Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University
Publications of Jacob L. Vigdor :recent first alphabetical combined listing:
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%% Books
@book{fds301047,
Author = {JL Vigdor},
Title = {From Immigrants to Americans: The Rise and Fall of Fitting
In},
Year = {2009},
Month = {December},
Abstract = {This book evaluates the assimilation of immigrants in the
United States between 1850 and 2007, placing contemporary
immigrants in historical perspective. It finds that on
average, the path toward the American mainstream is traveled
more rapidly by modern immigrants than it was by their
predecessors a century ago. The average does not tell the
whole story, however. Some contemporary groups exhibit
extraordinary rates of naturalization and economic progress,
while others lag behind to an extent never before witnessed.
The lack of legal status is a major impediment to
assimilation for many of these groups.},
Key = {fds301047}
}
%% Journal Articles
@article{fds301050,
Author = {R MacCoun and PJ Cook and C Muschkin and JL Vigdor},
Title = {Distinguishing spurious and real peer effects: Evidence from
artificial societies, small-group experiments, and real
schoolyards},
Journal = {Review of Law and Economics},
Volume = {4},
Number = {3},
Year = {2008},
ISSN = {1555-5879},
Abstract = {In a variety of important domains, there is considerable
correlational evidence suggestive of what are variously
referred to as social norm effects, contagion effects,
information cascades, or peer effects. It is difficult to
statistically identify whether such effects are causal, and
there are various non-causal mechanisms that can produce
such apparent norm effects. Lab experiments demonstrate that
real peer effects occur, but also that apparent cascade or
peer effects can be spurious. A curious feature of American
local school configuration policy provides an opportunity to
identify true peer influences among adolescents. Some school
districts send 6th graders to middle school (e.g., 6th-8th
grade "junior high"); others retain 6th graders for one
additional year in K-6 elementary schools. Using
administrative data on public school students in North
Carolina, we have found that sixth grade students attending
middle schools are much more likely to be cited for
discipline problems than those attending elementary school,
and the effects appear to persist at least through ninth
grade. A plausible explanation is that these effects occur
because sixth graders in middle schools are suddenly exposed
to two cohorts of older, more delinquent peers. © 2008 by
bepress.},
Key = {fds301050}
}
@article{fds301053,
Author = {CT Clotfelter and HF Ladd and JL Vigdor},
Title = {Teacher credentials and student achievement in high school:
A cross-subject analysis with student fixed
effects},
Journal = {Journal of Human Resources},
Volume = {45},
Number = {3},
Pages = {655-681},
Year = {2010},
ISSN = {0022-166X},
Abstract = {We use data on statewide end-of-course tests in North
Carolina to examine the relationship between teacher
credentials and student achievement at the high school
level. We find compelling evidence that teacher credentials,
particularly licensure and certification, affects student
achievement in systematic ways and that the magnitudes are
large enough to be policy relevant. Our findings imply that
the uneven distribution of teacher credentials by race and
socioeconomic status of high school students-a pattern we
also document-contributes to achievement gaps in high
school. In addition, some troubling findings emerge related
to the gender and race of the teachers. © 2010 by the Board
of Regents of the University of Wisconsin
System.},
Key = {fds301053}
}
@article{fds301054,
Author = {P Arcidiacono and JL Vigdor},
Title = {does the river spill over? estimating the economic returns
to attending a racially diverse college},
Journal = {Economic Inquiry},
Volume = {48},
Number = {3},
Pages = {537-557},
Year = {2010},
ISSN = {0095-2583},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00236.x},
Abstract = {This article evaluates the frequently argued but heretofore
little tested hypothesis that increasing minority
representation in elite colleges generates tangible benefits
for majority-race students. Using data on graduates of 30
selective universities, we find only weak evidence of any
relationship between collegiate racial composition and the
postgraduation outcomes of white or Asian students.
