ABSTRACT. Pollution emitted from transportation is one of the primary contributors to local pollution stocks and flows. To date, no paper has considered how the structure of local road networks might affect pollution stocks and flows through vehicular emissions. A pollution stock and flow model based upon the Fundamental Law of Road Congestion which also considers the impact of road network structure is presented and used to generate hypotheses for how the structure of road networks should affect pollution stocks and flows. This hypothesis is tested using a Hausman-Taylor approach and relies on the use of relevant topological indices to describe the structure of road networks with data on road closures serving as an instrument. Evidence is found supporting the hypotheses that better connected road networks which allow for more efficient traversal lead to lower levels of pollution stocks and flows. Evidence is also provided showing that the correct choice of topological index is critical to effectively studying the effects of road network structure on pollution outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Recent economic literature, especially associated with Opportunity Insights, has produced an extensive analysis of individual-level outcomes given a place of birth. Following this trend, I shift unit of analysis from the individual to the place, using US Census Tracts. I argue that demographic change at the Tract level is occurring in predictable ways along racial and income lines. Tracts which increase their White Non-Hispanic population over time are becoming wealthier in terms of aggregate income and income per capita, while Tracts which increase in Minority population become less wealthy. This result suggests that policymakers may be able to combat outcomes such as inequality, poverty and urban blight by understanding and responding to the mechanisms which drive demographic segregation.

ABSTRACT. Agglomeration economies generate sizable productivity and wage premiums for workers in urban areas, but recent research suggests that the skill-bias of agglomeration is responsible for a large fraction of wage inequality growth nationwide. Despite this importance, we currently know little about the relative importance of each micro-foundation - sharing, learning, and matching - in driving agglomeration gains, and we know even less about why agglomeration disproportionately benefits high-skilled workers. We propose a study that will remedy these deficiencies by answering two questions. First, does urban density decrease the observable difference between the skills demanded by firms and supplied by workers, increasing match quality? Second, does the benefit to match quality for a skill vary based on that skill’s specificity? To answer these, we will use skills extracted from resumes and job postings from cities across the United States, as well as a novel approach for modeling the specificity of skills. The results of this project will inform policymakers hoping to sustain agglomeration gains in their local urban areas.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines female fertility trends in the U.S. during the 2005-2019 period. Large MSAs and small population areas are increasingly diverging in multiple ways including female fertility. Small areas had higher fertility rates than large MSAs during every year we observe, and both types of areas experienced fertility declines between 2005 and 2019. However, the decrease in fertility was much more pronounced for large MSAs, and the overall fertility gap between large and small areas widened considerably. Closer investigation of fertility data by age group reveals that the widening gap across large and small areas is disproportionately driven by women ages 25-34. We also use multivariate regression analysis to consider the role of observable individual-level and area-level characteristics in explaining the widening divergence in fertility between large and small areas for ages 25-34. Higher housing costs and longer commute times both appear to reduce fertility and play a role in explaining the fertility divergence between large and small areas. Female education and employment rates also diverged between large and small areas during this period, lending support to increased female career aspirations as a partial cause of the divergence in fertility between large MSA and small areas.