Employment
Department of Economics, Princeton University: 2017-present
Research Associate
National Bureau of Economic Research
Center for Research and Analysis of Migration, UCL
California Center for Population Research, 2006-17
Education
Harvard University, Ph.D. in Economics, 2006
Princeton University, A.B. in Economics, 2000, summa cum laude
Book
Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets, Princeton University Press, 2016.
Human Capital in History: The American Record, co-edited with Carola Frydman and Robert A. Margo. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.
Published or Forthcoming Papers
“To the New World and Back Again: Return Migrants in the Age Of Mass Migration.” with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Forthcoming.
“Immigration in American Economic History,” with Ran Abramitzky. Journal of Economic Literature, Forthcoming.
“Racial Differences in Health in Long-Run Perspective,” with Robert A. Margo. Oxford Handbook of Economics and Human Biology, ed. John Komlos. (New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
“The Origin and Persistence of Black-White Differences in Women's Labor Force Participation,” with William J. Collins. InHuman Capital in History: The American Record, eds. Leah Boustan, Carola Frydman, Robert A. Margo. (U of Chicago, 2014).
“Urbanization in the United States, 1800-2000,” with Devin Bunten and Owen Hearey. In Oxford Handbook of American Economic History, ed. Louis Cain, Price Fishback and Paul Rhode, Forthcoming.
“A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration,” with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. Journal of Political Economy, 2014.
“A Silver Lining to White Flight? White Suburbanization and Black Homeownership,” with Robert A. Margo. Journal of Urban Economics, 2013.
“Local Public Goods and the Demand for High-Income Municipalities,” Journal of Urban Economics, 2013.
“The Effect of Rising Income Inequality on Taxation and Public Expenditures: Evidence from US Municipalities and School Districts, 1970-2000,” with Fernando Ferreira, Hernan Winkler and Eric Zolt. Review of Economics and Statistics, 2013.
“Have the Poor Always Been Less Likely to Migrate? Evidence from Inheritance Practices during the Age of Mass Migration,” with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. Journal of Development Economics, 2013.
“Population Trends as a Counterweight to Central City Decline,” with Allison Shertzer. Demography, 2013.
“Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration,” with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. American Economic Review, 2012.
“Moving to Higher Ground: Migration Response to Natural Disasters in the Early Twentieth Century,” with Matthew E. Kahn and Paul W. Rhode, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 2012.
“School Desegregation and Urban Change: Evidence from City Boundaries.” American Economic Journal: Applied, 2012.
“Racial Residential Segregation in American Cities.” in Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning, eds. Nancy Brooks and Gerrit-Jan Knaap. (Oxford, 2011).
“The Effect of Internal Migration on Local Labor Markets: American Cities During the Great Depression,” with Price Fishback and Shawn Kantor. Journal of Labor Economics, 2010. (Lead article) Winner of the 2010 IPUMS Research award.
“Was Postwar Suburbanization 'White Flight'? Evidence from the Black Migration.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2010.
“Job Decentralization and Postwar Suburbanization: Evidence from State Capitals” with Robert Margo. Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs, 2009.
“Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migration and Northern Labor Markets, 1940-1970.” Journal of Economic History, 2009.
“Race, Segregation, and Postal Employment: New Evidence on Spatial Mismatch” with Robert Margo. Journal of Urban Economics. 2009. (Lead article)
“Were Jews Political Refugees or Economic Migrants? Assessing the Persecution Theory of Jewish Emigration, 1881-1914.” in The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson, eds. Tim Hatton, Kevin O’Rourke and Alan Taylor (MIT, 2007).
“Black Migration, White Flight: The Effect of Black Migration on Northern Cities and Labor Markets.” Journal of Economic History. 2007. (Dissertation summary).
Working Papers
“Cultural Assimilation during the Age of Mass Migration.” with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. NBER Working Paper 22381, July 2016.
“The Effect of Natural Disasters on Economic Activity in US Counties: A Century of Data.” with Matthew Kahn, Paul Rhode and Maria Lucia Yanguas. NBER Working Paper 23410, May 2017.
Book Reviews
“Review of: Sharing the Prize: The Economics of the Civil Rights Revolution in the American South.” Eh.NET. August 2013.
“Review of: Natural Experiments of History.” Journal of Economic Literature. December 2010.
“Review of: African-American Urban History Since World War II.” Journal of Economic History. June 2010.
“Review of: The New Suburban History.” Journal of Economic History. March 2007: 243-245.
“Review of: Not Just Black and White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States.” Journal of Economic History. June 2005: 583-585.
