Many markets ban monetary transfers. Rather than exogenously imposing this constraint, we introduce discrimination-freeness as a desideratum based on egalitarian objectives. Discrimination-freeness requires that an agent's object assignment is independent of his wealth. We show that money cannot...

Productivity is not just an important concept for economists, but for other social scientists as well. This article by Jeff Matrick, Editor of Challenge and economics columnist for the New York Times, is a review of a the recently published edited volume Towards a Social Understanding of...

Measuring capabilities is a major challenge for the operationalization of the capability approach. Structural equation models (SEM) are being increasingly used as one possible methodology for estimating capabilities, but a certain skepticism remains about their appropriateness. In this paper, we...

In the recent years a large literature on indicators of well-being and quality of life has proliferated, all departing from a strict economic view of these phenomena. While all these indicators sign an important step for the recognition of well-being as a multidimensional phenomenon, they are...

While individuals returning from prison face many barriers to successful re-entry, among the most serious are the challenges they face in securing housing. Housing has long been recognized as a prerequisite for stable employment, access to social services, and other aspects of individual and...

Although research consistently demonstrates a link between neighborhood conditions and physical activity for adults and adolescents, less is known about residential context and young children’s physical activity. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=2,210), we...

Non-cognitive skills in childhood and adolescence are associated with a host of outcomes in adulthood, including educational and occupational attainment. One explanation for these associations is that poor non-cognitive skills in early childhood interfere with the development of cognitive skills...

This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being survey (N = 2,427) to examine the association between the chronicity and timing of maternal depression and child well-being. Maternal depression, particularly chronic depression, is linked to internalizing and externalizing...

Past studies of the informal economy in the US focused on small geographic areas and select populations. This paper uses a nationally representative panel survey of urban parents, the largest and most diverse data yet, to describe the nature of informal work in the United States. Informal work...

This paper investigates to what extent stable and unstable three-generation family households (grandparent, parent and child) are associated with child socioemotional, cognitive and health outcomes over the first three years of a child’s life. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families...