Research
Aging
CPR’s Aging Studies Program encompasses a range of activities
including externally-funded research projects in the
economics, demography, and sociology of aging. Funds provided
by the National Institute on Aging have supported research on
retirement migration; the relationship between body size and
functioning at older ages; methods for projecting the health
and well-being of the older population in the future; and
long-term care arrangements. The Program has also developed
an array of Internet-based resources for use in
gerontological education.
Domestic Urban & Regional Studies
One of the Center's traditional fields of strength is the
analysis of economic and social policy issues in cities,
urban concentrations and regions. Among the topics of
research have been state economic development, the location
of foreign investment, the determinants of industry location,
and city growth, as well housing finance, entrepreneurship, and
racial discrimination. A recently completed project provided
nationwide estimates of racial and ethnic discrimination in
the housing market.
Education Finance
The purpose of the Education Finance and Accountability Program, or EFAP,
is to promote research, education, and debate about fundamental issues
in the system of elementary and secondary education in the United States.
The central focus of the program is on the tax and state aid programs that fund this system
and on policies to promote efficiency and accountability in school districts.
However, EFAP also sponsors research and debate on other issues related to elementary and secondary education.
Entrepreneurship and Public Policy (PREPP)
It is widely perceived that entrepreneurs have a central role
in market economies. However, economic research and public
policy is largely conducted using a tripartite division of
the economy (households, firms, government) without any
special recognition of (or role for) entrepreneurs. Moreover,
most public programs are executed to react to issues or to
provide specific services or goods, not to create
environments within which entrepreneurship can flourish.
Funded Research
CPR's raison d'être is to help faculty accomplish their
research goals with as much internal support and as little
external interference as is consistent with its position in
our student-centered research institution. Because good
research in applied public policy needs time and money, one
of CPR's main goals is to raise enough external support to
meet faculty needs for time away from the classroom;
computing; and copying; mail, and other dissemination
vehicles. Moreover, external research support contributes
significantly to the size and quality of the graduate
programs in economics, public administration, sociology, and
political science by our monetary support of their graduate
students.
Housing & Housing Finance & Real Estate Taxation
Several members of CPR are particularly active in the
analysis of a wide range of issues related to housing
markets. Recent topics include the analysis of public housing
programs, econometric modeling of metropolitan housing
markets, and forecasts of the market for owner-occupied
housing. A closely related area is housing finance. This
includes the demand for mortgages and various types of
mortgage instruments, the pricing of mortgage-backed
securities, econometric analysis of mortgage prepayment and
default (Paper
No. 177), the credit risk of multifamily mortgages (Paper
No. 180), and the analysis of government sponsored
housing finance enterprises.
Public Finance
CPR continues its traditional focus on public finance,
studying the structure of national tax systems,
inter-governmental grants, municipal bond rating and credit
analysis, measures of city fiscal conditions, property tax
reform, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and estate taxes.
