This paper documents, for the first time, municipality- and occupation-level estimates of income inequality between individuals in a European country in the nineteenth century, using a combination of several detailed data sets for Norway in the late 1860s. Urban incomes were on average 4.5 times as high as rural incomes, and the average city Gini coefficient was twice the average rural municipality Gini. All high- or medium-income occupation groups exhibited substantial within-occupation income inequality. Across municipalities, income inequality is higher in high-income municipalities, and lower in muncipalities with high levels of fisheries and pastoral agriculture. While manufacturing activity is positively correlated with income inequality, the association is not apparent when other economic factors such as the mode of food production is accounted for. The income Gini for Norway as a whole is found to have been 0.546, slightly higher than estimates for the UK and US in the same period.

This paper examines the relationship between immigrants' genetic diversity and economic development in the United States during the late nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, a period commonly referred to as the age of mass migration from Europe to the New World. Our panel model estimates show that during this period, immigrants' genetic diversity is significantly positively correlated with measures of U.S. counties' economic development. There exists also a significant positive relationship between immigrants' genetic diversity in 1870 and contemporaneous measures of U.S. counties' average income.

The internal migration and settlement patterns of immigrants have long been of interest in assessing immigrant outcomes. Here, I use U.S. census microdata from 1940, 1970, and 2000 to analyse the changing relationships between secondary migration, immigrant concentration, and earnings outcomes. By simultaneous estimation of models for those who undertake internal migration and those who do not, the endogenous switching regressions employed here relate individual and place characteristics to earnings outcomes through the mechanism of selective migration. Investigating how these relationships change over time and between generations, as well as the differing relevance of overall mobility versus intercounty migration, contributes to theoretical perspectives on spatial assimilation and secondary migration. The critical finding is that immigrant concentration at destination is positively associated with wage outcomes for movers, although remaining in immigrant concentrations can have negative effects. Effects are more significant for those undertaking larger scale moves and more consistent over time. Women and less educated individuals who move show diminished earnings disadvantages. These findings suggest that it is useful to think about migration as a strategy through which immigrants respond to vulnerability and that the advantages or disadvantages of immigrant context are related to selective migration. Additionally, the characteristics experienced by a previous immigrant generation in situ suggest that the salience of immigrant geography emerges over time, as metros with high immigrant wages and educational levels continue to attract immigrants and their offspring decades later.

This paper studies to what extent gender differences in commuting patterns explain the observed disparities between husband and wife in relation to earnings and wages. It is argued that the cost of commuting is higher for women because they bear a disproportionate share of housework and child-rearing responsibilities. Therefore, female workers tend to work relatively close to home. A ‘job location wage gap’ emerges because jobs located away from the central business district offer lower wages. Using pooled data from the American Community Survey, the results indicate that 10% of the gender pay gap among childless workers and more than 23% of the wage decline attributed to being a mother (“child pay penalty”) are explained by sex differences in commuting patterns. A conditional Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition indicates that short commutes are strongly associated with working in low-paying occupations and industries.

This paper examines the relationship between crime and an individual’s decision to migrate to another state. The study is based in the United States and spans from 2011 to 2015. The samples used in this study are interstate migrants. The findings reveal that the ratios of violent and property crimes between the origin and the destination are associated with migration. The study finds that higher number of violent crime at the destination discourages migrants to move out of their original state. However, people tend to move out although it has a higher number of property crime at the destination state. The different perceptions of crime severity between violent and property crimes may have an impact on individual’s decision to migrate. The study also investigates the heterogeneity of individual’s characteristics and their migration decision. The results reveal that migrants’ concern about crime does not depend on age, education level, or income level.

Differential privacy, due to its rigorous mathematical proof and strong privacy guarantee, has become a standard for the release of statistics on privacy protection. In the process of its continuous development, many data publishing algorithms that satisfy the differential privacy histogram are proposed. However, most of these algorithms are focused on the release of static data and less research on dynamic data release. A direct way of publishing dynamic data is to publish a histogram that satisfies the differential privacy at every time point, but this method can lead to high cumulative error and reduce the utility of datasets. In order to solve these problems, we propose a histogram publishing algorithm for differential privacy dynamic data based on Kullback-Leibler(KL) divergence. The algorithm uses KL divergence to calculate the difference between two adjacent data updates. At the same time, for the different values calculated by KL divergence, we adopt three strategies for dynamic data publishing. Extensive experiments on real datasets demonstrate that our algorithm can reduce noise errors and achieves better utility than existing state-of-the-art algorithms.

