Kara Jones

This paper explores how place-based policies reshape neighborhoods over time by focusing on gentrification and population movement following Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) designation. Using restricted Census data, I track changes in housing costs, income composition, and migration flows at the tract level. I conceptualize gentrification as a process of neighborhood upgrading driven by rising costs and demographic turnover. A difference-in-differences approach compares treated areas to similar untreated neighborhoods to estimate how these dynamics evolve after designation. The results shed light on whether economic development policies improve local welfare or instead contribute to displacement of existing residents. Results are forthcoming, but I expect to find greater rates of gentrification and outmigration in treated areas compared to the control areas.

How does third-party reporting shape property tax compliance? Local governments rely primarily on property taxes for funding public services, yet compliance heavily relies on self-reported property use with little verification. STR hosts can exploit this verification gap by managing rental activity to retain owner-occupied exemptions. Using Airbnb and VRBO data from 2015–2024 in Florida, I apply a bunching estimator at the state's 30-day rental-day exemption threshold and exploit an enforcement shock to detect tax evasion. The enforcement shock sharply changes host behavior. Bunching near the threshold is negligible beforehand but grows substantially after, with hosts cutting bookings by more than 16 nights. This bunching behavior translates to estimated revenue effects of $15 million over the analysis period. These results demonstrate that even lenient third-party reporting generates meaningful compliance gains and suggests that data-sharing could meaningfully strengthen compliance in decentralized tax systems.

As industrial policy drives new waves of foreign direct investment (FDI) into rural areas of the U.S., can FDI job growth increase rural incomes? Using synthetic control, difference-in-differences, and propensity score matching, I find that rural FDI consistently generates job growth but has no impact on income growth. Evidence from Kia Motors' $1.2 billion investment in Troup County, Georgia, and a national panel of rural counties (1995–2019) shows that FDI raises employment—by 13–16% locally and 3% nationally—but has no average effect on income. Gains occur where housing and labor markets are strong, suggesting policymakers must pair FDI with policies that improve housing supply, mobility, and absorptive capacity to see employment and income gains.

This paper evaluates the short-run economic effects of the U.S. Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) programs on firms and workers in targeted areas. Using confidential Census microdata, we examine how designation influences business formation, closures, employment, and wages. Identification relies on a difference-in-differences framework with matched control tracts. We also distinguish between incumbent and newly entering firms and residents to assess who benefits from these policies. The analysis provides evidence on whether place-based incentives generate immediate improvements in local economic activity and labor market outcomes in distressed communities. Results are forthcoming.

Using retailer scanner data, we examine the impact of a six-month ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in Washington state on tobacco product purchases. Utilizing a differences-in-differences research design, we find that aggregate e-cigarette sales within Washington decrease by nearly 43% during the ban period. Nevertheless, cross-jurisdictional shopping blunts the efficacy of the ban: e-cigarette sales occurring in Oregon and Idaho counties on the Washington border increase by nearly 48% and 17%, respectively. Moreover, cigarette sales in Washington increase by over 10% while the ban is in place. After the ban, cross-border shopping stops, and e-cigarette sales in Washington state quickly recover. The results indicate the need for an approach to tobacco control that accounts for inter-jurisdictional shopping behavior as well as substitution between types of tobacco products.