To promote research on issues that bear on the economics of mobility and related questions of inequality in both income and wealth, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has formed a Study Group on Economic Mobility. This initiative brings together researchers across a variety of fields who share and discuss current research findings on economic mobility broadly defined and also charts the most promising future directions for research in this area.
The NBER will convene a hybrid research conference on economic mobility, with presenters in-person in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday, September 27, 2024. The conference, which will include presentations of six research papers, will be organized by Sandra Black (Columbia University and NBER) and Jesse Rothstein (UC Berkeley and NBER).
The organizers welcome submissions of research papers that address various aspects of the economics of mobility, with special interest in potential differential effects by race and gender. The meeting will focus on the role of policy in affecting mobility outcomes, on measurement issues, and on new empirical findings, but conceptual papers are also welcome. Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• The measurement of inequality and economic mobility using household surveys, administrative data from government agencies, and other data sources;
• The causal relationships between various factors that affect economic mobility, such as health shocks, labor market shocks, family structure shocks, and mobility outcomes;
• The effect of experiences at very young ages on economic mobility patterns later in life;
• The effects of public policies, including cash and in-kind transfer programs, employment assistance programs, education systems, safety nets, and place-based policies, on economic mobility, at both the individual and aggregate levels.
They organizers welcome empirical and theoretical research, papers by scholars who are early in their careers and who are not NBER affiliates, and submissions for researchers who are members of groups that are under-represented in the economics profession. In keeping with NBER protocols, papers may not make policy recommendations. To be considered for presentation at the meeting, submit papers or extended abstracts no later than 11:59pm EDT on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Submitted papers should not be published by September 2024.
Authors chosen to present papers will be notified in early August. The NBER will cover hotel and economy-class conference travel for up to two authors per paper. Questions about this meeting should be directed to tricias@nber.org.