Neighborhood Economic Development Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit in Los Angeles Poor Places and Policies for the Working Poor

This paper explores the effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on poor neighborhoods of Los Angeles during the late 1990s. To date, few analyses have empirically examined the impact of people-based policies on the economies of poor neighborhoods. The paper first documents the magnitude of thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUrban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 851 - 873
Main Author Spencer, James H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2007
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
California
Earned income
Economic development
Employment
Income tax
Los Angeles
Neighborhoods
Neighbourhoods
Poverty
Poverty alleviation
Tax credits
Urban areas
Urban policy
Los Angeles California
antipoverty policy
EITC
concentrated poverty
economic development
economic base
retail employment
working poor
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Summary:This paper explores the effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on poor neighborhoods of Los Angeles during the late 1990s. To date, few analyses have empirically examined the impact of people-based policies on the economies of poor neighborhoods. The paper first documents the magnitude of this individual wage subsidy in Los Angeles as an unrecognized investment in poor neighborhoods on par with place-based policies such as Enterprise Zones. The paper then uses IRS and Economic Census data by ZIP Code to test whether increased EITC income has an effect on the neighborhood retail job base. Findings suggest an independent correlation between EITC investments and retail job gain. The conclusion uses these results to suggest better policy coordination and recommend four productive areas for future research.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:1078-0874
1552-8332
DOI:10.1177/1078087407300515