PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – A new study on the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits shows "People Actually Use Food Stamps to Buy More Food," as reported by Bloomberg View. The program has a larger economic effect than some would predict. The study, co-authored by Professor of Economics Justine Hastings and Professor of Economics Jesse Shapiro, uses a novel retail panel with more than six years of detailed transaction records and shows that food spending generally increases 50-60 percent of the SNAP benefit's value. Read more.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – Assistant Professor of Education Matthew Kraft and Assistant Professor of Education John Papay have been included in Education Weekly's 2017 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, an annual list of the top 200 U.S. university-based researchers most influencing educational policy and practice. Kraft and Papay were selected from tens of thousands who could be included, based on criteria ranging from Google scholar citations to syllabus points and newspaper mentions.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – Under the new White House administration, fair housing advocates fear possible changes in federal funding and guidelines regarding housing discrimination. In "Advocates of Fair Housing Brace for a Tough Four Years" in the New York Times, Professor of Sociology John Logan notes that many try to pretend that housing discrimination and segregation are a thing of the past, when reality indicates otherwise.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – A study authored by Postdoctoral Research Associate Maria Abascal was cited in Vox's "White fear of demographic change is a powerful psychological force." Abascal's research suggests that whites who are exposed to information about Hispanic population growth give less money to black strangers than to white ones.