Steven Durlauf
@durlauf.bsky.social
2.3K followers 680 following 140 posts

Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, Director, Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility, University of Chicago

Steven Neil Durlauf is an American economist and social scientist. He is currently Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor and the inaugural Director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Durlauf was previously the William F. Vilas Research Professor and Kenneth J. Arrow Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As of 2021, is also a Part Time Professor at the New Economic School. .. more

Economics 66%
Sociology 10%
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durlauf.bsky.social
That is very nice of you to say. FWIW there is a growing literature in economics that measures "inherited inequality" that is directly inspired by Roemer's work. Here is a survey eprints.lse.ac.uk/126263/1/III....
eprints.lse.ac.uk

durlauf.bsky.social
Roemer's work on equality of opportunity takes pride of place. I also put great value on his work on political competition and inequality dynamics and his work in analytical Marxism, with his work on exploitation especially significant.

durlauf.bsky.social
If I were the social planner, the next Nobel Prize in Economics would be awarded to Samuel Bowles, Glenn Loury, and John Roemer. Their work is foundational to the modern study of inequality, addressing normative and positive dimensions of inequality with profound insight.

durlauf.bsky.social
Delighted to post this wonderful conversation with Joseph Fishkin, whose brilliant book Bottlenecks has so deeply influenced my thinking about inequality and meritocracy.
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
What if the goal isn’t equal outcomes, but equal access? This week on the podcast, @durlauf.bsky.social and @fishkin.bsky.social discuss opportunity pluralism, meritocracy, and how political economy has shaped American democracy.
If you care about inequality, this is a must-listen → zurl.co/JRALG

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

ucstonecenter.bsky.social
What if the goal isn’t equal outcomes, but equal access? This week on the podcast, @durlauf.bsky.social and @fishkin.bsky.social discuss opportunity pluralism, meritocracy, and how political economy has shaped American democracy.
If you care about inequality, this is a must-listen → zurl.co/JRALG

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Earlier this month, we hosted an authors' conference for the upcoming volume, "Whither Meritocracy?" published by the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Read the recap and preview what's to come → bit.ly/46VBKro

durlauf.bsky.social
Very happy that exceptional conversation with Alexander Monge-Naranjo has posted. Alex's work addresses many aspects of inequality, from financial barriers to college attainment to the dynamics of spatial inequality in cities.
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Alexander Monge-Naranjo has been researching the role of credit constraints in shaping educational attainment. He sits down with @durlauf.bsky.social to discuss how credit access matters for recent cohorts, whereas family resources were more determinative for earlier groups.
Listen → bit.ly/4nOXPxK
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Alexander Monge-Naranjo has been researching the role of credit constraints in shaping educational attainment. He sits down with @durlauf.bsky.social to discuss how credit access matters for recent cohorts, whereas family resources were more determinative for earlier groups.
Listen → bit.ly/4nOXPxK

durlauf.bsky.social
Very happy to share this terrific conversation with Francisco Ferreira @lseinequalities.bsky.social, with a focus on his foundational work on inherited inequality.
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
"How much of the inequality we observe today can be predicted by inherited circumstances?”
This week on the podcast, Steven Durlauf is joined by Francisco Ferreira to explore how inherited inequality unfolds across countries and regions.
🎧 Hear the full conversation bit.ly/45XLHnV

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

ucstonecenter.bsky.social
"How much of the inequality we observe today can be predicted by inherited circumstances?”
This week on the podcast, Steven Durlauf is joined by Francisco Ferreira to explore how inherited inequality unfolds across countries and regions.
🎧 Hear the full conversation bit.ly/45XLHnV

durlauf.bsky.social
Recommended! Important evidence on declining mobility in Germany, consistent with an intertemporal Great Gatsby Curve.
heimbergecon.bsky.social
This new study shows: in Germany, it has become much harder for children to earn more than their parents, now about as hard as in the US: "parental income has become much more important for educational outcomes of children"
heimbergecon.bsky.social
This new study shows: in Germany, it has become much harder for children to earn more than their parents, now about as hard as in the US: "parental income has become much more important for educational outcomes of children"

durlauf.bsky.social
Great opportunity.
pengzell.bsky.social
WE ARE HIRING! 2 Lecturers in Quantitative Social Science. Want a friendly interdisciplinary department in one of the world's most vibrant cities? This just might be for you.

