Local criminalization policies levy costs on individuals who engage in behaviors that are constructed as socially deviant. Although these ordinances present social equity concerns in both the policy design and implementation processes, municipal actors use a deterrence rationality to justify their passage. To delve deeper into this logic, this article focuses on a sub-set of criminalization policies – anti-homeless ordinances – and utilizes a difference-in-difference model to identify if passing an ordinance criminalizing behaviors closely related to homelessness produces a subsequent decrease in homelessness within a community. Contrary to the deterrence logic, the results indicate that local anti-homeless ordinances cannot be relied upon to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness. To explain the continued passage of these ordinances, the authors argue that socially constructed criminality shapes both the policy design and implementation functions of the administrative state as well as the assessment and evaluation functions.
"Cultural Competence in Community-Level Initiatives to Advance Racial Equity in Homeless Services." with Saerim Kim, Kotomi Yokokura, Hyokyung Kwak, and Emily Nwakpuda.
This study investigates how communities in the United States address racial inequality in homelessness through the cultural competency framework (Cross et al. 1989) and Sweeting's (2022) actionable initiatives. Communities may claim actions increase equity, but only reflect colorblind policies, reinforcing power imbalances and leaving behind minority groups historically discriminated against. Using HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) funding applications, we identify actions taken by CoCs to tackle racial inequity in homeless services. While most CoCs demonstrate cultural proficiency, they often miss opportunities for advancing proficiency. Further, the most common actions are frequently disconnected from proficiency in racial equity. We highlight the importance of actively developing cultural competence in organizations and communities when addressing complex issues like homelessness. It also offers an empirical application of Sweeting's framework, providing valuable insights for future research on social equity in public service provision.
"What kills nonprofits? A study on the dissolution of the US human service nonprofits." with Jeongyoon Lee.
"Does task and structural integration achieve its goals?: Evidence from South Korea’s one-stop service center for job seekers." with Kyungmin Lee.
"Does merging mandated collaborative governance networks improve community-based outcomes?" with Saerim Kim and Hanvit Kim.
"Our house: Does local autonomy increase intergovernmental collaboration?" with Xin Chen.
"Navigating pathways out of homelessness for youth: An analysis of shelter utilization in central Florida." with Seongho An and Bella Lu.
"Municipal electric vehicle fleet adoption: An exploratory analysis." with Patrick Exmeyer, Kyungmin Lee, and Jeremy Hall.
"Federal Student Loan Servicing Accountability and Incentives in Contracts", with Rajeev Darolia. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Consumer Finance Institute, Discussion Paper No. DP20-05, 2020.
Student loan servicers play a critical and underappreciated role in federal student oan programs. The federal government contracts out to servicers an array of many of the most critical functions related to student loan repayment, including account management, payment processing, and the provision of information about payment plans and solutions for distressed borrowers. In fact, most borrowers’ interactions with federal student loan repayment are almost exclusively with their servicer. We aim to improve upon the scarce research literature about federal student loan servicers by exploring the complicated set of measures that determine how servicers are compensated for servicing each debtor and awarded portfolios for future business. The coverage and construction of these measures influence servicers’ behaviors by creating strong incentives that coincide to varying degrees with the goals of the government, public, student loan borrowers, and the servicers themselves. Understanding accountability and incentives in current and past contracts is critical as the U.S. Department of Education reforms servicer contracts and responsibilities through its Next Gen Federal Student Aid initiative.
The number of homeless students has doubled to 1.5 million in 2019 since 2008, being a product of worsening underlying economic conditions faced by many families, but also possibly reflecting school district administrators’ responses to incentives from financial incentives to identify a larger number of students. To better understand how districts respond to amplified funds, I estimate the impact of a school district’s receiving a federal homeless assistance grant on the number of students identified as homeless and their academic achievement. I estimate implicit homeless student count thresholds in each state and year based on discontinuities in the distribution of homeless students across districts. I then use a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to causally identify the effect of receiving a grant on the identification of homeless students and their test scores. I find financial incentives likely do not increase the identification of homeless students. Receiving a grant also lowers the percent of homeless students proficient on state math tests by 16%. Financial incentives for administrators likely do not explain the increase in homelessness. Further, public finance scholars may consider how unintended effects, such as crowd out of other funds, thwart the intended goal of programs.