Research Grants
Russell Sage Foundation, "Cultural Assimilation during the Age of Mass Migration,” $105,000 (2016-17)
Research Fellow, Straus Institute at NYU School of Law, Group on “Racial, Ethnic and Economic Segregation,” $100,000 (2013-14)
National Science Foundation, “Economic Outcomes and Self-selection in the Age of Mass Migration: A Micro Approach” (with Ran Abramitzky): $447,750 (2010-13)
California Center for Population Research, UCLA: $32,000
Center for American Politics and Public Policy, UCLA: $17,500
Center for Economic History, UCLA: $30,000
Ziman Center for Real Estate, UCLA: $30,000
| Awards | |
| 2012-14 | Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship |
| 2010 | IPUMS Research Award, Best Journal Article |
| 2006, 2008, 2011 | UCLA economics department, Warren C. Scoville Distinguished Teaching Award |
| 2006 | Economic History Association, Alan Nevins Prize for best dissertation in US economic history |
| 2005-06 | Dissertation Fellowships: Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University; John E. Rovensky Fellowship in Business and Economic History; Economic History Association |
| 2002-05 | Doctoral Fellow, Multidisciplinary Program on Inequality and Social Policy |
| 2001-04 | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| 2000 | Phi Beta Kappa |
| 1998 | President’s Award for Academic Achievement, Princeton University |
Academic Presentations
Boston Univ.; Brown; Cal State-Fullerton; Caltech; Claremont Graduate Univ.; Claremont McKenna; Columbia; Dartmouth; Federal Reserve Board; Harvard; Hebrew Univ.; Humboldt; Johns Hopkins (Economics, SAIS); Loyola Marymount; LSE; Michigan State; MIT; Northeastern; Northwestern; Norwegian School of Economics; NYU (Economics, Wagner); Philadelphia Fed; Pompeu Fabra; Queens Univ.; RAND; San Francisco Fed; Simon Frasier; Stanford; Syracuse; Univ. of Arizona; Univ. of British Columbia; UC-Berkeley (Economics, Public Policy); UC-Davis; UC-Irvine; UCLA (Anderson, Economics, Jewish Studies, Political Economy); UC-Merced; UC-Riverside; UC-San Diego; UC-Santa Barbara; UCL; Univ. of Chicago (Harris School, GSB); Univ. of Colorado; Univ. of Houston; Univ. of Kansas; Univ. of Michigan (Economics, ISR); Univ. of Minnesota (Pop. Center); Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton); Univ. of Texas-Austin; Univ. of Toronto; Univ. of Warwick; USC; Vanderbilt; Washington Univ. in St. Louis; Wellesley; Williams; Yale
Public Lectures and Invited Teaching
“Migration: Global Development, New Frontiers,” University College, London
Institut dEconomia de Barcelona, Summer School in Immigration and Public Policy, July 2011
Dartmouth College, “Black Migration and the Transformation of American Cities in the 20th Century,” October 20, 2010
Editorial Boards
American Economic Review (2015-18); Explorations in Economic History (2011- ); Historical Methods (2011- ); Journal of Economic History (2012-16); Journal of the European Economics Association (2014- ); Journal of Urban Economics (2012- )
Refereeing
American Economic Journal: Applied; American Economic Journal: Economic Policy; American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics; American Economic Review; Annals of the Assn of American Geographers; Canadian Journal of Economics; Demography; Economic Development Quarterly; Economic Inquiry; Economics of Transition; Explorations in Economic History; Historical Methods; International Migration Review; Journal of Economic Growth; Journal of Economic History; Journal of the European Economics Association; Journal of Human Resources; Journal of Labor Economics; Journal of Political Economy; Journal of Regional Science; Journal of Urban Economics; Journal of Urban History; National Science Foundation; Population Research and Policy Review; Quarterly Journal of Economics; Regional Science and Urban Economics; Review of Economics and Statistics; Review of Economic Studies; Review of Regional Studies; Scandinavian Journal of Economics; Social Science History; Social Science Journal; Social Science Research
Conference Organizing
2015: Co-organizer, All-California Labor Economics Conference
2012: Co-organizer, “Human Capital and History: The American Record”
NBER/Spencer Foundation conference in honor of Claudia Goldin
2012: Program Committee, Economic History Association Annual Meeting
2010, 2015: Program Committee, Population Association of America Annual Meeting
2009, 2010: Co-organizer, Development of American Economy program, NBER Summer Institute
2008, 2011: Program Committee, All-UC Conference in Economic History
Other experience
2000-01: American Prospect magazine, Writing fellow
Find my writing for the American Prospect here: Link to American Prospect author page