Over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, veterans have been more likely to enter into race/ethnic intermarriages than non-veterans. Theories of race/ethnic intermarriage variously point to how minority race/ethnicity, race/ethnically diverse social settings, progressive racial attitudes, and high socioeconomic status increase individuals’ likelihood of intermarrying. Veterans’ unique racial and socioeconomic characteristics may contribute to their greater likelihood of intermarrying relative to non-veterans: larger percentages of veterans than non-veterans are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, while military service increases individual service members’ long-term economic and educational prospects. At the same time, veterans share in common their exposure to the unique military environment, which may increase their likelihood of intermarriage by diversifying their social circles, and subjecting their attitudes and behavior to group norms that are more explicitly egalitarian than those of society at large. The present study considers these two possible explanations for veterans’ greater likelihood of intermarriage. We use data on seven cohorts of men over six decades in the Current Population Survey, representing a total of 1,456,742 observations, to decompose the difference in likelihood of racial intermarriage between veterans and non-veterans among married men aged 18–65. We find that across cohorts and decades, veterans’ greater likelihood of intermarrying is not fully explained by their race/ethnic and socioeconomic composition. We argue that veterans’ greater likelihood of intermarrying may therefore be driven by their exposure to the military environment.

This paper investigates the distribution of and motivations for zoning decisions that decreased allowed residential density or prevented denser residential development in urbanized portions of Durham, North Carolina, from 1945 through 2014. It presents quantitative evidence that prior to 1985, racial demographics offer a better explanation for the distribution of these potentially exclusionary decisions than median incomes or homeownership rates. This finding is substantiated by qualitative evidence from plans, records of public hearings, and other primary materials pertinent to zoning decisions affecting residential land use. The paper secondly presents evidence that since 1985, the city has made residential zoning decisions that have collectively entailed less dissimilar treatment of areas of different racial characteristics, and suggests reasons for this shift based on further research of primary materials. These findings inform us of the role of racial bias in zoning beyond the era of explicit racial zoning in the early 20th-century.

This paper offers a theoretical framework to understand the coevolution of social interactions and long-term economic growth. It begins by considering that most traditional societies did not have educational markets. Thus, access to the required knowledge for transiting to a modern economy had to be transmitted through social interactions, in particular, through the interaction between heterogeneous groups of people-i.e. distant interactions. Once immersed in a modern economy, the productive system should have increased the demand for knowledge, promoting more distant interactions. Simultaneously, the emergence of distant interactions should have affected the connectivity of society, reducing its heterogeneity, making cheaper posterior interactions but reducing their profitability. Moreover, social interactions competed and benefited from other non-market activities, child rearing specifically. The model arrives at four basic predictions. First, modern economic growth brings a more cohesive society. Second, modern economic growth brings long-term reductions in fertility with potential short-term increases. Third, initial barriers to social interactions could explain the timing of modern economic growth arrival. Fourth, the timing of modern economic growth arrival could explain current output levels.

Ever since the studies of Louis-Adolphe Bertillon in the late 19th century it has been known that marital status and number of children markedly affect death and suicide rates. This led in 1898 Emile Durkheim to conjecture a connection between social isolation (especially at family level) and suicide. However, further progress was long hampered by the limited statistical data available from death certificates. Recently, it was shown by the present authors that disability data from census records can be used as a reliable substitute for mortality data. This opens a new route to investigations of family ties because census information goes much beyond the limited data reported on death certificates. It is shown that the disability rate of adults decreases when they have more family links. More precisely, the reduction of the parents’ disability brought about by the presence of a child reveals that the strength of ties between parents and child is highest in the first year after birth and then weakens steadily as the child ages. It will also be seen that the strength of the bond between husband and wife is highest when they are of same age and decreases fairly steadily when the age gap increases.

