In hundreds of communities across northern New England, the population is aging rapidly and becoming smaller. The entire country is aging, but northern New England stands out: Among the populations of all US states, those of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have the top-three highest median ages, respectively. The situation is even more extreme in northern New England’s rural counties, where the populations of the smallest towns generally are substantially older than those of the rest of the region. These communities also have seen the slowest, or even negative, population growth over the last three decades. As the populations of the rural regions become older and smaller, policymakers are concerned about the ability of the local communities to maintain their labor force, sustain local businesses and the tax base, and provide care for the growing number of senior residents. This regional brief explores changes in the size and age of the populations of the cities and towns in the three northern New England states. It also considers the role immigration plays in sustaining the stability and growth of those populations.

Social scientists have documented vast racial disparities in labor market outcomes such as hiring and firing decisions, compensation, and opportunities for occupational advancement. Yet little is known about the racial patterning of job displacement (permanent involuntary layoffs), a remarkably common labor market outcome. Using data from the Displaced Worker Survey, covering nearly four decades of displacements, 1981-2017, we provide the first systematic analysis of Black/white displacement disparities. We find that Black workers were nearly always more likely to be displaced than whites, but the Black/white disparity has grown over time, with excess Black displacement doubling for women and tripling for men since the 1990s. Additionally, during the 1990s, being Black replaced lacking a college degree as the better predictor of displacement. To evaluate whether these disparities are explained by compositional differences—i.e. whether Black workers were more likely to be employed in displacement-prone jobs than whites—we decompose Black-white displacement disparities by job characteristics including occupation, industry, and public vs. private sector, and indexes reflecting displacement risk and job quality. The results support arguments that the public sector has become less protective for Black workers, but generally provide scant evidence that compositional differences explain the rise of racial disparities in displacement.

Big data is a collection of large volumes of data sets which are more complicated to analyze using standard data processing methods. It also emphasizes parameters like data variety and velocity data. Big data will play a most significant role in our daily life regarding applications like healthcare electronic commerce, agriculture, telecommunication, government, and financial trading. In the agriculture domain, big data is an optimal method to increase the productivity of farming by gathering and processing information like plant growth, farmland monitoring, greenhouse gases monitoring, climate change, soil monitoring and so forth. Virtualization is an emerging technique that can be combined with big data in agriculture. Virtualization has been used extensively in research for a long time, the term “virtual” entities affecting a real-life form. In agriculture, it has many more physical objects, sensors, and devices. This physical object is virtualized and has digital representation to store, communicate and process via the internet. The information from the virtual object has a large volume of data which helps meaningful data analysis or aspects to make application services like decision making, problem notification, and information handling. This paper provides a comprehensive review of big data virtualization in the agriculture domain. The virtualization methodology, and tools used by many researchers is surveyed.

This dissertation investigates parental decision making during early childhood. I aim to study how policy can influence parental time investments in children and how cultural norms can influence parental leave take up and early care and education program participation. The first chapter focuses on how the California Paid Family Leave policy influenced the amount of time and type of activities parents perform with their children. The second chapter examines how norms regarding paid parental leave impact parental leave take up in the US. Similarly, the third chapter explores how norms regarding childcare influence childcare attendance.

A wealth of research has documented the importance of human capital for economic growth and development. While much of this body of research focuses on estimating the relationship between some economic outcome and, generally, levels of educational attainment, a subsidiary corpus of research has developed that focuses on documenting and explaining the geographic variation in human capital stocks that exists. The popular press, in its turn, has also adopted human capital stocks as a proxy for urban and regional vibrancy. Little attention has focused on what, in fact, constitutes a talent or human capital magnet and how different measures of a seemingly straightforward concept might not only generate different results, but might also be capturing more than simply levels of educational attainment. This paper uses data on educational attainment-the share of the population with at least a college degree-for U.S. metropolitan areas in 2000 and 2010 to conceptualize what is meant by a human capital or talent magnet and to highlight a few ways in which results might be driven by definition and measure. Of particular interest are the roles of age structure, migration, and relative performance.

