and enhance spatial convergence. The findings highlight important policy trade-offs across generations and underscore the relevance of coordinated environmental, educational, and redistribution policies for sustainable and equitable regional development. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Quality of Life, Human Capital, Environmental Externalities, Spatial Spillovers, Overlapping Generations Model, EU Regional Policy |
| JEL: | A10 O1 O47 |
| Date: | 2026–03–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:128732 |
| By: | Devos, Louise (Ghent University); Lippens, Louis (Ghent University); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Verhaeghe, Pieter-Paul (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) |
| Abstract: | While extensive empirical research documents discrimination in labour and housing markets, comparative insights between these markets remain limited. We address this gap by juxtaposing levels of discrimination across five legally protected grounds - race and ethnicity, sex and gender, health and disability, sexual orientation, and social origin - in both markets. We apply hierarchical Bayesian meta-regressions to global data from correspondence audit studies conducted from 2000 to 2024. In doing so, we account for the metadata’s multilevel structure, including study, group, location and time components. Our meta-analysis uncovers structural differences in discrimination, with racial and ethnic discrimination being greatest in the labour market and discrimination based on social origin being highest in the housing market. Frequentist robustness checks that address publication bias yield comparable findings. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, correspondence audits, meta-analysis, housing market, labour market |
| JEL: | J71 J15 J16 J14 R31 C93 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18673 |
| By: | Johannes Kochems (University of Cologne); Jakob Schmidhäuser (ZEW Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the local economic impacts of troop deployments. We exploit variation from the historic large-scale US troop withdrawal from Germany triggered by the end of the Cold War, to estimate the effect on local labor markets and public finances. We use administrative data provided by the US Department of Defense to quantify the size of the troop withdrawal at the municipal level. Using a synthetic difference-in-differences estimator, we find negative effects on local labor markets: for each withdrawn US soldier, the number of local jobs decreases by 0.53. The decrease in economic activity results in a reduction of revenues which municipalities balance by lowering their expenditures, while increasing business and property tax multipliers. In individual-level analyses, we document that workers displaced by the closure of a US military base have persistently lower employment rates. Moreover, their daily wages remain around 9.2 percent lower fifteen years after the layoff. The negative impact on labor outcomes is particularly pronounced for women, older workers, and those employed in regions with more unfavorable initial labor market conditions. |
| Keywords: | Military base closure, local labor markets, worker displacement, fiscal multipliers, spatial spillovers, public finance |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J63 H56 H71 H72 R11 R51 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:413 |
| By: | Mengying Cui; Lijie Yu; Zhe Dai; Ang Ji; Keyue Liu; David Levinson (TransportLab, School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | This study conducts a line-based accessibility analysis of high-speed railway (HSR) network expansion in the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration of China based on a multi-modal inter-city network. We propose an improved accessibility indicator that integrates opportunities and transport networks from neighboring regions, overcoming the artificial inequities inherent in traditional methods that restrict destination and route selections to rigid study area boundaries. The results reveal that the HSR network in the study area is still in the growth phase, with accessibility gains following an S-shaped trajectory, and has not yet reached maturity. Future investments are expected to sustain improvements in accessibility and spatial equity. More importantly, the operational sequence of HSR lines is less significant than their individual contributions to accessibility and equity. This implies few, if any, synergies between the HSR lines and emphasizes the importance of strategic line placement over construction order in fostering efficient and equitable regional connections, particularly in emerging HSR networks. |
| Keywords: | transportation, accessibility, public transport, transport networks |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:paper-2026-01 |
| By: | Mansourihanis, Omid; Wang, Xuantong |