El Salvador se encuentra en un proceso de transición demográfica en que la relación de dependencia continuará disminuyendo hasta 2032-2033, por lo que el país seguirá disfrutando de un momento poblacional favorable en los próximos 15 años. Los beneficios de los dividendos demográficos no son automáticos. Más bien, los países deben implementar medidas de política pública que permitan sacar el mayor provecho de esa ventaja. La inversión en capital humano, comparativamente baja, y las modestas ganancias de productividad laboral sugieren que El Salvador no estaría sacando el máximo provecho de su dividendo demográfico. La migración de salvadoreños en edades productivas al exterior es uno de los factores que, ceteris paribus, han incidido en la escasa capacidad que tiene el país para aprovechar esas circunstancias favorables. En este documento se muestra que la contribución del dividendo al crecimiento del producto ha sido positiva . . .

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Although the number of African immigrants in the U.S. has increased rapidly in recent decades, relatively little regarding their economic performance and assimilation appears in the economics literature. We use pooled cross-sectional data (2011–2015) from the American Community Survey to explore the effects on African immigrant earnings of immigrant characteristics such as degrees attained, type of major, years in the U.S., citizenship status, English-speaking abilities, and country of origin. We also use earnings functions to analyze the earnings assimilation of African immigrants with natives over the past decade. The results show that college-educated African immigrants have experienced some earnings convergence with natives between 2005 and 2015. Surprisingly, the assimilation analysis of non-college graduate African immigrants shows that they have achieved an earnings advantage over native non-college graduates.

The fifty US states experienced diverse increases in immigration since 1980 but shared a similar institutional framework, which allows us to assess the impact of immigration on several macro-level variables of economic performance. We use data from a variety of public sources and the popular shift-share instrument to isolate exogenous variation in migration by state and decade since 1980. Although the overall correlation between immigration and performance variables is positive, analysis of regional and time variation reveals a negative growth relationship between the foreign-born share of the labor force and GDP, per-capita GDP, employment, native employment, and per-capita income. Most of those effects dissipate in level regressions that assess longer-term impacts. JEL codes: C36, J21, J61, O51 We thank Garett Jones and Aaron Smith for comments. All errors are ours.

In economic systems, new information or changes in information sets may have an outsized impact on the behavior of rational economic agents. Here, I investigate this relationship in three idiosyncratic scenarios. First, I look at the responses by online reputation platform users to a positive quality signal, and inspect how this effect differs across heterogeneous agents. Second, inside a theoretical model of patent litigation and settlement, I analyze parties’ responses and litigation outcomes with respect to changes in evidence regarding patent validity. Lastly, I work through a simple model of motorist and police behavior to investigate whether there are testable racial profiling implications if motorists rationally change their behavior in response to changes in visibility.

The effects of traffic congestion on travel behavior are complex and multidimensional because they are related to various factors such as density, land use patterns, network connectivity, and individual preferences. Traffic congestion is a phenomenon that not only affects transportation systems but also influences commuters’ quality of life and population mobility. The present research aims to analyze the effects of traffic congestion on individuals’ travel behaviors, addressing both direct and indirect effects of congestion on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per driver by implementing structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. In addition to the causal analysis between traffic congestion and VMT, this study examined the complex relationship between an individual’s socioeconomic characteristics, the built environment, congestion, and VMT. Measuring local congestion at a national level is also a key contribution of this research. This study used the same methodology as the Texas A&M Transportation Institute to compute a road congestion index and quantify local congestion for 93,769 drivers within 337 metropolitan areas. Our findings suggest that congestion is the main driver of VMT reduction. The findings also confirm that residents in compact development regions have lower daily VMTs because of the proximity of origins and destinations in denser areas with higher job–population balances. Therefore, rather than expanding highway networks, public transit investment might address traffic congestion more efficiently—not only by providing residents with more equitable and sustainable means of transportation, but also by encouraging people to reside in more compact and location-efficient areas. Travel behavior is a broad concept that includes various transportation planning outcomes such as person miles traveled (PMT), vehicle miles traveled (VMT), mode split, route choice, and trip frequencies. These elements of travel behavior can be influenced by factors such as the built environment, urban form, and travelers’ socioeconomic characteristics. Numerous studies have examined travel behavior and its relationship with the built environment, urban form, and urban spatial structure (1–6). Researchers who analyzed the built environment have summarized its relationship to travel behavior through a series of “D” factors: density, diversity, design, destinations, and distance to transit (3, 7). A review of these studies indicates that built environmental factors such as land use diversity, density, and urban design influence travel behavior outcomes such as travel mode choice, vehicle trips (VT), and VMT (8). In addition to the built environment, other studies have focused on travelers’ socioeconomic characteristics and concluded that gender, race, income, and age affect travel behavior (9–14).

