Rob Collinson

Really enjoyed talking with @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social and Jennifer Loving from @destinationhomesv.bsky.social about what we know regarding homeless prevention and drivers of homelessness. A great opportunity to highlight some of the research from @LEOatND & @ndecon.bsky.social !

In Search of Home: Part 1 How to Prevent Homelessness  | KQED We hear the experiences of people who have, with help, narrowly avoided losing their housing and talk about proven ways to prevent homelessness.

🎙️ ON AIR:

For Episode 1 of #InSearchofHome, we're talking with @destinationhomesv.bsky.social CEO Jennifer Loving and economics professor @racollinson.bsky.social about the reasons why homelessness happens and how to prevent it.

❓ Have you ever been on the brink of losing your home?

📻 Listen:

Dr. Erika McEntarfer has devoted her career to public service. She has conducted herself as BLS Commissioner with great integrity. There is no evidence whatsoever that BLS data are politically biased.

#econsky

#QJE Aug 2025, #11, “The Long-Run Effects of America’s Largest Residential Desegregation Program: Gautreaux,” by Chyn (ericchyn.bsky.social), Collinson (@racollinson.bsky.social), and Sandler (@dismalscientist86.bsky.social): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

Long-Term Impacts of Residential Racial Desegregation Programs

Our colleague Rob Collinson's work is featured in the May volume of the NBER Digest. Check it out. @nber.org @racollinson.bsky.social www.nber.org/digest/20250...

Nice to my work with @ericchyn.bsky.social and @dismalscientist86.bsky.social covered in the latest @nber.org Digest!

Handle typo/fail in my first post... sorry @denizdutz.bsky.social !

Eviction has spillover effects on children, with particularly negative effects for boys and older kids. These effects may be moderated by access to family support networks, from Collinson, Dutz, @johneric.bsky.social, Mader, Tannenbaum, and van Dijk https://www.nber.org/papers/w33659

Accessible write-up from the Tobin Center : tobin.yale.edu/research/eff...

4/4

The Effects of Eviction on Children Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

The impacts of eviction do not appear to be driven by changes in neighborhood or school quality, but by reductions in school attachment & engagement.

Access to family support networks (e.g. moving-in w/ extended family) may moderate some of these effects.

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NBER WP: www.nber.org/papers/w33659

Importantly, we find that eviction reduces high school credits, and lowers high school graduation rates.

The effects appear most disruptive for boys, and older children.

We also provide new descriptive facts on kids facing & show how eviction changes family living arrangements

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How does eviction impact children?
In new WP w/@denizdutz.bsky.social @johneric.bsky.social @dtannenbaum.bsky.social @winnievd.bsky.social: we study this ? using 🔗 data of eviction cases to K-12 & Census data

Eviction causes spikes in homelessness (left), school-switching (right) & absences
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The Effects of Eviction on Children Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New @nber.org working paper from our colleague Rob Collinson @racollinson.bsky.social, "The Effects of Evictions on Children" (with Dutz, Humphries, Mader, Tannenbaum, and van Dijk). Check it out: www.nber.org/papers/w33659

Recently accepted by #QJE, “The Long-Run Effects of America’s Largest Residential Desegregation Program: Gautreaux,” by Chyn (ericchyn.bsky.social), Collinson (@racollinson.bsky.social), and Sandler (@dismalscientist86.bsky.social): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

All large orgs, gov't or private, contain some waste/inefficiencies. It is worthwhile to try minimize it. That said, eliminating technical expertise and institutional knowledge is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Research & analysis make government more efficient, not less efficient.

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HUD PD&R conducts precisely this work, not just in response to the foreclosure crisis or the pandemic, but also assists FEMA when natural disasters hit. These capacities are now being stripped from the agency and we will be worse-off for it.

8/N

The answer is that funds typically flow to the areas that need the funds the most... how is this possible? Because we typically entrust these decisions to career government employees who use data-driven methods to distribute funds in a targeted, apolitical fashion.

7/N

I also want to highlight a lesser-known role of PD&R: the allocation of federal funds to states and localities. When disaster strikes (natural or economic), who decides where taxpayer dollars flow? Do federal funds go to the constituents of the loudest member of Congress?

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It also funds numerous surveys: the AHS, the Survey of New Construction, Survey of Market Absorption etc that are public goods providing essential signals to the private market about underlying housing market dynamics.

5/N

Its housing market analyses ensured that FHA underwriting protected taxpayer resources, its analysis of income limits and FMRs kept HUD programs well-targeted and in-line with market fundamentals, and it’s monitoring reports were important inputs into fraud-detection.

4/N

It led to important research on removing regulatory barriers to housing and improving manufactured housing that were aimed at bringing down housing costs for everyday Americans.

Beyond these research contributions, PD&R was also instrumental in the operations of HUD programs and the FHA

3/N

Not unlike IES at ED, PD&R is the research & evaluation hub for HUD, providing critical evidence on what works. It supported landmark studies such as Moving to Opportunity (MTO), Jobs-Plus, the Family Options Study, the Housing Allowance Demand (and Supply) Experiments, and countless others.

2/N

I typically avoid posting normative analysis of government action.

However, my old office at HUD, PD&R, is on the D0GE chopping block and I want to spell-out why this is a terrible idea...

1/N

The Long-Run Effects of America's Largest Residential Racial Desegregation Program: Gautreaux Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New @nberpubs.bsky.social working paper from our own Rob Collinson (with Chyn and Sandler): "The Long-Run Effects of America's Largest Residential Racial Desegregation Program: Gautreaux." www.nber.org/papers/w33427

Such bad vibes all-around on offense. The indecision in the pocket the last two weeks feels unlike college Caleb and painfully like Justin’s last few years. Makes one wonder how much of this is driven by Eberflus obsession with not turning the ball over.

Forthcoming in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, "Eviction and Poverty in American Cities" by our own Robert Collinson, along with Humphries, Mader, Reed, Tannenbaum, and van Dijk. academic.oup.com/qje/advance-...

Cool job alert: jobs.nd.edu/postings/32067

@LEOatND is hiring for 3 research associate positions -- 1 starts now, & 2 start in the summer.

Use your analysis/coding/mgmt skills to fight poverty through rigorous research, identifying promising programs & policies! Posting closes 10/6

Roll call. 📉📈

The more literal interpretation of “The Economist as Plumber” ?