Papers by Justin Scoggins
Examines trends in areas where African Americans and immigrants live together and the potential f... more Examines trends in areas where African Americans and immigrants live together and the potential for building alliances to address tensions created by demographic and economic shifts and organizing together for social justice and community improvement
This document presents an equity analysis of Jackson, Mississippi. It was developed to support lo... more This document presents an equity analysis of Jackson, Mississippi. It was developed to support local community groups, elected officials, planners, business leaders, funders, and others working to build a stronger and more equitable city
America is quickly becoming a majority people of color nation. At the same time, inequality is sk... more America is quickly becoming a majority people of color nation. At the same time, inequality is skyrocketing and racial inequities—from the homogeneity of the tech sector to the segregated suburbs of St. Louis—are wide, persistent, and glaring. Equity—just and fair inclusion of all—has always been a moral imperative in this country, but a new consensus is emerging that equity is also an economic imperative. Scores of economists and institutions like Standard & Poor's and Morgan Stanley now believe that rising inequality and low wages for workers on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder are stifling growth and competitiveness, and that racial inequities threaten economic growth and prosperity as people of color become the majority.This brief offers new research to inform the debate about equity and the future of the American economy. Using data on income by race, we calculate what total earnings and economic output would have been for the nation in 2012 if racial differences wer...
This brief describes why employment equity in rural North Carolina is critical to the state's... more This brief describes why employment equity in rural North Carolina is critical to the state's economic future and lays out a policy roadmap to achieving employment equity. This roadmap is based on data analysis and modeling of a "full-employmentfor-all economy" (defined as an economy in which everyone who wants a job can find one) that was conducted by the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California as well as policy research and focus groups conducted by PolicyLink, Rural Forward, and the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center
This brief describes why employment equity is critical to Mississippi's economic future and l... more This brief describes why employment equity is critical to Mississippi's economic future and lays out a policy roadmap toachieve employment equity. It is based on data analysis and modeling of a "full-employment economy" (defined as when everyone who wants a job can find one), which was conducted by the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California, and on policy research and focus groups conducted by PolicyLink and the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative (MLICCI)
This document presents an equity analysis of Sunflower County, Mississippi. It was developed to s... more This document presents an equity analysis of Sunflower County, Mississippi. It was developed to support local community groups, elected officials, planners, business leaders, funders, and others working to build a stronger and more equitable city
The USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) estimates that California would even... more The USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) estimates that California would eventually benefit from Latino immigrant legalization by $16 billion annually. This would work towards fixing our budget crisis and restoring our safety net programs cut by the state last August. During this period of economic struggle and budget woes, California has a lot to gain from a national legalization policy. The report entitled "The Economic Benefits of Immigrant Authorization in California" measures the benefits that would accrue to the state and the nation if the currently unauthorized Latino workforce in California were legalized. CSII researchers used a conservative economic model that accounts for the wage "penalty" incurred by the undocumented, assumes a very slow increase in English skills and educational levels, and does not account for gains from future migration. Despite this conservative modeling, the report finds that significant immediate and long-te...
Citizenship brings many benefits to immigrants, the opportunity to participate more fully in our ... more Citizenship brings many benefits to immigrants, the opportunity to participate more fully in our democracy through the right to vote being primary among them. But beyond the clear civic gain is an often overlooked economic benefit: for a variety of reasons, naturalized immigrants are likely to see a boost in their family incomes that can benefit their children, their communities and the nation as a whole.Why is the economic importance of naturalization -- the process by which immigrants become citizens -- so often overlooked? Part of the reason is that much of the heated debate around the economic effects of immigration in the U.S. tends to focus on the unauthorized (or "illegal") population. The economic evidence in this arena points in multiple directions -- positive gains at an aggregate level, negative effects on specific sectors of the labor market, mixed impacts on government coffers -- but lost in that discussion is the fact that nearly three-fourths of all immigran...
In recent years, Americans have become increasingly concerned about our environment. With climate... more In recent years, Americans have become increasingly concerned about our environment. With climate change threatening the planet, dirty air triggering asthma, and industrial pollutants causing cancer, the nation is more motivated than ever before to take a hard look at the problems we face and seek new approaches that can better secure the future of the planet and the health of our communities. One of the first steps in that process is gathering the information that can help frame the challenge and steer us to positive solutions. This report, one of the first efforts based on a new database on industrially-generated toxic air, attempts to do just that. Along the way, we examine not only the level of pollution but also who is being polluted. As with so many other environmental hazards, it turns out that the problems are disproportionately borne by low-income communities of color. One unique aspect of this work is that we track the pollution not just to the smokestacks but to the compa...
