Jeffrey Lin
I am an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. I study cities, regions, and growth.
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia or the Federal Reserve System.
I am also co-executive director of the Philadelphia Federal Statistical Research Data Center and co-host of Densely Speaking: Conversations About Cities, Economics, and Law (RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify)
Curriculum Vitae (September 2024)
IDEAS/RePEc
Google Scholar
Phone: (215) 574-3441
E-mail: jeff.lin (at) phil.frb.org or jeff (at) jlin.org
Twitter: @jeffrlin
BlueSky: @jeffrlin.bsky.social
Recent updates
"Freeway Revolts! The Quality of Life Effects of Highways"" was published in the September 2024 issue of the Review of Economics and Statistics. 24 September 2024
New working paper: "Patent Text and Long-Run Innovation Dynamics: The Critical Role of Model Selection". 24 September 2024
Densely Speaking is back for a fourth season. The first episode features an interview with Sara Bronin and Scott Markley of the National Zoning Atlas. In the second episode, Greg and I chat with Jonathan Rose about blockbusting and the challenges faced by Black families in building wealth. 08 July 2024
The Wharton School and the Philly Fed will host the 16th annual Conference on Urban and Regional Economics (CURE) on November 8-9, 2024 in Philadelphia. The deadline to submit a paper or apply to participate is August 23, 2024, at 1 p.m. EDT. 08 July 2024
CREED is hosting a conference on August 15-16, 2024, called From Rasters to Rows: New Methods and Applications in Automated Data Extraction. 08 July 2024
Learn about CREED, our new initiative to make unstructured economic data more accessible. 21 July 2023
Working papers and work in progress
Patent Text and Long-Run Innovation Dynamics: The Critical Role of Model Selection
with Ina Ganguli, Vitaly Meursault and Nicholas Reynolds
NBER Working Paper 32934.
Previously circulated with the title "Mapping Inventions in the Space of Ideas, 1836–2022: Representation and Measurement."
September 2024
The Bronx is Burning: Urban Disinvestment Effects of the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements with Ingrid Gould Ellen, Daniel Hartley, and Wei You
Expecting an Expressway with Jeffrey Brinkman and Kyle Mangum
Racial Factors in the Allocation of Interstate Highways, 1950–1980 with Jessica LaVoice
Automated Digitization of the Historical Censuses of Housing Block Statistics, 1940–1970
with Dan Moulton, Isaac Rand, and Robyn Smith
Slides from August 2024.
Regional Resilience
December 2012
Peer-reviewed publications
Lockdowns and Innovation: Evidence from the 1918 Flu Pandemic
with Enrico Berkes, Olivier Deschênes, Ruben Gaetani, and Christopher Severen
Review of Economics and Statistics, accepted.
Working paper from February 2023.
November 2020
Freeway Revolts! The Quality of Life Effects of Highways
with Jeffrey Brinkman
Review of Economics and Statistics 106 (5): 1268-1284.
Working paper from July 2022.
Previous working paper from July 2019. Slides from November 2019.
Media coverage by Citylab and WHYY.
The Well-Being of Nations: Estimating Welfare from International Migration
with Sanghoon Lee and Seung Hoon Lee
International Economic Review 62:3 (August 2021), 1111-1130.
Working paper from January 2021.
Slides from October 2019.
Population Density and Local Food Market Channels
with Jeffrey K. O'Hara
Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 42:3 (September 2020), 477-496.
The Paper Trail of Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from Patent Interferences
with Ina Ganguli and Nicholas Reynolds
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 12:2 (April 2020), 278-302.
Working paper from September 2019. Slides from June 2019.
Natural Amenities, Neighborhood Dynamics, and Persistence in the Spatial Distribution of Income
with Sanghoon Lee
Review of Economic Studies 85:1 (January 2018), 663-694.
Reprinted in Recent Developments in the Economics of Housing, Y. Ioannides, ed., Edward Elgar Publishing (2019).
