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SBE 2020: Submission Detail
| ID Number: |
168 |
| Title: |
A New Household Panel for the U.S. |
| Lead Author: |
Moffitt, Robert A |
| Abstract: |
A New Household Panel in the U.S.: Abstract
Robert A. Moffitt
Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics
Johns Hopkins University
October 13, 2010
This white paper argues that a new long-term household panel would be foundational and transformative both to economics and related social sciences.
(1) The important questions are the major ones concerning economic and social dynamics in the U.S. What are the causes of economic and social disadvantage? How have the dynamics of demographic behavior changed over time and what are the reasons for these changes? How do US workers labor market outcomes evolve over their lifetimes, and what policies might the US society follow to address those challenges? What are the contributors to disadvantage during childhood and how does childhood disadvantage affect later life outcomes? How important are schools, neighborhoods, and other social groupings? Economics, sociology, and related disciplines have long studied these questions.
(2) Current understanding both of trends and of their causes and implications is poor, and one of the major reasons lies in limitations in the US data infrastructure. A major investment in new data infrastructure is needed to provide the capability for new research and to inject new energy into social science research on the questions. Such an investment would have enormous payoffs to the research community, including educators and students, as well as to policy-makers.
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| PDF: |
Moffitt_Robert_168.pdf |
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