Ukrainians are one of the least researched ethnic groups in the United States. Part of the problem is the turbulent modern history of Ukraine: a) changes of borders and territory divided among several countries; b) slow development of Ukrainian identity; c) short period, since 1991, as an independent country. This resulted in incomplete and problematic official US statistics about Ukraine and Ukrainians. We review the data available and their problems, and present a demographic-socioeconomic profile of Ukrainian-Americans in comparison with the total US population. The latest migration from Ukraine is analyzed in detail, i. e., its impact on the established Ukrainian-American community and problems resulting from the bilingual, Ukrainian and Russian, characteristic of these immigrants. Keywords: Ukrainian-Americans, Ukrainians in the US, Immigration waves

Given the direct influence of socioeconomic diversity in schools on student achievement, it is important to try to understand the causes of rising income segregation across schools. My paper assesses whether school attendance zone gerrymandering contributes to income segregation across public schools within 129 of the largest school districts in the United States. I compare income segregation levels between actual school attendance zones and hypothetical school attendance zones that would exist in the absence of gerrymandering to determine if current zone shapes contribute to segregation. I also test for correlations between income diversity within school attendance zones and the shapes of attendance zones as quantified by spatial compactness measures commonly found in the political gerrymandering literature. I find that on average, irregularly-shaped, gerrymandered school attendance zones seem to better integrate, rather than further segregate students of different socioeconomic backgrounds.

In recent years, the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between socio‐economic status (SES) and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we examine community‐level and school‐level data and use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping to illustrate how school academic achievement coincides with neighborhood economics and crime statistics. Results support the hypothesized mediation, such that lower SES was associated with lower academic achievement, and violent crime partially mediated this relation. School climate was positively associated with academic achievement, and student safety significantly moderated the relation between SES and academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and intervention are discussed.

Ukrainians are one of the least researched ethnic groups in the United States. Part of the problem is the turbulent modern history of Ukraine: a) changes of borders and territory divided among several countries; b) slow development of Ukrainian identity; c) short period, since 1991, as an independent country. This resulted in incomplete and problematic official U.S. statistics about Ukraine and Ukrainians. We review the data available and their problems, and present a demographic-socioeconomic profile of Ukrainian-Americans. The also analyze the impact of the latest migration from Ukraine on the established Ukrainian-American community and problems resulting from the bilingual, Ukrainian and Russian, characteristic of these immigrants.

This paper provides a brief overview of key trends in enrollment, demographics, and segregation in California’s schools in recent decades. Total public school enrollment has been relatively stable, and charter schools account for an increasing share of public enrollment. The Hispanic share of public enrollment has increased dramatically, and the white share declined. Increasingly, Hispanic Californian children are second and third generation Americans, and the share of students who are English Learners has remained relatively consistent. The share of Asian students has remained consistent over time but with a decline in the share of first generation and an increase in the share of second and third generation Asians. Trends in the socioeconomic conditions of California’s schoolchildren are positive. Their parents are more educated and more likely to speak English well, and they are no more likely to be growing up in a single-parent household. On the other hand, overall child poverty has not declined to prerecession levels, and there are persistent and large differences in poverty across racial and ethnic groups. Black and Hispanic children are substantially more likely to both be in families with incomes below the poverty line and to attend schools with high poverty rates. This is because California’s schools are fairly segregated by race. We present data and discuss these trends below.

This paper addresses the relationship between state level right-­to-­work (RTW) legislation and employer provided health insurance coverage. The effects of right-­to-­work policy are debated among researchers with some suggesting it leads to a positive effect on wages and non-­wage benefits and others suggesting the opposite. The main concern and goal of this study is to isolate the effect RTW laws have on employer provided health coverage. This study incorporates demographic and firm characteristics that prior research found to be significant control variables for isolating the effect of RTW status on employee health insurance coverage. Based on a series of linear probability models and difference-­in-­differences models, a worker residing in a state that has implemented a RTW policy is less likely to obtain health insurance than their non-­RTW counterpart. In addition to RTW status, demographic and firm characteristics affect the likelihood of an employee having health benefits.

