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Working Paper
The Effects of Macroeconomic Shocks: Household Financial Distress Matters
When a macroeconomic shock arrives, variation in household balance-sheet health (captured by the presence of financial distress “FD”), leads to differential access to credit, and hence a distribution of consumption responses. As we document, though, over the past two recessions, households in prior FD also experienced macroeconomic shocks more intensely than others, leading to a distribution of shock severity. Quantifying the importance of each dimension of heterogeneity (FD or shock severity) for consumption requires a structural model. We find that heterogeneity in FD matters more than ...
Journal Article
The Role of Equitable Transit-Oriented Development in Promoting Economic Opportunity
Debate still exists in economics and other fields as to the impact of transit accessibility on finding and maintaining a good-paying job. This article provides an overview of equitable transit-oriented development (TOD), its effects on economic outcomes for low-skilled workers, and a brief discussion of policy solutions for practitioners to consider.
Report
Gentrification and Changes in the Stock of Low-Cost Rental Housing in Philadelphia, 2000 to 2014
Philadelphia has experienced increased rental housing affordability challenges in recent years, especially in neighborhoods that have undergone gentrification. This report explores one aspect of gentrification?s impact on housing costs by examining its association with changes in Philadelphia?s stock of units that rent for less than $750 per month. Using tract-level U.S. Census Bureau data, this report finds that, between 2000 and 2014, the city lost one out of five units with rents that fell below this cost threshold. These losses were especially acute in gentrifying neighborhoods, as these ...
Journal Article
Market Failure and Community Economic Development in the US
This article explores the "political economy of community development" in the United States, with historical context on market failures. The authors, for the purposes of this article, also explore lending patterns in the Seventh Federal Reserve District.
Journal Article
Health Care is Community Reinvestment: Examples from the Mental Health Field
This article examines several case studies of mental health clinics and their relationships with financial institutions for CRA purposes.
Journal Article
CDCs: What Does Success Look Like?
Community development corporations (CDCs) understand that they have differing roles in differing contexts, depending on whether they are working with a high-vacancy, seriously depressed area where many residents and businesses do not want to stay; a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood; or a traditionally exclusionary suburb. The roles that CDCs play were explored in two sessions at the Reinventing Older Communities conference: The Future of CDCs: Three Compelling Visions and Measuring the Impact of CDCs.
Report
Africa is on time
We present evidence that the recent African growth renaissance has reached Africa?s poor. Using survey data on African income distributions and national accounts GDP, we estimate income distributions, poverty rates, and inequality indices for African countries for the period 1990-2011. Our findings are as follows. First, African poverty is falling rapidly. Second, the African countries for which good inequality data exist are set to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) poverty reduction target on time. The entire continent except for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will reach ...
Journal Article
Research Symposium on Fair Housing Explores the Past, Present, and Future of the Fair Housing Act
Even though the Fair Housing Act has resulted in significant strides toward ending discriminatory real estate practices since it was enacted 50 years ago, significant challenges related to fair housing and fair lending still exist, requiring further action by researchers, policymakers, and advocates. This theme underpinned the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Center for Urban Research and Education at Rutgers University?Camden?s recent Research Symposium on Fair Housing, which highlighted the past, present, and future of the Fair Housing Act
Journal Article
Spotlight on Research: Lessons Learned from Pay for Success Programs
Various social problems, such as homelessness and prison recidivism, impose substantial costs on taxpayers. The mounting costs that result from these troubling social concerns at the local, state, and federal levels force officials to seek alternative ways to raise funds to deal with these issues. One such effort is to use a relatively new source of funding called ?pay for success (PFS),? also known as ?social impact bonds,? or ?SIBs.? Currently, there are more than 40 PFS initiatives underway worldwide. A report by Emily Gustafsson-Wright, Sophie Gardiner, and Vidya Putcha discusses what PFS ...
Journal Article
The Future of Fair Housing: Interview with Philip Tegeler
The Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) is leading efforts to advance federal policy on fair housing and is working ?to promote innovative, research-based advocacy strategies to address structural inequality and disrupt the systems that disadvantage low-income people of color.?1 Philip Tegeler, the president and executive director of PRRAC, contributed his insights on the current state of fair housing 50 years after the landmark Fair Housing Act during a recent Philadelphia Fed Research Symposium. Cascade sat down with Tegeler to learn more.