ECIN Replication Package for ``Historical Place-Based Investments and Contemporary Economic Mobility and Inequality: Impacts of University Establishment''

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Michael Andrews, University of Maryland Baltimore County; Lauren Russell, University of Pennsylvania

Version:  View help for Version V2

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  CollLocationExperiments_Mobility-master 01/04/2026 04:05:PM

Project Citation: 

Andrews, Michael, and Russell, Lauren. ECIN Replication Package for ``Historical Place-Based Investments and Contemporary Economic Mobility and Inequality: Impacts of University Establishment’’. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-01-04. https://doi.org/10.3886/E232501V2

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This is data, code, and replication instructions for "Historical Place-Based Investments and Contemporary Economic Mobility and Inequality: Impacts of University Establishment." In this project, we explore how historic university establishment has impacted contemporary county-level economic mobility and inequality outcomes using site-selection natural experiments. We find that universities have led to greater mid-life upward intergenerational income mobility and more income inequality. We highlight five channels through which these effects operate: sorting of high-achieving households into university counties; a ``hollowing-out'' of local labor markets which has provided opportunities to achieve top incomes as well as increased inequality; increased educational attainment across the income distribution, greater innovative activity, and higher levels of social capital.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Higher Education; Economic Mobility; Inequality; Natural Experiments
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
      I24 Education and Inequality
      J21 Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
      J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
Manuscript Number:  View help for Manuscript Number ECIN-Jun-2024-0248.R1
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage U.S.

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source See README for details.
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit U.S. counties

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Published Versions

V2 [2026-01-04]

V1 [2025-06-10]

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