Presenter: Assistant Professor Ding Xiaozhou (South Dakota State University)
Host: Xie Mingjia, Assistant Professor (Li Anmin Institute of Economics, Liaoning University)
Guest Introduction: Cheng Shiyu, Assistant Professor (Li Anmin Institute of Economics, Liaoning University)
Date: June 16, 2025 (Monday) 14:00 - 15:30 (Beijing Time)
Location: Conference Room on the First Floor of Wuzhouyuan, Chongshan Campus, Liaoning University
Online address: Tencent Meeting 846-7809-5157
Language: Chinese/English
Abstract:
This paper examines how changes in school attendance boundaries affect neighborhood demographics and housing markets across the United States. Using a nationwide dataset on school boundary changes, we employ a difference-in-differences framework and an event study design to estimate the effects of redistricting. Our findings reveal significant household re-sorting by race and income, with white households more likely to leave neighborhoods that experience school boundary changes and Black and Asian households more likely to move into these areas. Rezoned neighborhoods also experience increases in median household income, rents, and housing values, suggesting that perceived improvements in school quality are capitalized into local housing markets. Heterogeneity analysis shows that these effects are stronger when neighborhoods are rezoned to higher-performing schools. Block groups gaining access to better schools exhibit larger increases in housing values but experience declines in median income, reflecting economic re-sorting. These findings highlight how people-based policies aimed at improving educational opportunities can reshape neighborhood composition and economic characteristics, with implications for neighborhood stability and equity.
Speaker's Profile:
Dr. Xiaozhou Ding is an Assistant Professor of Economics at South Dakota State University, specializing in urban and regional economics, labor economics, and public economics. His research explores issues related to higher education, school choice, neighborhood dynamics, and housing markets. He is a Lincoln Institute Scholar and serves as an co-Editor-in-Chief for The Review of Regional Studies. Dr. Ding has held visiting scholar positions at University of Nebraska–Lincoln and University of Kentucky.