Apply by: 10 Oct

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

durlauf.bsky.social
5/Using the PSID, we show that later year incomes are more important for offspring income terciles than other years and there is especially high complementary between parental income during middle to late childhood and family structure during late childhood, among other results.

durlauf.bsky.social
4/The analysis uses functional data analysis methods, some pioneered by my coauthors. The key idea is to use variants of the beautiful Karhunen-Loeve expansion to produce optimal approximations to the stochastic processes for the trajectories that may be used for estimation.

durlauf.bsky.social
3/This allows one to measure interactions between the two trajectories within and across years, creating the possibility that complementary effects and substitution effects between trajectory values depending on which pairs of elements are considered.

durlauf.bsky.social
2/The paper's methodological innovation is development of a framework to estimate family-specific transition probabilities which depend on the complete trajectories of family and family incomes across childhood and adolescence.

durlauf.bsky.social
1/Very pleased to release this paper which provides a very flexible methodology for estimation of Markov transition matrices linking parents to children, joint with my brilliant coauthors Yoosoon Chang, Bo Hu, and Joon Park.
nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Sep 2
Providing a general framework for understanding how trajectories of family income and family structure affect adult outcomes, from Yoosoon Chang, Steven N. Durlauf, Bo Hu, and Joon Park https://www.nber.org/papers/w34179

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Sep 2
Providing a general framework for understanding how trajectories of family income and family structure affect adult outcomes, from Yoosoon Chang, Steven N. Durlauf, Bo Hu, and Joon Park https://www.nber.org/papers/w34179
timbartik.bsky.social
My papers arguing that the "Abundance Movement" needs broadening to include place-based jobs policies for distressed places are being released today, with a long paper at the Upjohn Institute & a shorter summary at Brookings Metro.

durlauf.bsky.social
Very much looking forward to this event which celebrates the 10th anniversary of @lseinequalities.bsky.social.
lseinequalities.bsky.social
Join us at on 18 Sept for New Directions in Inequality Research, a panel event exploring the biggest gaps, challenges and future priorities in the field.

🎙️ With Facundo Alvaredo, Steven Durlauf, Anne Phillips, & LSE President Larry Kramer
🔗 buff.ly/ziJtegT
pengzell.bsky.social
WE ARE HIRING! 2 Lecturers in Quantitative Social Science. Want a friendly interdisciplinary department in one of the world's most vibrant cities? This just might be for you.

Apply by: 10 Oct

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

durlauf.bsky.social
Thank you @tderyugina.bsky.social for taking the lead on this important letter.
tderyugina.bsky.social
The letter is ready, thanks to all those who helped out! Starting to gather signature now, please consider signing (link at top of letter) & spread the word.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

durlauf.bsky.social
Very pleased to release this new paper with Giovanni Bernardo, Andros Kourtellos, and Chih Ming Tan on the measurement of inequality of opportunity.
nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Aug 28
How to make inequality of opportunity measurement more credible by accounting for model uncertainty, from Giovanni Bernardo, Steven N. Durlauf, Andros Kourtellos, and Chih Ming Tan https://www.nber.org/papers/w34163
lseinequalities.bsky.social
Join us at on 18 Sept for New Directions in Inequality Research, a panel event exploring the biggest gaps, challenges and future priorities in the field.

🎙️ With Facundo Alvaredo, Steven Durlauf, Anne Phillips, & LSE President Larry Kramer
🔗 buff.ly/ziJtegT
nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Aug 28
How to make inequality of opportunity measurement more credible by accounting for model uncertainty, from Giovanni Bernardo, Steven N. Durlauf, Andros Kourtellos, and Chih Ming Tan https://www.nber.org/papers/w34163
tderyugina.bsky.social
The letter is ready, thanks to all those who helped out! Starting to gather signature now, please consider signing (link at top of letter) & spread the word.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

durlauf.bsky.social
Delighted that this conversation with the wonderful Wendy Carlin has posted.
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Econ 101 usually sticks to perfect models. The CORE project (@coreecon.bsky.social) is trying to change that by tackling climate, inequality, innovation, and the future of work. This week’s podcast guest is reinventing how economics is taught—with free resources. Listen wherever you get podcasts!

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Econ 101 usually sticks to perfect models. The CORE project (@coreecon.bsky.social) is trying to change that by tackling climate, inequality, innovation, and the future of work. This week’s podcast guest is reinventing how economics is taught—with free resources. Listen wherever you get podcasts!