Scholars argue that after the 1968 Fair Housing Act the Black middle class increasingly moved out of impoverished Black communities leaving them with fewer social and economic resources which in turn compounded the negative effects of generational poverty, criminal behavior, and civic unrest. Empirical substantiations of this claim rely on data collected between 1970 and 1990. Although part of the story, this limited timeframe cannot illuminate how the Civil Rights changed residential patterns or the larger historical trajectories. Embracing a broader historical prospective, the present study empirically examines Blacks residential patterns from 1960 to 2015. Using the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series’ National Historical Geographic Information System, we find changes between 1970 and 1990 are not representative of larger trends. Black middle class residents are more integrated into Black communities in 2015 than 1960. We discuss the implications of these results for social theory and public policy.

Latinos in Woodburn are transforming the downtown area via their generative placemaking efforts. They have saved the historic Main Street by investing in small businesses, helping to establish a Latino-themed downtown public plaza, and adding a multicultural flair to the town. The generative placemaking that has transpired in Woodburn is also currently occurring in other Latino new growth destinations around the country (Sandoval and Maldonado 2012; Trabalzi and Sandoval 2010). We argue that Latino business owners in downtown Woodburn have relied on generative placemaking strategies, which strengthen cultural resiliency, to overcome the town's racialized climate and challenge the towns' regulative planning institutions that have characterized their downtown Latino business community as "blighted".

In this paper, I jointly investigate the political and the economic effects of immigration, and study the causes of anti-immigrant sentiments. I exploit exogenous variation in European immigration to US cities between 1910 and 1930 induced by World War I and the Immigration Acts of the 1920s, and instrument immigrants’ location decision relying on pre-existing settlement patterns. I find that immigration triggered hostile political reactions, such as the election of more conservative legislators, higher support for anti-immigration legislation, and lower redistribution. Exploring the causes of natives’ backlash, I document that immigration increased natives’ employment, spurred industrial production, and did not generate losses even among natives working in highly exposed sectors. These findings suggest that opposition to immigration was unlikely to have economic roots. Instead, I provide evidence that natives’ political discontent was increasing in the cultural differences between immigrants and natives. Results in this paper indicate that, even when diversity is economically beneficial, it may nonetheless be socially hard to manage.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive, debilitating respiratory condition and currently the third leading cause of death in the United States (1). Though over 11 million people have been diagnosed with COPD, many more have undiagnosed disease (1). This number is projected to increase further as America’s population ages. COPD is increasingly being recognized as a major health problem in America’s multicultural black population. Until recent studies such as COPDGene (Genetic Study of the Epidemiology of COPD) (2), which recruited a significant number of black individuals, there have not been many COPD studies inclusive enough of the black population in America to understand how the disease affects or may differ in the black population. Furthermore, evidence indicates that the prevalence and morbidity of COPD vary widely among U.S.-born black individuals versus black immigrants. This brings into question the validity of current knowledge, which largely refers to all “U.S. blacks” as a homogeneous “African American” populace in a majority of studies. This assumption ignores the variations in socioeconomic status, tobacco or biomass smoke exposure, behaviors, access to health care, health insurance coverage, and disease management among black individuals in America.

In a post manufacturing economy, many cities that have lost their industrial bases have fallen off the map as a destination for investment. As cities evolved, tourism emerged as an alternative source of revenue to supplement manufacturing decline. In addition, large events have come to be viewed as catalysts for urban regeneration. Over the years, Bridgeport has featured several cultural attractions, including the Connecticut Beardsley Zoo, Barnum Museum, and its Ballpark at Harbor Yard. While these attractions have served to cater to visitors year-round, they do little to set the City apart in terms of urban competitiveness. To address this, Bridgeport C.T. has chosen to incorporate event tourism into their strategic plan through the hosting of the Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival at Seaside Park. 1 1999 marked the first year that the Gathering of the Vibes Festival was hosted by the City. The “Gathering of the Vibes” (GOTV) festival is a four-day event that occurred annually from 1996 to 2015. During its infancy, the festival was held at various locations including SUNY Purchase, Red Hook and Mariaville. The GOTV first came to Bridgeport in 1999 but was forced to relocate in 2001 to allow for renovations to be made to Seaside Park. In 2007, with support from the City, the GOTV came back to Bridgeport where it settled into its official home at Seaside. The event was eventually discontinued in 2015 after a series of complications. This paper will serve to highlight the history of the City and the GOTV while exploring the lasting impacts the event has had on the image of the City and its community.

