2019–2020 Research Area: Policies and Programs on the Geography of Opportunity

The 2019 to 2020 extramural research funding program supports research that will inform policy and programmatic efforts designed to address and alleviate the effects of differences by geography so all individuals, families, and communities, regardless of their spatial location, may experience their greatest potential to achieve and maintain economic self-sufficiency and stability.

To move all Americans toward greater opportunity and continue to strengthen our economy, we must better understand the extent to which opportunities, challenges, and labor market productivity differ by geography within the United States today.

Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are becoming more aware of these spatial and locational differences, and the potential impact they have on poverty and the economic well-being of families, communities, and our nation as a whole.

Funded Proposals

Scott Allard, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, Washington University, and Taryn Morrissey, School of Public Affairs, Cornell University: “Kids and Community: Understanding the Spatial Contours of Social Assistance for Young Children”

Jason Cook, Assistant Professor, Economics, University of Pittsburgh, and Marianne Bitler, University of California-Davis, and Sonya Porter, U.S Census Bureau: “How Place and Poverty Intersect: Evidence about Lack of Retail and Low SNAP Take-Up”

Philip Garboden, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii, and Eva Rosen, Assistant Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University: “Landlords, Housing Vouchers, and Neighborhood Rise and Decline: Using Administrative Data to Understand Urban Housing Markets”

Bradley Hardy, Associate Professor, Public Administration and Policy, American University, and Marcus D. Casey, Consultant, Brookings Institution & University of Illinois-Chicago: “Neighborhood Change and Social Mobility in America”