| Abstract: | Why do some urban neighborhoods walk while others drive, even when their physical environments appear similar? This study demonstrates that travel mode choice is fundamentally a coordination problem rather than an infrastructure capacity problem. Using a game-theoretic framework calibrated directly from observed commute behavior across all 33, 054 census blocks in Chicago, we show that neighbors’ walking behavior exerts a dominant influence on individual mode choice—outweighing the combined effects of density, safety, land use, and accessibility. We estimate utility functions via maximum likelihood logistic regression on American Community Survey data and solve for Nash equilibria at the block level. Results reveal that 93.5% of blocks are in transitional (off-equilibrium) states: approximately 31% exhibit walk-favored structural conditions but remain suppressed by coordination failures, representing high-leverage intervention targets, while 63% are transitioning toward automobile lock-in. Spatial analysis exposes stark environmental injustice—walkable hotspots cluster in the wealthy North Side and downtown, while car-dependent coldspots dominate the South and West sides. These findings establish that walking spreads as a social contagion through strategic complementarities, and that concentrated interventions achieving critical mass generate substantially higher returns than dispersed investments. The study provides a validated, spatially explicit framework for identifying tipping points and targeting active transport policies to maximize modal shift and advance environmental equity. |
| Date: | 2026–05–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ye6hf_v1 |
| By: | Bian, Xun; Jiang, Hanchen |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of severe health shocks, caused by first-time strokes, heart attacks, and cancer diagnoses, on housing tenure choices in the United States. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate a value-added model that controls for pre-shock housing tenure, health status, and an extensive set of individual and household characteristics. We find that experiencing a severe health shock significantly reduces the probability of homeownership by about 2.1 percentage points. This effect remains robust when further controlling for pre-shock disability, healthcare expenditures, and household fixed effects. Furthermore, we show that our results are mainly driven by pre-shock owners exiting from homeownership after the shock, while there is no effect among pre-shock renters. When focusing on exits from homeownership, we also find that the effects are particularly salient among less affluent, older, and unmarried families. Exploring potential mechanisms, we show that health shocks tighten financial constraints by increasing healthcare expenditures and reducing labor supply and labor income. |
| Keywords: | health shocks, housing tenure choices, homeownership, United States |
| JEL: | I10 R21 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1766 |
| By: | Lordan, Grace; Mcguire, Alistair |
| Abstract: | Through a cluster randomised field trial, we evaluate the impact of an evidence-based, soft skills curriculum aimed at adolescents, referred to as Healthy Minds, that ran in 35 high schools in England over four years (2013/14 – 2017/18). We find supportive evidence that Healthy Minds positively augments the primary outcome of self-reported physical health in the treated adolescents. Treated pupils have global health attainment that is 0.235 standard deviations higher than children in the control group, resulting in a 10-percentile increase in their measured health status. We also find evidence of positive impacts on behaviour. There is no evidence of impacts on improved emotional wellbeing. We note significant gender differences in the effects found, strongly favouring boys. Overall, we provide strong evidence that a designed, taught life skills curriculum can improve related outcomes during the adolescent years, and that differential learning styles across visible aspects of diversity are worthy of consideration Healthy Minds. |
| Keywords: | health; soft skills; high school curriculum; adolescent education |
| JEL: | I18 I20 |
| Date: | 2026–05–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128806 |
| By: | Clark, Stephen; Newing, Andy |
| Abstract: | The traditional fish and chip shop is an important part of the food environment in many UK neighbourhoods. However, rising costs, changing tastes and competition have resulted in fish and chip shop closures, with some alarmist predictions that up to half of all shops could close in a single year. Using Points of Interest data and multilevel modelling, we look beyond the headlines and model trends in fish and chip shop provision by neighbourhood type between 2022 and 2025. We identify an overall decline in the number of shops yet find no evidence to support the predictions of widespread closures. However, closures have been unevenly spread across neighbourhood types, with the greatest decline in deprived and ethnically diverse urban areas, and less impact on some more affluent neighbourhoods with older populations. Although some adaption may be needed to maintain viable amidst rising costs, our findings suggest that the traditional fish and chip shop remains an important part of the food environment in many neighbourhoods. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of robust data driven insight when considering the changing provision of services and comment on how these approaches could be applied in other contexts. |
| Date: | 2026–05–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:n43zw_v1 |