The Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute will host its inaugural fall Institute Research Conference on October 15, 2021. This event will showcase the range of frontier-style research that the Institute engages with and will promote a broad scholarly exchange of ideas around presented papers. Papers will discuss questions related to the Institute’s mission of supporting the Federal Reserve’s full employment mandate through research into how to enhance economic opportunity and achieve inclusive growth.
The event includes a keynote panel on Race in Economic Research: From One Dimension to Many. Race can shape many daily interactions and experiences. Because of this, it contributes to economic outcomes in a vast number of ways, yet research methods in economics often abstract from this complexity. To name just a few examples: Models require simplifying assumptions; data – particularly big, administrative data – limits measurement of race and experiences; and exploring long run group dynamics is challenging for a field that uses the individual as the foundational unit of analysis. More broadly, economists make numerous decisions over the course of an analysis that influence conclusions that can be drawn. Given this, how can researchers enrich and expand their study of questions related to race in economics? How can they evaluate the impact of analytical decisions on potential insights into racial disparities? This discussion will continue the Institute’s commitment to examining how economics can better illuminate ways that structures around race influence the allocation of economic resources. For additional reflections on the ways race and racism impact the economics profession, read the brief “Where do we go from here?” for the views of four individuals from underrepresented groups who are members of the next generations of economists.
Conference highlights: “Race in Economic Research: From One Dimension to Many” keynote panel
Belinda Archibong, William “Sandy” Darity, Mario Small, and Charles I. Jones discuss how to expand the study of race in economics research. The conversation was moderated by Janice Eberly and featured an introduction by Alessandra Fogli.
Conference highlights: Monetary policy and inequality
Moritz Kuhn presents “Monetary Policy and Racial Inequality” with a discussion by Illenin Kondo. James Bullard presents “Classic Policy Benchmarks for Economies with Substantial Inequality” with a discussion by Greg Kaplan. Claudia Macaluso presents “Minority Unemployment, Inflation, and Monetary Policy.”
Conference highlights: Income volatility and sources of discrimination
Kyle Herkenhoff presents “Changing Income Risk Across the U.S. Skill Distribution” with a discussion by Elena Manresa. Trevon Logan presents “Competition and Discrimination in Public Accommodations.” Anya Kleymenova presents “The Life Cycle of a Bank Enforcement Action and its Impact on Minority Lending” with a discussion by Luigi Zingales.
Event Details
Virtual event
Event Agenda
10:00 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. CT
Opening Remarks
Abigail Wozniak, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Alina K. Bartscher, University of Bonn; Moritz Kuhn, University of Bonn; Moritz Schularick, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and University of Bonn; Paul Wachtel, New York University
Presenter: Moritz Kuhn, University of Bonn
Discussant: Illenin Kondo, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
J. Carter Braxton, University of Wisconsin; Kyle Herkenhoff, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and University of Minnesota; Jonathan Rothbaum, U.S. Census Bureau; Lawrence Schmidt, MIT
Presenter: Kyle Herkenhoff, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and University of Minnesota
Discussant: Elena Manresa, New York University
Munseob Lee, University of California, San Diego; Claudia Macaluso, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; Felipe Schwartzman, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Presenter: Claudia Macaluso, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Discussant: David Wilcox, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Question Moderator: Robert Valletta, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Lisa D. Cook, Michigan State; Maggie E. C. Jones, University of Victoria; Trevon D. Logan, The Ohio State University; David Rosé, Wilfrid Laurier University
Presenter: Trevon Logan, The Ohio State University
Discussant: Dan Aaronson, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Byeongchan An, University of Chicago; Robert Bushman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Anya Kleymenova, Federal Reserve Board of Governors; Rimmy E. Tomy, University of Chicago
Presenter: Anya Kleymenova, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Discussant: Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Question Moderator: Amanda Michaud, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3:30 p.m. CT
Closing Remarks
Neel Kashkari, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
DAY-AHEAD MENTORING CONFERENCE
In conjunction with the Fall Research Conference, the Institute is hosting a day-ahead mentoring conference to provide constructive feedback and networking opportunities to scholars up to 10 years post-Ph.D. As such, attendance will be by invitation only, and the event will not be recorded or posted later. We encourage you to visit participants’ web pages to engage with their scholarship and read the papers.
The Determinants of Racial Disparities in Housing Returns
Amir Kerman, University of California, Berkeley; Francis Wong, NBER
Escaping the Losses from Trade: The Impact of Heterogeneity and Skill Acquisition
Axelle Ferriere, CNRS and Paris School of Economics; Gaston Navarro, Federal Reserve Board of Governors; Ricardo Reyes-Heroles, Federal Reserve Board of Governors