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Thesis: The Hometown Effect -- Quantifying the Power of Place

I wrote this economics thesis during my final year of undergrad in the spring of 2022. In the paper, I discuss and analyze the widespread opportunity atlas research; that the location of where an individual grows up has a lasting effect on their future economic prosperity. I specifically analyze the difference in outcomes between urban, suburban, and rural counties. There's a lot of information in here, but if it's something you're interested in, I suggest you give it a read!

Additionally, check out Raj Chetty's interactive visual dataset known as the opportunity atlas. You can toggle with the filters and explore the levels of wealth and poverty throughout the 50 United States, and see if you are beating the odds of the county that you grew up in!


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