The ability to hold a job is crucial to economic success and overall wellbeing, and it may be particularly important at midlife when people accumulate the majority of their retirement savings. Studies that focus only on the contemporaneous correlates of employment status ignore the pre-labor market factors that prepare people for work across the life course. Using High School & Beyond sophomore cohort (HS&B:SO), we find that individuals’ math-related skills and locus of control at the end of high school are related to their employment status at midlife. The connections between skills in adolescence and employment at midlife operate partially through educational attainment and employment experiences but maintain an independent relationship, as well. These findings suggest that pre-labor market skills not only sort individuals into higher education and occupations but also may enable them to adapt to their circumstances to maintain an attachment to the workforce as they age.

Few studies have described the association between maternal HIV status and child malnutrition in Zimbabwe over time [1][2][3]. Using data from the 2005-2006, 2010-2011, and 2015 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in Zimbabwe, we compared child stuntedness, underweight, and wasting status between HIV-positive and negative mothers using survey-weighted logistic regression[4]. The adjusted model found that in 2005-2006, children of mothers who were HIV positive were more likely to be stunted (Prevalence Difference (PD)=0.06; 95%CI=0.02 to 0.10; P=0.005) and underweight (PD=0.06; 95%CI=0.02 to 0.09; P=0.001) than children of mothers who were HIV negative. In 2010-2011, boys of mothers who were HIV positive were more likely to be stunted (PD=0.10; 95%CI=0.02 to 0.18; P=0.005) than boys of mothers who were HIV negative. In 2015, there was no association between child malnourishment and maternal HIV status. Overall, there is a decreasing trend in the impact of maternal HIV status on child malnourishment. Introduction There is substantive evidence to support an association between the health of the mother and subsequent child malnourishment [5][6][7][8]. However, few studies have described the change in the association between mother's HIV status and malnutrition over time [9][10][11]. We look at Zimbabwe, where interventions to roll out HIV prevention and treatment have been promoted by public and private sector actors, nongovernmental organizations, formal and informal institutions, and intergovernmental organizations that might impact the effect of HIV on child growth. Therefore, this study addressed the gap in the literature of understanding changes in the effect of maternal HIV status on child growth in Zimbabwe over time.

This thesis will study how transportation systems facilitate commuting, affect labour market outcomes and alter the urban spatial equilibriums of workers and firms. Workers living in cities benefit from spatial proximity to local job opportunities. The ability of workers to access the labour market is enabled by existing public and private transportation networks. Transportation policy that expands the set of opportunities faced by workers could help overcome spatial matching problems and generate welfare improvements. The first study in this thesis estimates the causal effect of New York City’s subway system on neighbourhood unemployment rates. I show that a reduction in public transportation access leads to a rise in the local unemployment rate. The second study analyses light rail transit systems in four US cities. While light rail can generate benefits in terms of improving the transportation network, induced household sorting has important consequences regarding the distribution of benefits. The third study examines the general consequences of increasing commuter mobility in US cities. Results show exogenous increases in mobility increase urban sprawl and do not result in improvements in aggregate metropolitan labour market outcomes.

We tested how social class relates to a propensity for wise reasoning in interpersonal situations. Two studies—a survey from regions differing in economic affluence and an in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds—examined this question, indicating that higher class consistently related to lower wise reasoning. The results held across different levels of analysis (regional, individual, and subjective), personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across selfreported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for IQ. Class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) issues, consistent with ecological framework of resourcedependent environmental adaptation.

Many policy makers, scholars, and advocates expect that paid family leave programs will improve household economic security in the period following a birth. Yet empirical evidence of this relationship remains limited. To build evidence in this area, this study draws on 2000–2013 American Community Survey data and a quasi-experimental design to estimate the influence of California’s paid family leave program (CA-PFL) on mothers’ risk of poverty and household income following a birth. Among mothers of 1-year-olds, results suggest that CA-PFL decreases risk of poverty in the prior year by an estimated 10.2 percent and increases household income over the same period by an estimated 4.1 percent. Gains concentrate among less-educated and low-income single mothers, who tend to have few other supports for combining employment and caregiving. Findings suggest that paid family leave can be an effective policy option to bolster economic security when children are young.

