Long-Term Neighborhood Effects on Low-Income Families: Evidence from Moving to Opportunity

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2013
Volume: 103
Issue: 3
Pages: 226-31

Authors (7)

Jens Ludwig (University of Chicago) Greg J. Duncan (not in RePEc) Lisa A. Gennetian (not in RePEc) Lawrence F. Katz (Harvard University) Ronald C. Kessler (not in RePEc) Jeffrey R. Kling (National Bureau of Economic Re...) Lisa Sanbonmatsu (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.149 = (α=2.01 / 7 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We examine long-term neighborhood effects on low-income families using data from the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) randomized housing-mobility experiment. This experiment offered to some public-housing families but not to others the chance to move to less-disadvantaged neighborhoods. We show that ten to 15 years after baseline, MTO: (i) improves adult physical and mental health; (ii) has no detectable effect on economic outcomes or youth schooling or physical health; and (iii) has mixed results by gender on other youth outcomes, with girls doing better on some measures and boys doing worse. Despite the somewhat mixed pattern of impacts on traditional behavioral outcomes, MTO moves substantially improve adult subjective well-being.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:3:p:226-31
Journal Field
General
Author Count
7
Added to Database
2026-01-25