Impacts of Infrastructure: People versus Place

Roads, buses, parks and other urban public goods aim to improve lives. However, because this infrastructure is built in places not assigned to people, its benefits depend on how mobile residents select into affected areas. We present a framework to clarify how impacts on place relate to impacts on people. We then study labor market impacts of Dar es Salaam’s BRT, using novel data that tracks places and people. Those who select in are more likely employed commuters ex-ante, and are not motivated by labor market gains. People effects are smaller than place effects, but both reveal labor market gains.

Merging neighborhood schools to reduce socioeconomic segregation: Evidence from Charlotte, North Carolina [Job Market Paper]

Since the end of court-mandated desegregation, many U.S. school districts have re-segregated along racial and economic lines. This paper examines the impacts of a 2018 policy in Charlotte, North Carolina which merged student populations from neighboring schools with differing socioeconomic statuses (SES). I find that the policy significantly reduced economic segregation at merged schools. However, it also led to a sharp decline in enrollment as families, primarily low-SES ones, opted out of attending these schools. I also find that students from predominantly low-SES neighborhoods (who would have likely attended the low-SES school in absence of the merging) experienced declines in standardized test performance and increased short-term out of school suspension rates, whereas those from predominantly high-SES neighborhoods showed modest gains in test scores and no change in suspension likelihood. Teacher retention increased at the merged schools. Finally, neighborhoods that were previously zoned to majority low-SES schools experienced an increase in house prices after the policy was implemented.

Can Unconditional Teacher Salary Increases Improve Education Quality? Evidence from the Dominican Republic