We study factors influencing individuals’ decisions to purchase Citibank stock during the 1920s. Ownership was encouraged by proximity to New York and higher wealth. Lack of familiarity was also an important barrier. The establishment of Citibank branches within a U.S. county or a foreign country was associated with a large increase in share ownership in that location, ceteris paribus. Within the New York City metropolitan area, individual characteristics related to wealth, knowledge, and one’s influence within the New York City Business network increased the probability of becoming a Citibank shareholder. Business associates in the network were an important influence on purchase decisions. Connections with Citibank officers and directors, or with people who had such connections, increased the probability of buying Citibank shares. Connections with other Citibank shareholders also increased the probability of buying Citibank shares. Connections with officers and directors of other large New York banks reduced the probability of owning Citibank, presumably because it increased familiarity with a close substitute for Citibank shares. Network influence reflected more than the transmission of inside information; executives imitated other’s stock buying behavior, which provides evidence of the importance of familiarity for purchases. The role of some network influences, like other identifiable influences, became less important during the price boom of 1928-1929, perhaps reflecting the rising importance of other means of increasing familiarity during the price boom (i.e., media coverage).

This dissertation is the first comprehensive, detailed study of a single state’s experience of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic at state, local and county, and individual levels. Its two articles provide quantitative analyses of a unique new statewide database and traditional historical narrative integrating institutional action and individual experience. Article 1, a quantitative examination of all death certificates (N=11,836) for October 1918 and March 1919 and the 1920 Census (N=2,561,959), employed multinomial logistic regressions, OLS regressions, and ArcGIS mapping. Results (p≤0.05): Singles were less likely to die of flu than marrieds but more likely to die of all other causes; blacks were more likely to die from flu than whites; black subgroups received less treatment than whites; children received less treatment than other age groups; Tidewater and Coastal Plain regions had greater standardized mortality while the Mountains, less than other regions. Findings confirmed literature reporting lower death rates among elderly, but not lower black mortality nor higher rates in manufacturing centers. Epidemiological evidence suggested flu virus mutations by March 1919. Article 2, a qualitative account of people’s experience, used government archives, newspapers, and letters. Results: A growing desensitization . . .

This article examines whether the post-1990 Asian immigrants have a lower likelihood of being self-employed than their counterparts in the 1970s–1980s immigrant cohort. More important, it investigates whether the relationship between education and self-employment changes across the two immigrant cohorts. The authors framed these questions in the context of the changing U.S. immigration policy and used the ethnic and class recourses thesis and the thesis emphasizing immigrants' disadvantages for employment in the general labor market as two major theoretical orientations. Data come from the 1990 Census 5 percent sample and the 2007–2011 American Community Survey 5-year sample. Findings from logistic regression analyses show that the second-cohort Chinese, Asian Indian, and Korean immigrants have a lower likelihood of being self-employed than their first-cohort counterparts. Findings further show that education has a positive effect on the likelihood of self-employment for the first-cohort Asian Indian, Filipino, and Korean immigrants. For the second cohort, education has a negative effect on the likelihood of self-employment for all Asian immigrant groups. The authors discussed the implications of these findings and concluded that well-educated second-cohort Asian immigrants face fewer disadvantages in finding their occupations commensurate with their educational level in the general labor market than their first-cohort counterparts.

The State of California has been financially supporting Amtrak intercity passenger rail services since 1976. This paper studies the impacts of this support on local population and employment at both county and city levels. We use datasets which include geographic, transportation, and socioeconomic characteristics of California counties and cities from 1950 to 2010. Propensity score, one-to-one matching models are employed to draw units from the control group, which are counties/cities that do not have a state-supported Amtrak station, to match with units from the treatment group, which are counties/cities that do. Using regression analysis, we find that state-support Amtrak stations have significant effect on local population in the long term, and the effect increases with time. However, the effect on civilian employment is almost non-existent. This suggests that state-supported Amtrak services can provide quality rail mobility and accessibility, which attract people to live in a rail-accessible region. However, the economic influence seems limited.