Linking the 1940 U.S. Census with modern data

Abstract

The U.S. Census Bureau has created a set of linkable census, survey, and administrative records that provides longitudinal data on the American population across the past eight decades. While these files include modern decennial censuses, Census Bureau surveys, and administrative records files from other federal agencies, the long time span is only possible with the addition of the complete count 1940 Census microdata. In this paper, we discuss the development of this linked data infrastructure and provide an overview of the record linkage techniques used. We primarily focus on the techniques used to produce a beta version of a linkable 1940 Census microdata file and discuss the potential to further document and extend the infrastructure.     

FEEDBACK BETWEEN REAL ESTATE AND URBAN ECONOMICS*

ABSTRACT This paper considers the implications of increasing land supply constraints in the United States on urban demand. First, because shifts in demand are now capitalized more into the price of land, house prices in some metropolitan areas have grown increasingly unaffordable to typical households. This might have an effect on the fundamental character of such cities. Second, the effect of home owners’ financial interests as landowners on their decisions about what regulations or investments in their communities to support may become stronger. Third, researchers may now be able to better use land prices to make inferences about urban demand. However, interpreting real estate prices still is tricky.     

Measuring subsistence specialization: Comparing historic and prehistoric abalone middens on San Miguel Island,California

Red abalone middens, common on the Northern Channel Islands during the Middle Holocene, have often been interpreted as relatively specialized foraging camps. To test the degree of subsistence specialization of one such site, we compared faunal data from a 6400-year-old red abalone midden (CA-SMI-557) and an historic “Chinese” black abalone midden (CA-SMI-558) located along the same drainage on San Miguel Island. The historic assemblage, resulting from highly specialized abalone harvest, drying, and export activities, provides a baseline for evaluating the degree of subsistence specialization at the red abalone midden, where a wider range of economic and subsistence activities is represented. We illustrate how detailed comparative study of faunal remains, artifacts, site structure, and archival sources can help elucidate the economic function of both historic and prehistoric sites.     

The Making of a “Freud Basher,” or Reflections of a “Supercilious Neurotic…”

A well-known critic of Freud discusses in frank terms the features of psychoanalysis that still attract scholarly interest, and the polemics that deform research and defames criticism. The author defends Freud criticism from ad hominem charges and outlines serious problems with scholarship in the field, including fraud, bad faith, and a disregard for professional standards. But he also indulges and explores the supposedly “pathological” undercurrents of Freud criticism. His surprising conclusion: in a way the field of Freud Studies is sick, and does bring out the worst in everyone.