Using annual American Community Survey data for Nevada from 2000 to 2003, this study examines the role that citizenship status plays in shaping immigrant families' chances of living in poverty as well as their chances of receiving selected social benefits. Key findings suggest that citizen children with noncitizen caretakers are more likely to experience poverty as well as to receive lunch subsidies and less likely to receive cash assistance than citizen children with naturalized caretakers. Noncitizen children with noncitizen caretakers have a greater chance of living in poverty and are less likely to receive cash assistance than citizen children are.

At every percentile of the last generation's earnings distribution black sons experience a lowerprobability of upward mobility with respect to their fathers position than their white counter-parts. Furthermore, the intergenerational elasticity of earnings is signi ficantly lower for blacksthan it is for whites. To analyze the intergenerational earnings transmission process this papergoes beyond a comparison of aggregated measures of parental income with their children's statusby building a dynamic model of parental investments in children's human capital. The paperthereby incorporates recent fi ndings in the literature on children's skill formation. In additionto mean earnings, earnings shocks and parental separation negatively a ffect the accumulationof children's human capital during the parental life cycle. The model also permits diff erences inpreferences and in the technology of human capital production and it allows for the possibilityof statistical discrimination. To assess the relative contributions of all these factors in explain-ing the observed di fferences in earnings mobility the model is estimated using data from thePanel Study of Income Dynamics which includes observations on parental life cycles as well aschildren's adult outcomes. Results show that the variation of parental income during childhood,caused by the instability of families and transitory income shocks is able to explain about halfof the observed mobility gap. Furthermore, equalizing all disparities in parental backgroundreverses the gap in upward earnings mobility.

Background: The physician assistant (PA) profession is a nationally recognized medical professionin the United States of America (USA). However, relatively little is known regarding national trendsof the PA workforce.Methods: We examined the 1980-2007 USA Census data to determine the demographicdistribution of the PA workforce and PA-to-population relationships. Maps were developed toprovide graphical display of the data. All analyses were adjusted for the complex census design andanalytical weights provided by the Census Bureau.Results: In 1980 there were about 29 120 PAs, 64% of which were males. By contrast, in 2007there were approximately 97 721 PAs with more than 66% of females. In 1980, Nevada had thehighest estimated rate of 40 PAs per 100 000 persons, and North Dakota had the lowest rate(three). The corresponding rates in 2007 were about 85 in New Hampshire and ten in Mississippi.The levels of PA education have increased from less than 21% of PAs with four or more years ofcollege in 1980, to more than 65% in 2007. While less than 17% of PAs were of minority groups in1980, this figure rose to 23% in 2007. Although nearly 70% of PAs were younger than 35 years oldin 1980, this percentage fell to 38% in 2007.Conclusion: The trends of sustained increase and geographic variation in the PA workforce wereidentified. Educational level, percentage of minority, and age of the PA workforce have increasedover time. Major causes of the changes in the PA workforce include educational factors and federallegislation or state regulation.

This dissertation consists of three essays that study housing markets, migration patterns, and higher education choices. The first essay, “Identifying substitute cities: observable similarity and home price correlation”, studies the demand for housing across U.S. cities. The paper identifies cities that are substitutes in consumer demand using two types of proxies: (1) measures of observable similarity such as average temperature, industrial composition, and per capita income and (2) the pairwise correlation in annual home price changes as a priced-based measure. The paper validates these proxies empirically using migration data from the U.S. Census. Results suggest that both types of proxies can identify substitute cities but that home price correlation is a particularly useful measure. The second essay, “Home price risk, local market shocks, and index hedging”, asks how local housing markets are defined and estimates how much individuals would be willing to pay to hedge local market risk. The paper uses home transaction data and locally weighted regression techniques to construct price indices across three dimensions of similarity: geography, price, and home type. Results suggest that city indices explain a large fraction of home price variation already but that a typical homeowner would be willing to pay 5-10% more to hedge with a local index relative to a city index. The third essay, “Quality, tuition, and applications to in-state public colleges”, studies the student demand for in-state public higher education, and in particular, the student willingness-to-pay for college quality. The paper uses score report data from over 500,000 SAT and ACT test-takers and variation across states in college quality and tuition in order to empirically estimate the elasticity of student demand. Results suggest that the student willingness-to-pay for quality is quite large, as measured by the quality versus tuition trade-off in individual student regressions.

