Labor Market Institutions and Economic Mobility

Focuses on minimum wage laws and unions in surveying the literature on the impact of labor market institutions on employment, economic growth, and income distribution, as well as their effects on intragenerational and intergenerational mobility

Immigration and Economic Mobility

Reviews current research on the effects of immigration on overall economic mobility within a generation, on mobility from one generation to the next among immigrant families, and on factors that drive economic growth and lead to long-term upward mobility

Globalization and Economic Mobility

Reviews current research on the impact of international trade, outsourcing, and foreign direct investment on unemployment and inequality, and discusses their implications for intragenerational and intergenerational mobility

U.S. Intragenerational Economic Mobility From 1984 to 2004: Trends and Implications

Compares changes in the economic positions of 25- to 44-year-olds between 1984 and 1994 and between 1994 and 2004, in relative and absolute terms. Analyzes characteristics of those in the bottom quintile and factors that contribute to economic mobility

Work and Income Security From 1970 to 2005

Analyzes long-term trends in family income and the importance of stable full-time, full-year work in providing economic security and upward mobility, with a focus on low-income working families. Examines the factors behind upward and downward mobility

The Effect of School Construction on Test Scores, School Enrollment, and Home Prices

This paper provides new evidence on the effect of school construction projects on home prices, academic achievement, and public school enrollment. Taking advantage of the staggered implementation of a comprehensive school construction project in a poor urban district, we find that, by six years after building occupancy, $10,000 of per-student investment in school construction raised reading scores for elementary and middle school students by 0.027 standard deviations. For a student receiving the average treatment intensity this corresponds to a 0.21 standard deviation increase. School construction also raised home prices and public school enrollment in zoned neighborhoods.school construction, test scores, home prices

The Returns to Four-Year College for Academically Marginal Students

I combine a regression discontinuity design with rich data on academic and labor market outcomes for a large sample of Florida students to identify the returns to four-year college for students on the academic margin of college admission. In addition, I develop a theoretical model of college choice with and without credit constraints that allows for intuitive tests of the importance of credit constraints within this population. I find that students who obtain high school grades just above the threshold value for admissions eligibility at a large public university in Florida are much more likely to attend a four-year college and much less likely to attend a community college than students with grades just below the threshold. The earnings returns to a year of four-year college for affected students are 8.7 percent, nearly identical to returns to college for the population of Florida high school students. Consistent with the credit constraints hypothesis, poorer students who are more likely to be credit constrained work more while in college and realize higher post-college returns.returns to college, credit constraints, community college

MOTIVATED BY LOV: DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF OPTOGENETIC TOOL REVEALS THAT CELLS LAY THEIR OWN TRACKS DURING DIRECTED MIGRATION

A cell’s ability to sense a gradient of extracellular cue and move in the direction of the gradient is central to many pathological and physiological conditions. For a cell to respond with directional migration it must translate the spatial and temporal information from the extracellular cue into intracellular signaling and a mechanical output. However, there is a lack of methodologies to directly probe these intracellular processes with the spatial and temporal precision that is necessary to fully understand how they translate into directed motility. We have therefore engineered a light inducible dimer (iLID) that provides spatial and temporal control of signaling by modulating protein-protein interactions. iLID was specifically engineered as a general use tool to control many aspects of biology. Therefore, we designed and characterized multiple variants with a broad range of binding affinities and kinetics. Furthermore, we benchmarked our dimer along with other light inducible dimers in the field. Rho family GTPases are one of the many downstream intracellular signaling nodes that spatially and temporally translate the extracellular cue into cytoskeletal remodeling, producing the protrusions and forces necessary for directional motility. Using iLID, we optogenetically controlled guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), specific for Rac or Cdc42. This approach allowed us to bypass extracellular signaling events and precisely manipulate localized GTPase activity. We first hypothesized and verified that cells expressing either optogenetic GEF, plated on fibronectin and exposed to a gradient of light would migrate up the gradient or “phototax”. Knowing that signals from integrin based adhesions can also regulate the actin cytoskeleton we were curious if these signals were necessary for phototaxis. We found that cells expressing the optogenetic GEF specific for Rac, plated on Poly-L-Lysine (abolishing integrin based adhesion) migrate randomly in a gradient of light. We provide evidence that integrin based adhesions provide signaling feedback within the optogenetically formed protrusions that reinforce the signals necessary for directed migration. Interestingly, we find that cells expressing the optogenetic GEF specific for Cdc42 move directionally in a gradient of light independent of a fibronectin substrate. Through further optogenetic experiments, we show that this is due to a Cdc42 dependent secretion of fibronectin under newly formed protrusions, stabilizing the lamellipodia and providing the necessary feedback for directional migration.Doctor of Philosoph

Health Behavior Theory and cumulative knowledge regarding health behaviors: Are we moving in the right direction?

Although research on Health Behavior Theory (HBT) is being conducted at a rapid pace, the extent to which the field is truly moving forward in understanding health behavior has been questioned. This issue is examined in the current article. First, we discuss the problems within the HBT literature. Second, we discuss the proliferation of HBT and why theory comparison is essential to this area of research. Finally, we reflect on ways that the field might move forward by suggesting a new agenda for HBT research. It is argued that increased recognition of the similarity of health behavior constructs as well as increased empirical comparisons of theories are essential for true scientific progress in this line of inquiry