Working paper from January 2017. Appendix and replication data in a zip file. Data and advice for how to normalize historical census tract and enumeration district data to 2010 U.S. census tract boundaries. Media coverage by Chicago magazine
Thick-Market Effects and Churning in the Labor Market: Evidence from U.S. Cities
with Hoyt Bleakley
Journal of Urban Economics, 72:2-3 (September-November 2012), 87-103.
Reprinted in The Economics of Agglomeration, W. Strange, ed., Edward Elgar Publishing (2019).
Working paper from October 2007.
Portage and Path Dependence
with Hoyt Bleakley
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127:2 (2012), 587-644.
Working paper from September 2011.
Co-winner of IPUMS Research Award 2012 for Best Published Article Using IPUMS-USA Data.
Media coverage by Business Insider.
Technological Adaptation, Cities, and New Work
Review of Economics and Statistics, 93:2 (May 2011), 554-574.
Reprinted in The Economics of Agglomeration, W. Strange, ed., Edward Elgar Publishing (2019).
Working paper from July 2009. Replication data and data on new occupational classifications.
Precision, Bias, and Uncertainty for State Population Forecasts: An Exploratory Analysis of Time Series Models
with Jeff Tayman and Stanley K. Smith
Population Research and Policy Review 26:3 (June 2007), 347-369.
Gentrification and Transit in Northwest Chicago
Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, in Transportation Quarterly, 56:4 (Fall 2002), 175-191.
Hathi Trust version.
Summary pieces, invited articles, and conference proceedings
The State of Urban Research: Views Across the Disciplines
with Harold Wolman, William Barnes, Jennifer Clark, Samantha Friedman, Richard Harris, and Thomas Orgozalek.
Journal of Urban Affairs (2022).
What Future For History Dependence in Spatial Economics?
with Ferdinand Rauch
Regional Science and Urban Economics 94 (2022), 103628.
The Costs and Benefits of Fixing Downtown Freeways
with Jeffrey Brinkman
Economic Insights 7:1 (2022), 17-22.
Early Interstate Policy and Its Effects on Central Cities
with Jeffrey Brinkman
Cityscape 22:2 (2020), 81-86.
Understanding Gentrification's Causes: What do three centuries of Philadelphia history tell us about today's changing neighborhoods?
Economic Insights 2:3 (2017), 9-17.
Media coverage by PlanPhilly.
What Have We Learned About the Causes of Recent Gentrification?
with Jackelyn Hwang
Cityscape 18:3 (November 2016), 9-26.
Correction to Exhibit 2. Slides presented at the 2016 Research Symposium on Gentrification and Neighborhood Change. Media coverage by the Washington Post.
History and the Sizes of Cities
with Hoyt Bleakley
American Economic Review, Papers & Proceedings, 105:5 (May 2015), 558-563.
Working paper from January 2015.
The Puzzling Persistence of Place
Business Review 2015 Q2: 1-8.
The Paper Trail of Knowledge Transfers
Business Review 2014 Q2: 1-6
Geography, History, Economies of Density, and the Location of Cities
Business Review 2012 Q3: 18-24.
Urban Productivity Advantages from Job Search and Matching
Business Review 2011 Q1: 9-16
Data and code
Data and code for analyzing new occupation titles ("new work") in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, 1964, 1977, 1991, and the US Census, 1980, 1990, and 2000.
Includes replication files for "Technological Adaptation, Cities, and New Work."
Replication files for "Portage and Path Dependence"
In progress.
Data and code for "normalizing" historical census data to 2010 census tract boundaries.
Includes replication files for "Natural Amenities, Neighborhood Dynamics, and Persistence in the Spatial Distribution of Income."
Data on natural amenities for 2010 US census tracts
Version 2, based on original data from "Natural Amenities, Neighborhood Dynamics, and Persistence in the Spatial Distribution of Income." In progress.
Data on highways in U.S. cities and neighborhoods
From "Freeway Revolts! The Quality of Life Effects of Highways."
Last updated 27 September 2024
Home URL: http://jlin.org/
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia or the Federal Reserve System.