This paper presents theory and evidence about the ongoing sectoral structural change in theUS economy based on intangible capital accumulation.The sectoral composition of US economy has shifted dramatically in the recent decades.I argue that a ready explanation for this structural transformation lies in the dierence ofintangible capital intensity across sectors. The two-sector model of the paper shows thatas the productivity of intangible capital investment increases, labor is shifted from directgoods production tasks to creating sector-speci?c intangible capital. In the process, thereal output and employment shares increase for the intangible-capital intensive sector. Themodel simulation generates realistic scale of sectoral composition change that fully matchesthe magnitude of increasing output share for the intangible capital intensive sector in theUS, and can account for 65% of the sector?s employment share increase.The empirical exercise of the paper ?nds a positive and signi?cant association betweenintangible capital investment intensity and ?rms? future output and employment growth.The correlation is higher for ?rms in the growing sector, which is more intangible capitalintensive. At the industry level, controlling for industry human capital intensity, physicalcapital intensity and IT investment level, intangible capital intensity is positively correlatedwith future industry real output and employment share growth. These ?ndings are consistentwith the implications of the model.The paper also shows that 86% of the rise of service sector output can be accounted forby high intangible capital industries.

Residential segregation has played acentral role in theories of minority entrepreneurshipand in the diversification of the U.S. labor market.Racial diversity in public accommodations, includingschools, has been an issue of continuous public policydebate at least since the U.S. Supreme Courts Plessyversus Ferguson decision (1896). This study appliestheory from the literature on social capital to anexamination of the role of racial segregation in thepublic schools of blacks during childhood on theiradult likelihood to become self-employed and theirlevel of occupational status. The model resultsindicate that, after controlling for a number ofindividual, household and metropolitan-area factors,lower rates of segregation during public schoolingresults in higher likelihood of wage-salary employmentand self-employment among a cohort of blackAmericans that attended public schools during the1960s.

This report presents the patterns of incidence, survival, and mortality of breast cancer in the Middle Eastern (ME) population of California. Cases were identified through surname recognition and population estimates were obtained from census public use files. Rates, trends, and survival in this ethnic group were compared with the non-Hispanic White (NHW) of California, as well as natives in the Middle East. Age-adjusted incidence rates for the insitu (22.8), invasive (126.2), and mortality (23.2) in ME women were significantly lower than similar rates of 26.0, 146.9, and 30.6 in the NHW women. Incidence rate in ME women in California was higher than rates in women in the Middle East. Lower rates for early stage and higher rates for late stage diagnoses in this ethnic population suggest lack of optimal access to preventive healthcare. Relative survival in the two groups is negatively associated with stage at diagnosis and is slightly higher in ME women, probably due to large numbers of lost to follow-up in ME women suggesting the presence of salmon bias. Positive association with socioeconomic standing was detected only in the NHW women. Incidence of breast cancer in ME men was significantly higher than that of NHW men.

The resilience of family and household structure to displacement-inducing natural disaster isinvestigated. Households from a survey that traces the outcomes of a population-representativesample of households in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina are compared statistically tohouseholds from a national sample. Household breakup following Katrina was extremely highamong extended-family households, exacerbated by the high prevalence of extended-familyhouseholds in New Orleans before the hurricane. While the highest rates of household breakupoccurred among households whose residences were made uninhabitable by the Hurricane and itsaftermath, city-wide impacts on household breakup were found.

A significant increase in immigrant populations in the United States poses various social and economic issues. Transportation mobility is one of the most crucial components for facilitating economic activities of new immigrants. Using the 2006 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, this study analyzed the work-trip mode of new immigrants in comparison with nonimmigrants. This study found that workers immigration history is associated with their work-trip modes and immigrants are still more likely to use nondrive-alone trip modes after controlling for various personal, household, and other characteristics. Female immigrants, however, are less likely to use public transit after adjusting various covariates, including household income and vehicle availability. Also, a lower propensity toward carpooling among highly educated immigrants is noteworthy. The notable increase in immigrant populations requires special efforts to support carpooling or community-based transit service and requires more attention in both research and practice.

Introduction: This report analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics among the five largest Latino nationality groups during 1990-2007 in the NYC Community District 4 of the borough of Brooklyn, which comprise the neighborhood of Bushwick. Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates. Results: Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino subgroup in Brooklyn’s Community District 4, accounting for over 22% of the total population and 32% of the Latino population in the district in 2007. Latinos in Brooklyn’s Community District 4, as a group, tend to be younger than other racial/ ethnic groups. Among the major racial/ethnic groups, Latinos have the second lowest homeownership rate in the district after non-Hispanic Whites. Asians and non-Hispanic Blacks had the highest median incomes. Among Latinos, Dominicans and Mexicans had the highest median incomes. Educational attainment levels differed significantly among the major racial/ethnic groups, with non-Hispanic Whites and Asians achieving significantly higher educational attainment levels over Latinos, which had the lowest percentage of individuals with a Bachelor’s or higher degree. Among Latinos, Dominicans had the highest percentage of people 25 years and older who had a B.A. or higher degree. The percentage of employed Latinos is comparable to that of the general population at about 66%. In 2007, Puerto Ricans had the lowest percentage of people age 16-60 employed. The percentage of foreign-born Latinos in Brooklyn’s Community District 4 has risen since 1990, suggesting an increase in immigration. Discussion: Brooklyn-based stakeholders and advocacy groups may find this report valuable when attempting to identify key trends and obstacles facing Latinos in these communities and better allocate time and resources.

