Working Paper
Neighborhood Sorting Obscures Neighborhood Effects in the Opportunity Atlas
Abstract: The Opportunity Atlas (OA) is an innovative data set that ranks neighborhoods according to children’s adult outcomes in several domains, including income. Conceptually, outcomes offer new evidence about neighborhood effects when measured in isolation from neighborhood sorting. This paper shows that neighborhood sorting contributes to OA estimates. We document cases in which small sample sizes and changes over time can explain disagreements between OA rankings and those based on contemporaneous variables. Our results suggest caution for interpretations of the OA data set at a granular level, particularly for predictions about the outcomes of black children in high-income neighborhoods.
Keywords: neighborhood sorting; neighborhood effects; Opportunity Atlas;
JEL Classification: C81; I38; J15; R23;
https://doi.org/10.26509/frbc-wp-202037
Access Documents
File(s):
File format is text/html
https://doi.org/10.26509/frbc-wp-202037
Description: Full Text
Authors
Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Part of Series: Working Papers
Publication Date: 2020-12-01
Number: 20-37