Insights / Research Brief•Oct 28, 2021
The Returns to College(s): Relative Value-Added and Match Effects in Higher Education
Jack Mountjoy, Brent R. Hickman
Of the many decisions facing high school students—and their parents—few loom larger than whether and where to attend college. Families with college-bound children often go to great lengths to ensure admission into a “good” school. But do colleges with successful graduates actually contribute to their students’ success, or simply enroll the types of students who would do well no matter where they attend?
Topics:
Higher Education & Workforce Training
Insights / Research Brief•Jun 28, 2021
Task-Based Discrimination
Erik Hurst, Yona Rubinstein, Kazuatsu Shimizu
One puzzle for researchers in recent decades surrounds two seemingly contradictory facts: The wage gap between Black and White men has remained stubbornly large in recent decades while, over the same period, racial discrimination has steadily declined. This divergence has occurred even as the racial gap in test scores, conditional on education, has also narrowed.
Topics:
Employment & Wages

Insights / Podcast episode•May 19, 2021
College Sports: Show Me The Money
Eduardo Porter, Tess Vigeland, Matthew J. Notowidigdo, Michael McCann
Division I schools make billions off athletic programs, with close to two-thirds coming from men’s...
Topics:
Employment & Wages, Higher Education & Workforce Training

Insights / Podcast episode•Dec 31, 2020
The Pandemic Recession’s Gender Gap
Eduardo Porter, Tess Vigeland, Yana Gallen, Yana Gallen
Women suffered significantly in the early months of the current recession, raising important questions about...
Topics:
COVID-19, Employment & Wages
Insights / Research Brief•Aug 12, 2020
Trade and Domestic Production Networks
When most people think about international trade, they likely imagine large companies trading goods back and forth among many countries, and they likely picture rows and rows of colorful intermodal containers stacked on huge transport ships.
Insights / Research Brief•Sep 11, 2019
Disability and Distress: The Effect of Disability Programs on Financial Outcomes
If you had the unfortunate experience of acquiring a disability that hindered your ability to work and that suddenly put you in financial distress, you might be grateful for government-provided disability payments. Such income might do more than cover monthly living expenses, but may also keep you from such traumatic financial events as eviction, foreclosure, or bankruptcy.
Topics:
Economic Mobility & Poverty, Employment & Wages
Insights / Research Brief•Sep 11, 2019
Who is Screened Out? Application Costs and the Targeting of Disability Programs
For those who have never needed the aid provided by Social Security disability programs, the process might seem straightforward: go online, fill out a form, attach a doctor’s letter, and wait for the assistance to arrive.

Insights / Video
Conference Spotlight: Gender and the Labor Market
On March 8 and 9, 2019, BFI’s Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets...
Topics:
Economic Mobility & Poverty, Employment & Wages