A system and method for partitioning a map into a plurality of disjoint regions each representing a respective continuous bounded geographic region , comprising : receiving a data set representing a geographic region having geographic varia tions , and a partitioning objective ; partitioning the data so that the partitioning objective is met , using a distinct con dition , to produce a plurality of partitioned geographic regions , dependent on at least the geographic variations and characteristics of the data and the initial condition . A plu rality of initial conditions or distinctness criteria applied to the partitioning as the distinct criterion , to produce a plu rality of different maps . The plurality of maps may then be compared according to a fitness criterion.

This paper explores how immigrants’ ethnic identification influences their occupational status attainment in the United States West Coast labor market. Data from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2013 are divided into ethnic categories to compare how immigrant workers fare vis-à-vis US-born workers. It uses educational attainment, immigration status, and English proficiency to predict the variance in occupational status between and within ethnic groups. The analysis is based on a nested three-block ordinary least squares regression (OLS), and an interacted model between the three main predictors and the ethnic group identifiers. The findings confirm the significant effect of education, immigration status, and English proficiency on occupational status scores. As expected, increases in education, holding a legal immigration status, and being fluent in English have positive effects on occupational status attainment, other things being equal. This positive relationship, however, is not equally manifested across ethnic groups. The study reveals that a significant percentage of these predictors’ explanatory power is lost among some ethnic groups, strongly suggesting a patterned and significant effect of labor market discrimination. Contrast analysis of the predictive margins of the four-way interacted model provides further evidence in support of negative exclusionary discrimination against some immigrant groups, especially Mexicans and Central Americans. This negative effect is especially evident among highly educated Mexicans and Central Americans, who, regardless of their legal status, and English fluency, tend to be more likely to work in lower status occupations than their immigrant counterparts. This finding questions previously established notions according to which maximizing human capital, 2 possessing legal immigrant status, and being fluent in English pave the way to the successful integration of immigrants into the U.S. labor market. This study, thus, provides much needed empirical evidence supporting some of the arguments put forward by the Racialization of Ethnicity theory

Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson owned at least seven slaves before the Civil War. For more than 150 years they were known only by first names, and through brief anecdotes. Albert, Amy, and Emma were purchased by Jackson. Hetty, and her sons Cyrus and George, and a teenager named Ann, were given to Jackson and his wife, Mary Anna (Anna) Morrison Jackson, by her father as a marriage dowry. Almost nothing was known about their lives after the war, after they gained freedom. The staff and volunteers of the Stonewall Jackson House museum wanted to learn more about them. What last names did they take? Where did they live? What did they do to earn a living? Did they marry and have children? Do they have living descendants? We have no photographs of them, no letters or journals that reflect their perspectives. Their humanity is referred to in passing through the documents and stories about Jackson’s life. They are seen dimly in the background, seemingly frozen in a time of slavery and war. Those of us who research and interpret history have the privilege, and the obligation, to tell the stories about the people who lived it. For these once enslaved people it is especially important for several reasons. To embrace their personal stories provides a better understanding of life in slaveholding Virginia on the eve of war. They were an integral part of Jackson’s life before he became a legend. Five of them lived in the Washington Street house, labored for him there, and worked with him in the garden and his 18 acre “lot” east of town. They had a closer personal connection to him than all but a few people. Learning more about them gives us a richer and fuller understanding of Jackson’s life and personality. Even more importantly, they deserve to have their stories told. Lastly, as Emerson put it, “there is properly no history, only biography.” It is difficult to comprehend the complexity and scope of historical events, especially something as abhorrent as slavery. We can never truly know what enslaved people experienced, but learning more about them as individuals helps us make a human connection. These individuals serve as representatives for the four million people who were enslaved when the war began. They are not special because the man who owned them came to be famous, but because he is famous their stories open a window to better understanding. The quest to learn more about them was sparked by a conversation with Grace Abele, the Site Director for the Stonewall Jackson House museum, in fall 2017. What followed was a genealogical and historical journey that uncovered the post-war lives of Hetty,3 George, and Emma, living close to Anna’s childhood home in North Carolina, 4 where the Jacksons married on July 16, 1857.5 The culmination of that journey was the honor that Grace and I had to meet some of their descendants. 2 The newly-discovered information, and the process for uncovering it, is set out in Section IV. Section II provides an overview of Jackson’s complex relationship with blacks. Section III updates and summarizes what was previously known about the enslaved people owned by Jackson. This paper is a snapshot of what is known at this point, a hopeful beginning to further discovery and understanding. Primary sources are used as much as possible, through both public records and the personal accounts of the Jacksons and their friends and family. It is a one-sided conversation to be sure, lacking the voice of the enslaved people. Some of the characterizations about blacks in these sources are crude and offensive to a modern reader, but using original sources is important to provide a meaningful perspective of that time and place.