Moreover, the strongest evidence we uncover suggests that
increasing minority representation by lowering admission
standards is unlikely to produce benefits and may in fact
cause harm by reducing the representation of minority
students on less selective campuses. While affirmative
action may still be desirable for the benefits it conveys to
minority students, these results provide little support for
" spillover" effects on majority-race students. (JEL I2,
J15, J24). [T]he attainment of a diverse student body is a
constitutionally permissible goal for an institution of
higher education. The atmosphere of 'speculation, experiment
and creation'-so essential to the quality of higher
education-is widely believed to be promoted by a diverse
student body.-Lewis Powell, Regents of the University of
California v. Bakke (438 U.S. 265, 1978, pp. 311-12, quoting
Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 1957, p. 263). ©
2009 Western Economic Association International.},
Doi = {10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00236.x},
Key = {fds301054}
}
@article{fds301052,
Author = {CT Clotfelter and HF Ladd and JL Vigdor},
Title = {New destinations, new trajectories? The educational progress
of Hispanic youth in North Carolina.},
Journal = {Child Dev},
Volume = {83},
Number = {5},
Pages = {1608-1622},
Year = {2012},
Month = {September},
url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22966926},
Abstract = {Since 1990, Latin American immigrants to the United States
have dispersed beyond traditional gateway regions to a
number of "new destinations." Both theory and past empirical
evidence provide mixed guidance as to whether the children
of these immigrants are adversely affected by residing in a
nontraditional destination. This study uses administrative
public school data to study over 2,800 8- to 18-year-old
Hispanic youth in one new destination, North Carolina.
Conditional on third-grade socioeconomic indicators,
Hispanic youth who arrive by age 9 and remain enrolled in
North Carolina public schools close achievement gaps with
socioeconomically similar White students by sixth grade and
exhibit significantly lower high school dropout rates. Their
performance resembles that of first-generation youth in more
established immigration gateways.},
Doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01797.x},
Key = {fds301052}
}
@article{fds301048,
Author = {CT Clotfelter and HF Ladd and CG Muschkin and JL
Vigdor},
Title = {Success in Community College: Do Institutions
Differ?},
Journal = {Research in Higher Education},
Pages = {1-20},
Year = {2013},
ISSN = {0361-0365},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9295-6},
Abstract = {Community colleges are complex organizations and assessing
their performance, though important, is difficult. Compared
to 4-year colleges and universities, community colleges
serve a more diverse population and provide a wider variety
of educational programs that include continuing education
and technical training for adults, and diplomas, associates
degrees, and transfer credits for recent high school
graduates. Focusing solely on the latter programs of North
Carolina's community colleges, we measure the success of
each college along two dimensions: attainment of an applied
diploma or degree; or completion of the coursework required
to transfer to a 4-year college or university. We address
three questions. First, how much variation is there across
the institutions in these measures of student success?
Second, how do these measures of success differ across
institutions after we adjust for the characteristics of the
enrolled students? Third, how do our measures compare to the
measures of success used by the North Carolina Community
College System? Although we find variation along both
dimensions of success, we also find that part of this
variation is attributable to differences in the kinds of
students who attend various colleges. Once we correct for
such differences, we find that it is not possible to
distinguish most of the system's colleges from one another
along either dimension. Top-performing institutions,
however, can be distinguished from the most poorly
performing ones. Finally, our adjusted rates of success show
little correlation either to measurable aspects of the
various colleges or to the metrics used by the state. ©
2013 Springer Science+Business Media New
York.},
Doi = {10.1007/s11162-013-9295-6},
Key = {fds301048}
}
@article{fds301049,
Author = {JL Vigdor},
Title = {Weighing and Measuring the Decline in Residential
Segregation},
Journal = {CITY & COMMUNITY},
Volume = {12},
Number = {2},
Pages = {169-177},
Year = {2013},
Month = {June},
ISSN = {1535-6841},
url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000320545800006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=47d3190e77e5a3a53558812f597b0b92},
Doi = {10.1111/cico.12023},
Key = {fds301049}
}
%% Policy Briefs
@misc{fds301051,
Author = {JL Vigdor},
Title = {Solving America's Math Problem},
Year = {2013},
Month = {December},
Key = {fds301051}
}
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