We studied how people choose which neighborhood to live in and how local public goods are provided. The neighborhood one grows up in plays a large role in one’s life. Recent studies show that intergenerational mobility has a lot to do with the kind of neighborhood one grows up in.

Professor Raj Chetty of Harvard University is a leading researcher on this topic. In this assignment, watch the following lecture on the “causal effects of neighborhoods”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7epNon8wi8&t=3308s

Provide brief answers to the following questions (Your answers should not exceed 500 words):

1. Visit the Opportunity Atlas (https://www.opportunityatlas.org/). Pick a neighborhood (it can be any place, it can be where you grew up, or some place you are interested in). Briefly describe the neighborhood characteristics. (Note: there is no correct answer to this question. Pick the statistics you deem as important.)

(I would like you to pick some place you are interested in 🙂 thank you)

2. Explain why establishing the causal effects of neighborhood is important but difficult.

3. Explain the approach used by Prof. Chetty and his team that unpack the causal effects of neighborhood.

4. What are the characteristics of a neighborhood that matter most for the intergenerational mobility?