Minding the Climate Gap -- What's at Stake if California's Climate Law isn't Done Right and Right Away
Minding the Climate Gap: Assessing Equity Impacts of Mitigation Strategies
Risky Business: Cap-and-Trade, Public Health, and Environmental Justice
Urbanization and Sustainability, 2012
At the global scale, the advent of a market-based, cap-and-trade approach to reduce greenhouse ga... more At the global scale, the advent of a market-based, cap-and-trade approach to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally has been met with skepticism by some observers, who raise equity-based concerns over who will bear the costs of slowing climate change. Since California’s passing of the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32) in 2006, the “co-benefits” of climate policy – or health benefits that will accrue with a decline in the harmful pollutants that accompany GHGs (“co-pollutants”) – and how they relate to current patterns of environmental disparity have been added to the debate. A key concern is that while GHGs may fall statewide, the decline may not be evenly distributed, and co-benefits could wind up eluding the low-income communities and communities of color who need them most. This chapter takes an empirical look at the relationship between GHG reductions, co-pollutants, and geographic inequality in California to better understand whether cap-and-trade could actually worsen the pattern of environmental disparity. We find that there is indeed a cause for concern and offer some policy suggestions to insure that environmental justice communities are better protected.
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, massive job losses, rapidly evolving business models, an... more In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, massive job losses, rapidly evolving business models, and accelerating technological change are dramatically reshaping the US economy. This report, produced in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies and the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, provides a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. It provides an in-depth analysis of disaggregated equity indicators and labor market dynamics, finding that White workers are 50 percent more likely than workers of color to hold good jobs and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the US economy by $2.3 trillion a year. In addition to detailed data analysis on the state of racial inequities in jobs and opportunity, the report offers a bold framework for action to advance workforce equity, where racial income gaps have been eliminated, all jobs are good jobs,...
After more than a year of litigation in the lower courts, the Supreme Court will soon have the op... more After more than a year of litigation in the lower courts, the Supreme Court will soon have the opportunity to make a decision on the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. A decision in United States v. Texas is expected before the end of June 2016. The ruling on Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)1 will impact the lives of nearly 4 million immigrants and their families. California has a large stake in what ultimately gets decided — beyond the sheer number of DAPAand expanded DACA-eligible immigrants, an unfavorable decision’s ramifications could reverberate through the current and future economic and social foundations of the state. However, a favorable decision — one that recognizes the Secretary of Homeland Security’s authority to grant temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to certain qualified immigrants — can empower and strengthen households and famil...
This new environmental justice study, (co-authored by PERI’s James Boyce, Michael Ash, & Grace Ch... more This new environmental justice study, (co-authored by PERI’s James Boyce, Michael Ash, & Grace Chang, along with Manuel Pastor, Justin Scoggins, & Jennifer Tran of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California) examines not only who receives the disproportionate share of toxic air releases -- low-income communities and people of color -- but who is releasing them. Justice in the Air: Tracking Toxic Pollution from America's Industries and Companies to Our States, Cities, and Neighborhoods uses the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory and Risk Screening Environmental Indicators to explore the demographics of those who are most affected by toxic pollution, and then establishes the corporate ownership of the plants responsible. Justice in the Air enhances the data available in PERI’s Toxic 100 Report with a new environmental justice scorecard, ranking the Toxic 100 companies by the share of their health impacts from toxic air pollution that ...
Working Poor in the Golden State
We thank UC MEXUS, the Committee on Research at UC Santa Cruz, and the former Institute for Labor... more We thank UC MEXUS, the Committee on Research at UC Santa Cruz, and the former Institute for Labor and Employment of the University of California for funding this work. Able research was provided by Jack Turner, Julia Maues, Jin You, Stuyvesant Bearns Esteva, Miranda ...
Space--The Final Frontier": Autocorrelation and Small-Area Income Forecasting Models
Journal of Planning Education and Research
ABSTRACT
Justice in the air: tracking America’s industrial toxics
Economics, the Environment and Our Common Wealth, 2012
WHY REGIONS? WHY NOW? WHO CARES?
Journal of Urban Affairs, 2009
ABSTRACT: This article examines the emergence of the region as a platform for achieving economic ... more ABSTRACT: This article examines the emergence of the region as a platform for achieving economic competitiveness and social equity. We use a combination of empirical exercises to examine the timing and degree of actor interest, including convergence regressions and coefficients of ...
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Papers by Justin Scoggins