Examines the relationship between demography and American education Includes coverage of the four most recent American historical periods: the Progressive Era, the Great Depression, the Post WWII Era, and the Post 1983 Era Offers a vital portrait of the US educational system over time

The long-term value of data can be dramatically affected, for better or worse, by how well those data are curated. Unfortunately, many valuable datasets are poorly curated, which contributes to errors, redundant effort, and obstacles to replication.. This chapter focuses on four primary challenges to data curation: (1) data integration, allowing interoperability across time and across data sources; (2) electronic dissemination, including online tools for data discovery and manipulation; (3) sustainability, including planning for long-run preservation and access, and the creation of persistent identifiers; and (4) metadata, machine-processable structured documentation. Best practices, including use of the standards for metadata, digital object identifiers, and preservation, are also discussed.

My dissertation investigates how economic growth is determined in the long run. To do this, I mainly focus on culture and institutions as fundamental growth factors and develop a general theoretical framework in which culture, institutions and growth are endogenously determined. Using the framework, I highlight the crucial role of the interaction between culture and institutions in the long-term growth.

We study the effects of European immigration to the United States during the Age of Mass Migration (1850–1920) on economic prosperity. Exploit cross-county variation in immigration arising from the interaction of fluctuations in aggregate immigrant flows and the gradual expansion of the railway network, we find that counties with more historical immigration have higher incomes, less poverty, less unemployment, higher rates of urbanization, and greater educational attainment today. The long-run effects seem to capture the persistence of short-run benefits, including greater industrialization, increased agricultural productivity, and more innovation.

We employ CPS data to analyze the sources of hourly real wage changes in the United States for 1976 to 2016 at various quantiles of the wage distribution. We account for the selection bias from the annual hours of work decision by developing and implementing an estimator for nonseparable selection models with censored selection rules. We then decompose wage changes into composition, structural and selection effects. Composition effects have increased wages at all quantiles but the patterns of wage changes are generally determined by the structural effects. Evidence of changes in the selection effects only appear at lower quantiles of the female wage distribution. These various components combine to produce a substantial increase in wage inequality. This increase has been exacerbated by the changes in females' working hours.

This should be the golden age of college for Black and Latino students;1 the share of Blacks and Latinos enrolled in college2 has finally aligned with their share of the college-age population. Since 1980, the Black college-going rate has nearly doubled, while the Latino college-going rate has more than doubled.3 As a result, the Black and Latino share of public college enrollment has grown from 15 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2015. However, those impressive college-going gains are not being matched by gains in college completion. Going to college isn’t enough. Getting a credential with labor market value is. Today, even with their elevated college-going rates, Black and Latino students are only about half as likely as Whites to attain a bachelor’s degree or higher. In fact, over the past 35 years, as Black and Latino college-going rates have climbed, the deficit in bachelor’s degree attainment between Whites and Blacks and Latinos has actually increased from 15 percentage points to 21 percentage points.4 A reason for the widening deficit: while White students inordinately attend selective four-year public colleges to pursue bachelor’s degrees, Black and Latino students in disproportionate numbers . . .

