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Working Paper
Do Research Universities Recession Proof Their Regions? Evidence from State Flagship College Towns
Using synthetic differences-in-differences models, we study whether U.S. counties containing state flagship universities experienced resiliency via lower unemployment rates during the past three U.S. recessions. We find an insignificant effect for the 2001 recession and a large resiliency effect for the 2008-2009 recession. However, counties with flagship universities faced higher unemployment rates during the 2020 recession, and were therefore less resilient to the Covid-19 recession than other counties. These results support the hypothesis that stable consumption demand for non-tradables ...
Working Paper
The Labor Market Effects of Place-Based Policies: Evidence from England’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Neighborhood renewal programs are a type of place-based policy that aim to revive underperforming localities. The literature on place-based policies has found mixed results regarding their effects on local labor market outcomes, but there are relatively few studies of policies that aim to improve local labor supply. In this paper, we examine the labor market effects of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, which targeted eighty-eight of the most deprived areas in England during the early 2000s as part of the Labour Government's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. The fund disbursed almost ...
Discussion Paper
Are College Towns Recession Proof?
Research universities bring a variety of benefits to their surrounding communities such as a supply of highly skilled graduates, innovation via research and development activities, and a large stable employer. But do research universities make their communities resilient to economic downturns? In a recent working paper, we attempt to answer this question by examining the unemployment rates for counties containing state flagship universities over the past three national recessions.