I estimate the effect of school desegregation on long-run economic outcomes by studying a natural experiment in Jefferson County, KY. In 1975, the district, under a court order, developed a unique busing assignment plan to merge the majority-white County district and the majority-black City district. Under this plan, students were assigned to be bused to new schools (versus stay at their home school and have new students bused in) based on their race and the first letter of their last name. Using this plausibly conditional random as- signment and confidential data from the US Census Bureau, I find black students assigned busing to former County schools live in better neighborhoods (e.g. neighborhoods with higher tract-level income) at adulthood than black students assigned to remain in former City schools. This effect is strongest for students bused in earlier grades and is increasing in the total number of years a student is assigned busing. Busing assignment has small to zero effect on white students. I explore the implications of white disenrollment from the district (i.e. “white flight”) by using a novel dataset of archival yearbook records. I find the effect for white students remains small even after preliminary accounting for disenrollment. These results suggest that school desegregation in this setting had positive long-run effects for black students by giving them access to better schools (e.g. schools with more capital investment, more credentialed teachers, lower drop-out rates, etc.).

Population censuses, conducted every 10 years, aim at a complete enumeration of those who live in Greece at a given moment, and also intended to yield picture of the inhabitants’ demographic, economic and other characteristics. In detail, the censuses of population and housing in Greece have three main targets (Redfern 1987): a. To provide official figures of population b. The census serves the constitutional function of counting the people that are registered as electors in each Nomos (prefecture). These figures determine the each area’s representation in the National Parliament c. The census provides statistics of the demographics, social and economic characteristics of the population and statistics of housing at national and local levels. The government body that organizes and conducts the censuses in Greece is the . . .

This paper is about the people who moved to California between 1935 and 1940, asking questions about who they were, where they came from, and how migrants to California differed to people moving elsewhere. Much of the lore of migration in this era focuses on people leaving the drought-stricken southern U.S. Plains to work in cotton and vegetable fields in California. Despite the historical endurance of this image, significant numbers of people were leaving large cities to move westward, and rapidly growing cities in California were attracting more people than their hinterlands. The precise nature of these migration dynamics are crucial to understanding the development of California and the changing demography of the United States in the 1930s. The paper makes use of data from the digital full-count version of the U.S. Census of 1940, made available by the IPUMS project at the University of Minnesota, which asked where people enumerated in 1940 had lived five years earlier, in 1935. The main findings of this paper are that while migrants to California resembled their counterparts moving elsewhere, they were disproportionately young, white and less educated, and were more likely to originate in areas affected by drought. This paper concludes that the environmental shocks of the 1930s interrupted the longer-term system of migration that built modern California by temporarily shifting its population to one that was younger, less-well educated, and more agricultural in origin.

We present experimental evidence on the effects of four U.S. job search assistance programs for unemployed youth during the Great Recession. Results show that all four programs reduced Unemployment Insurance (UI) duration and the benefit amounts collected by youth participants, with savings exceeding program costs. The three programs that included monitoring activities and services referrals but did not mandate services participation had little or no effects on employment and earnings. This suggests that the primary effect of these programs was to cause the early UI exits of unemployed youth with no loss of earnings. The program that combined monitoring with mandatory job counseling increased employment rates and earnings, suggesting that job counseling can help unemployed youth to improve their job search efficacy. We conclude that, during recessions, job search assistance programs should focus primarily on providing job counseling and provide less emphasis on monitoring activities for unemployed youth.

This paper is motivated by a distinctive appreciation of the difficulties posed by quantitative observational inquiry into complex social and economic systems. It develops ordinary and piecewise indices of joint and incremental informational association that enable robust approaches to a common problem in social inquiry: grappling with associations between a quantity of interest and two distinct sets of co-variates taking values over large numbers of individuals. The distinct analytical usefulness of these indices is illustrated with their application to inquiry into the systemic economic effects of patterns of discrimination by social identity in the U.S. economy.