In the United States, a majority of the drivers who receive a traffic ticket are male, and male drivers are more likely to receive a ticket after being stopped by the police. This paper develops and conducts an empirical test for the existence of police gender bias (taste-based discrimination) in traffic ticketing. The test is based on a model's prediction of how the gender composition of ticketed drivers should vary across groups of police officers who use unbiased, but potentially different ticketing standards. The test is useful for determining whether the gender disparity in traffic tickets results from gender bias or a higher tendency of male drivers to break traffic laws. In addition, the test offers an improvement over the "differences-in-differences" test for discrimination which has been applied in other contexts. When applied to data on traffic tickets issued by male and female police officers in Boston, the new test rejects the null hypothesis of unbiased ticketing.

Geographic and environmental influences on economic action have a long history in managerial research. This paper develops and estimates a model of the potential of a broad set of U.S. racial minority groups to enter self-employment based on individual-level, household-level, and metropolitan area-level factors. The model allows for an analysis of two distinct residential segregation processes on self-employment likelihood. Results indicate that clustering by race has group-specific influences, increasing the likelihood of self-employment for some groups and diminishing for others. Higher levels of racial exposure raise the likelihood of entrepreneurial careers for all groups, but especially for Blacks.

In the United States, workers in cities offering above-average wagescities with high productivity, low quality of life, or inefficient housingsectorspay 27 percent more in federal taxes than otherwise identicalworkers in cities offering below-average wages. According to simulationresults, taxes lower long-run employment levels in high-wage areasby 13 percent and land and housing prices by 21 and 5 percent,causing locational inefficiencies costing 0.23 percent of income, or$28 billion in 2008. Employment is shifted from north to south andfrom urban to rural areas. Tax deductions index taxes partially to localcost of living, improving locational efficiency.

This paper explores the e ect of government debt on private wealth accumulation.Speci cally, this paper observes savings behavior by examining the e ect of governmentdebt on life insurance in force. The benchmark estimates suggest that a 10% increase instate government debt causes a 0.9% increase in life insurance in force. Also, a 10% in-crease in federal government debt causes a 4% increase in life insurance in force. Basedon these elasticities, in response to a 1 dollar increase in state and federal governmentdebts, life insurance in force increases by $0.10 and $0.16, respectively. These resultsprovide evidence that households attempt to partially cancel out the scal burden ofgovernment debt it is leaving for the future. Furthermore, several sensitivity tests arepresented to rule out demographic e ects that may be potentially driving the resultsin this paper.

Historians have devoted surprisingly little attention to African American urban history of the postwar period, especially compared with earlier decades. Correcting this imbalance, African American Urban History since World War II features an exciting mix of seasoned scholars and fresh new voices whose combined efforts provide the first comprehensive assessment of this important subject. The first of this volumes five groundbreaking sections focuses on black migration and Latino immigration, examining tensions and alliances that emerged between African Americans and other groups. Exploring the challenges of residential segregation and deindustrialization, later sections tackle such topics as the real estate industrys discriminatory practices, the movement of middle-class blacks to the suburbs, and the influence of black urban activists on national employment and social welfare policies. Another group of contributors examines these themes through the lens of gender, chronicling deindustrializations disproportionate impact on women and womens leading roles in movements for social change. Concluding with a set of essays on black culture and consumption, this volume fully realizes its goal of linking local transformations with the national and global processes that affect urban class and race relations.

Two stylized facts have shaped the literature on how immigration has affected host countries. On the one hand, there has been a long debate on whether immigration affected significantly labor markets or not. The debate is not yet concluded, however we can argue that, if anything, immigration has had a negative impact on the wages of natives more similar to the arrived immigrants. On the other hand, and more recently, there has been convincing evidence on how immigration was absorbed in the host country. Rather than observing the expected Rybczynski effects, what different researchers have found is that firms tend to use a higher proportion of the immigrated factor type (for instance unskilled migrants), something that has been seen as a puzzle. By introducing costs of changing from one sector to the other in a two sector - two skill model I will show that most of these empirical findings can be explained rather naturally. The main mechanism is that when immigration arrives natives have incentives to change their jobs. If there are no costs to this change people will do so and immigration will not have any effect. On the contrary, if costs are high, there will be people willing to move to other jobs but they will not be able to pay for the cost of doing so. This has important consequences to how people reallocate after immigration arrives and how wages respond to immigration. The main two results of the model are, first, that immigration is partially absorbed by movements of workers between different industries and partially by changes in the factor intensity. Second, immigration increases the wage dispersion among natives. Summarizing, this research allows to combine the evidence on wages and on immigration absorption to reach new conclusions, that are then tested empirically.