This paper explores the relationship between household income inequality and macroeconomic uncertainty in the United States. Using a novel large-scale macroeconometric model, we shed light on regional disparities of inequality responses to a national uncertainty shock. The results suggest that income inequality decreases in most states, with a pronounced degree of heterogeneity in terms of the dynamic responses. By contrast, some few states, mostly located in the Midwest, display increasing levels of income inequality over time. Forecast error variance and historical decompositions highlight the importance of uncertainty shocks in explaining income inequality in most regions considered. Finally, we explain differences in the responses of income inequality by means of a simple regression analysis. These regressions reveal that the income composition as well as labor market fundamentals determine the directional pattern of the dynamic responses.

As cities expand their jurisdictional borders via the process of municipal annexation, they sometimes leave low-income and minority enclaves perpetually excluded on the urban fringe, a process known as municipal underbounding. Despite a number of small-scale studies documenting the gerrymandering of municipal borders, robust empirical evidence of its extent is limited and little is known about the institutional factors that facilitate or stymie efforts to underbound poor and minority communities. In this article, a metropolitan area matching design is used to measure the effect of state annexation laws and federal protection of voting rights under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act on municipal underbounding between 1990 and 2010 in the United States. The analysis finds that laws that facilitate participation by city residents in annexation decisions lead to the underbounding of black neighborhoods, whereas those that provide third-party oversight of annexation decisions or expand opportunities for participation by residents living on the fringe lead to the inclusion of black neighborhoods. There is little evidence that such patterns of underbounding are driven by economic or fiscal considerations. In light of the 2013 invalidation by the Supreme Court of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, there is likely a nascent return to racial gerrymandering of municipal borders occurring in the South, particularly in states where city residents are granted some measure of influence over annexation. The results suggest the need for renewed attention to local government boundary changes and their role in facilitating and exacerbating racial discrimination.

The Bartik instrument is formed by interacting local industry shares and national industry growth rates. We show that the typical use of a Bartik instrument assumes a pooled exposure research design, where the shares measure differential exposure to common shocks, and identification is based on exogeneity of the shares. Next, we show how the Bartik instrument weights each of the exposure designs. Finally, we discuss how to assess the plausibility of the research design. We illustrate our results through three applications: estimating the elasticity of labor supply, estimating local labor market effects of Chinese imports, and estimating the elasticity of substitution between immigrants and natives.

Social science data collection leans heavily on longitudinal surveys with some of NSF’s most important surveys being entirely longitudinal or having important longitudinal components. The Current Population Survey re-interviews respondents but does not exploit its longitudinal feature as much as it could. Whenever longitudinal studies come up, one of the first topics is attrition. I argue here that longitudinal surveys, even with attrition, are cost-effective and that the typical metric of attrition, wave non-response, is not the correct metric. Rather, it is the completeness of the data over time which really matters. By continuing to seek interviews with wave non-respondents and collecting retrospective data for the time periods covered in missed waves, the data base for a respondent can be made substantially more complete, greatly attenuating the impact of missed interviews.

Accessibility describes the ability to gain entry or access from a system or entity through the provision of resources available for use with ease and without challenges. Lapses of equality in transport policies including segregation of low-income groups in policy considerations, centralization of economic and social centers in urban centers and transport infrastructure inadequacy are typical features of many suburban areas and other developing cities. Socio-economic indicators serve as a controlling variable of patterns, frequency, and behavior of trips of socially dependent population groups. The research is carried out Syracuse, NY. It explicitly investigates the variation of transit operations and bus stop accessibility across neighborhoods by providing information on the quality of public transportation available to residents. Census, IPUMS, and real-time GTFS data were analyzed using SPSS and ArcGIS to establish the level of equity in accessibility to transportation available to low-income and needy neighborhoods which constitutes the highest density of vulnerable population class. Regression statistical technique was also incorporated to determine the most significant factors affecting transit accessibility. The results of the study reveal that disability status, access to private transportation and poverty level influences the level of transit accessibility they witness during mobility. The elderly constitute the majority of the vulnerable group while they travel mostly for half an hour to meet their mobility needs. Downtown Syracuse offers a low level of accessibility despite the high trip frequency of residents than the city’s local and remote neighborhoods. Also, there is a high degree of traffic and mobility attributable to the availability of public service centers and a large number of business concentrations.