Allison Shertzer
@econhist-allday.bsky.social
Economic historian of U.S. cities. Interested in segregation, land use regulation, and affordability over the long run. Views expressed here are my own. Personal website at allisonshertzer.com.
After 15 years together, it was time to refresh DRECON.
November 8, 2025 at 2:24 PM
After 15 years together, it was time to refresh DRECON.
Rick, you dropped this. 👑
Seriously what an incredible data project!
Seriously what an incredible data project!
Hi all, please spread the word and we hope everyone can make good use of this new data drop: cmfdata.org
The full surviving establishment-level Census of Manufactures manuscripts and digitized data from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880!
The full surviving establishment-level Census of Manufactures manuscripts and digitized data from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880!
Historical Census of Manufactures Microdata - Historical Census of Manufactures Microdata
CMFdata.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Rick, you dropped this. 👑
Seriously what an incredible data project!
Seriously what an incredible data project!
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
This Day in Labor History: October 26, 1825. The Erie Canal opened, eight years after construction commenced. This engineering marvel would have enormous impacts on the future of American work, including spurring ever-greater industrialization. It also killed over 1,000 workers building it!
October 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
This Day in Labor History: October 26, 1825. The Erie Canal opened, eight years after construction commenced. This engineering marvel would have enormous impacts on the future of American work, including spurring ever-greater industrialization. It also killed over 1,000 workers building it!
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
Recently accepted by #QJE, “The Price of Housing in the United States, 1890–2006,” by Lyons (@ronanlyons), Shertzer (@econhist-allday), Gray (@econhistoryorbust), and Agorastos: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
The Price of Housing in the United States, 1890–2006*
Abstract. We construct the first annual market rent and home sales price series for American cities over the 20th century using 2.7 million newspaper real
doi.org
October 16, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Recently accepted by #QJE, “The Price of Housing in the United States, 1890–2006,” by Lyons (@ronanlyons), Shertzer (@econhist-allday), Gray (@econhistoryorbust), and Agorastos: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
@enghin-atalay.bsky.social, Ali Hortacsu, Nicole Kimmel, & Chad Syverson argue that standard measurements understate true #productivity growth in the US #manufacturing sector, especially in industries were it is difficult to track changes in quality growth.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky
October 14, 2025 at 7:37 AM
@enghin-atalay.bsky.social, Ali Hortacsu, Nicole Kimmel, & Chad Syverson argue that standard measurements understate true #productivity growth in the US #manufacturing sector, especially in industries were it is difficult to track changes in quality growth.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
Mokyr's work could not have been done today in most economics departments, but the irony is that his work would not fit in history departments today, either. Methodologically he seems more 'history' than 'economics' to economists, but the content and reasoning are too 'economics' for most historians
October 13, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Mokyr's work could not have been done today in most economics departments, but the irony is that his work would not fit in history departments today, either. Methodologically he seems more 'history' than 'economics' to economists, but the content and reasoning are too 'economics' for most historians
Ronan is dropping more facts about the U.S. housing market over time and space using the HHP dataset:
ronanlyons.substack.com/p/101-things...
ronanlyons.substack.com/p/101-things...
101 things we now know about US housing markets (Part IV)
World War I and the Roaring Twenties
ronanlyons.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Ronan is dropping more facts about the U.S. housing market over time and space using the HHP dataset:
ronanlyons.substack.com/p/101-things...
ronanlyons.substack.com/p/101-things...
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
The big story here is of an agency of dedicated statisticians and public servants working tirelessly to improve economic data in a climate of budgetary cuts to data collection. They have been very innovative in meeting that mandate. But we should also just fund our economic infrastructure.
Important to remember that thanks to the dedicated public servants at BLS, employment estimates have become MORE accurate over time
And the final version of the preliminary revision reported today will probably be smaller when it is incorporated early next year
And the final version of the preliminary revision reported today will probably be smaller when it is incorporated early next year
The preliminary benchmark revision of -911K amounts to -0.6% to March 2025 payroll employment. Combined with 2-month revisions, recent total revisions are big but hardly unprecedented, & smoothed over the business cycle the payroll survey has gotten more accurate over time.
September 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The big story here is of an agency of dedicated statisticians and public servants working tirelessly to improve economic data in a climate of budgetary cuts to data collection. They have been very innovative in meeting that mandate. But we should also just fund our economic infrastructure.
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
Help my colleague find all the ways in which his work is reaching your students!
Are any of my papers on your syllabus? Undergrad, PhD, econ history, or (preparing myself for crickets) a non-econ history class are all great. DMs are open and huge thanks in advance
(I guess @barbarabiasi.com is a month ahead of me on tenure packet paperwork)
(I guess @barbarabiasi.com is a month ahead of me on tenure packet paperwork)
Hello #econtwitter community: if any of you has been teaching any of my papers, would you mind shooting me a DM? I would hugely appreciate that 🙏 and thanks in advance!
