In this article, we test for four potential explanations of the Hispanic Health Paradox (HHP): the "salmon bias," emigration selection, and sociocultural protection originating in either destination or sending country. To reduce biases related to attrition by return migration typical of most U.S.-based surveys, we combine data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study in Mexico and the U.S. National Health Interview Survey to compare self-reported diabetes, hypertension, current smoking, obesity, and self-rated health among Mexican-born men ages 50 and older according to their previous U.S.

This article addresses the debate on second-generation advantage and decline among Latinos by providing a post-recession snapshot based on geocoded data from the Current Population Survey (2008–2012). It reports three findings. First, second-generation Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are at a disadvantage, whereas other Latinos have achieved parity with native majority peers. Second, second-generation Latinos report significant progress compared to their parents and there is no evidence of a second-generation decline.

Prizes – formal systems that publicly allocate rewards for exemplary behavior – play an increasingly important role in a wide array of social settings, including education. In this paper, we evaluate a prize system designed to boost achievement at two high schools by assigning students color-coded ID cards based on a previously low stakes test. Average student achievement on this test increased in the ID card schools beyond what one would expect from contemporaneous changes in neighboring schools.

Plunging tax revenues and soaring social program demand during the Great Recession created state budget shortfalls of historic magnitude. After reviewing states’ aggregate reaction to the economic downturn, we conduct an original analysis of the recession’s budgetary impact on the states and their policy responses. Economic factors such as falling personal income and home values explain much of the variation in the recession’s impact.

This report provides an overview of the latest research that demonstrates how people’s address effects their life outcomes. The report also outlines several policies to promote economic opportunity for America’s low-income renters.