Unpacking Neighborhood Influences on Education Outcomes: Setting the Stage for Future Research

56 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2010 Last revised: 15 May 2023

See all articles by David J. Harding

David J. Harding

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Population Studies Center

Lisa A. Gennetian

Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy; National Bureau of Economic Research; Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab

Christopher Winship

Harvard University - Department of Sociology; Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Lisa Sanbonmatsu

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jeffrey R. Kling

Government of the United States of America - Congressional Budget Office (CBO); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: June 2010

Abstract

We motivate future neighborhood research through a simple model that considers youth educational outcomes as a function of neighborhood context, neighborhood exposure, individual vulnerability to neighborhood effects, and non-neighborhood educational inputs -- with a focus on effect heterogeneity. Research using this approach would require three steps. First, researchers would need to shift focus away from broad theories of neighborhood effects and examine the specific mechanisms through which the characteristics of a neighborhood might affect an individual. Second, neighborhood research would need new and far more nuanced data. Third, more research designs would be needed that can unpack the causal effects, if any, of specific neighborhood characteristics as they operate through well-specified mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

Harding, David James and Gennetian, Lisa A. and Winship, Christopher and Sanbonmatsu, Lisa and Kling, Jeffrey, Unpacking Neighborhood Influences on Education Outcomes: Setting the Stage for Future Research (June 2010). NBER Working Paper No. w16055, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1620772

David James Harding (Contact Author)

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Population Studies Center ( email )

426 Thompson St., P.O. Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248
United States

Lisa A. Gennetian

Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy ( email )

212 Rubenstein Hall
Durham, NC 27708-0204
United States
9196139341 (Phone)
27708 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://https://sanford.duke.edu/profile/lisa-gennetian/

National Bureau of Economic Research ( email )

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United States

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab ( email )

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Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.povertyactionlab.org/person/gennetian

Christopher Winship

Harvard University - Department of Sociology ( email )

33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Lisa Sanbonmatsu

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Jeffrey Kling

Government of the United States of America - Congressional Budget Office (CBO) ( email )

Ford House Office Building
2nd & D Streets, SW
Washington, DC 20515-6925
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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