Eric Chyn (PhD ‘16) was awarded the inaugural dissertation prize from the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group (HCEO) for “Moved to Opportunity: The Long-Run Effect of Public Housing Demolition on Labor Market Outcomes of Children.” This research shows that children who relocated to less disadvantaged neighborhoods after being displaced by public housing demolition were more likely to work and had higher earnings as adults.

Chyn is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Virginia and a Faculty Research Fellow at the Rhode Island Innovative Policy Lab at Brown University.

Chyn’s dissertation was also covered by The New York Times. His dissertation committee was comprised of Martha Bailey, chair; John DiNardoBrian Jacob, Jeff Smith, and Justin Wolfers.