Opportunity in Motion: Infrastructure, Job Access, and Intergenerational Mobility
Grant Type
Early Career Research Award
Publication Date
3-30-2026
Description
This project examines how the construction of the Interstate Highway System reshaped the geography of economic opportunity in U.S. metropolitan areas. Using newly linked administrative tax records covering nearly the full population of parents and children in the 1960s and 1970s, along with detailed measures of commuting market access in Census surveys, the study estimates how improvements in job accessibility affected neighborhood-level labor market outcomes, migration patterns, and children’s later-life earnings. The analysis distinguishes direct income gains for existing residents from compositional changes driven by selective migration. It further investigates the mechanisms linking neighborhood change to long-run labor market consequences for children, including changes in local public finances, school enrollment, and peer exposure. These findings provide new evidence on the intergenerational impacts of place-based employment policies.