All Research Topics

The USC Price Center for Social Innovation brings an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to social innovation research. Through relevant, rigorous research, Price Center faculty explore a variety of topics that seek to inform and advance new models of equity and opportunity for low-income children and families.

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The Social Innovation Trap: Critical Insights into an Emerging Field
Emergency Aid Programs at USC and LACCD
Education
An Evaluation of the Emergency Aid Programs at the University of Southern California and Los Angeles Community College District

In its third year of implementation, the Leonetti/ O’Connell Family Foundation’s emergency aid programs at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) have continued to provide direct cash assistance to students experiencing financial hardships.

Research
Criminal Justice
Building Safety In Los Angeles: A Policy Agenda For Local Health and Safer Communitie

This report aims to assist jurisdictions trying to reimagine public safety through focusing on key policy areas, and applies policy frameworks to present day Los Angeles.

Research
Housing Instability
Accelerating Employment Retention Strategies for the Precariously Housed

This report outlines the findings from the project’s activities including an employer survey, Innovation Lab sessions, and case studies

Research
Education
The Segregation Index

The Segregation Index will be a comprehensive resource for tracking neighborhood and school segregation in the U.S., across every neighborhood and every school.

Research
Inequality
Resilience and Rebuilding: Recommendations for an Equitable Recovery in South L.A.

This report examines ways to improve pandemic recovery and to remove pre-pandemic barriers in South Los Angeles.

Research
Inequality
Examining the Complex Social Safety Net For Low-Income Working Families

This report examines the resources and benefits available to families and identifies the points at which the social safety net may become a barrier to economic independence.

Research SIB
Social Innovation
Social Impact Bonds 2.0

The complexity of social problems, paired with constrained public resources, requires social innovators to identify new approaches for financing the delivery of social services.

Designing Cash Transfer Programs for an Older Population

Emma Aguila, Arie Kapteyn, Caroline Tassot

The Journal of the Economics of Ageing

Year: 2017

Aging populations and the prevalence of poverty in old age have led to the introduction of noncontributory pensions in many countries. We consider a number of alternative targeting approaches and simulate their effects in an empirical application in the State … Continue reading →

Consumption Smoothing and Frequency of Benefit Payments of Cash Transfer Programs

Emma Aguila, Arie Kapteyn, Francisco Perez-Arce

American Economic Review

Year: 2017

We analyze two noncontributory Mexican pension programs for the elderly. Both paid similar amounts, but one paid monthly while the other paid every two months. The Life Cycle Hypothesis suggests frequency of benefits payments should not affect consumption smoothing, but … Continue reading →

Ownership of a bank account and health of older Hispanics

Emma Aguila, Marco Angrisani, Luisa R. Blanco

Economics Letters

Year: 2016

We study health effects of financial inclusion, particularly ownership of a bank account of older minorities, with focus on Hispanics. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study from 2000 to 2012, we find that, for Hispanics, being banked has … Continue reading →

Inequality in Children’s Contexts: Income Segregation of Households with and without Children

Ann Owens

American Sociological Review

Year: 2016

Past research shows that income segregation between neighborhoods increased over the past several decades. In this article, I reexamine income segregation from 1990 to 2010 in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, and I find that income segregation increased only among … Continue reading →

Do Farmers’ Markets Increase the Availability of Healthy Foods in Underserved Communities? Assessing the nutritional environment at 19 markets in Los Angeles

Bryce Lowery, David C. Sloane, Denise Payan, Jacqueline Illum, Lavonna Lewis

Journal of American Planning Association

Year: 2016

Farmers’ markets provide one option for remedying the startling decline in fresh vegetable and fruit consumption in the United States, particularly in low-income, non-White neighborhoods where opportunities to access these components of a healthy diet are often limited. We lack … Continue reading →

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