August 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Help my colleague find all the ways in which his work is reaching your students!
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
Examining the effects of public debt on municipal services and real outcomes during financial crises using data on US cities from 1924 to 1943, from Pawel Janas https://www.nber.org/papers/w34011
July 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Examining the effects of public debt on municipal services and real outcomes during financial crises using data on US cities from 1924 to 1943, from Pawel Janas https://www.nber.org/papers/w34011
New release for the HHP project. We now have rent and sales price indexes for 30 cities along with rental yields, capital gains, and housing returns for the years 1890-2006. Online data viz tools and download here:
www.philadelphiafed.org/surveys-and-...
www.philadelphiafed.org/surveys-and-...
Historical Housing Prices Project
The Historical Housing Prices (HHP) Project at the Philadelphia Fed provides new data on the price of housing for sale and for rent over the 20th century using the real estate sections of historical n...
www.philadelphiafed.org
July 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
New release for the HHP project. We now have rent and sales price indexes for 30 cities along with rental yields, capital gains, and housing returns for the years 1890-2006. Online data viz tools and download here:
www.philadelphiafed.org/surveys-and-...
www.philadelphiafed.org/surveys-and-...
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
One of the most surprising details in the latest CPI: an increasing share of price data was estimated, not observed.
In June, over 1/3 of #CPI imputations came from other items or locations likely due to budget cuts and staffing shortages at BLS.
We can’t fight #inflation without reliable data.
In June, over 1/3 of #CPI imputations came from other items or locations likely due to budget cuts and staffing shortages at BLS.
We can’t fight #inflation without reliable data.
July 15, 2025 at 4:34 PM
One of the most surprising details in the latest CPI: an increasing share of price data was estimated, not observed.
In June, over 1/3 of #CPI imputations came from other items or locations likely due to budget cuts and staffing shortages at BLS.
We can’t fight #inflation without reliable data.
In June, over 1/3 of #CPI imputations came from other items or locations likely due to budget cuts and staffing shortages at BLS.
We can’t fight #inflation without reliable data.
I am looking for a research assistant to work with me on the development of U.S. housing markets. Experience with ArcGIS, Stata useful. We build datasets that allow us to understand housing affordability, the impacts of transit and zoning, and more:
rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FRS/jo...
rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FRS/jo...
Research Assistant/Sr. Research Assistant
Company Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Job Description Summary Research assistants (RAs) at the Philadelphia Fed play a key role in the Economic Research Department. Whether they are helping eco...
rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
July 7, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I am looking for a research assistant to work with me on the development of U.S. housing markets. Experience with ArcGIS, Stata useful. We build datasets that allow us to understand housing affordability, the impacts of transit and zoning, and more:
rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FRS/jo...
rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FRS/jo...
My 9 yo composed a song about me. 🥹
July 6, 2025 at 9:37 PM
My 9 yo composed a song about me. 🥹
How was this in the bargain bin??
book stores are cool. first edition 1898. bargain bin $5.
July 1, 2025 at 8:52 PM
How was this in the bargain bin??
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
This isn't good: "BLS is reducing sample in areas across the country. In April, BLS suspended CPI data collection entirely in Lincoln, NE, and Provo, UT. In June, BLS suspended collection entirely in Buffalo, NY." #EconSky
www.bls.gov/cpi/notices/...
www.bls.gov/cpi/notices/...
Notice of CPI collection reductions
Notice of CPI collection reductions
www.bls.gov
June 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
This isn't good: "BLS is reducing sample in areas across the country. In April, BLS suspended CPI data collection entirely in Lincoln, NE, and Provo, UT. In June, BLS suspended collection entirely in Buffalo, NY." #EconSky
www.bls.gov/cpi/notices/...
www.bls.gov/cpi/notices/...
Economic historians take note - big methodological advances in digitizing data from old, irregularly formatted tables. But they are easy to use.
Curious how accurate multimodal LLMs are at digitizing diversely formatted historical tables?
➡️ pretty accurate!
➡️ helps a lot with harmonization
➡️ far cheaper than manual digitization
➡️ but iterative, disciplined prompt training is important!
Check out our new WP - arxiv.org/abs/2505.11599
➡️ pretty accurate!
➡️ helps a lot with harmonization
➡️ far cheaper than manual digitization
➡️ but iterative, disciplined prompt training is important!
Check out our new WP - arxiv.org/abs/2505.11599
June 2, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Economic historians take note - big methodological advances in digitizing data from old, irregularly formatted tables. But they are easy to use.
In Dublin to meet with @ronanlyons.bsky.social and present to @cephie.bsky.social. Enjoying the sunshine, eating all the pub food, and doing research in together in person. Highly recommend getting an Irish coauthor.
May 7, 2025 at 8:20 PM
In Dublin to meet with @ronanlyons.bsky.social and present to @cephie.bsky.social. Enjoying the sunshine, eating all the pub food, and doing research in together in person. Highly recommend getting an Irish coauthor.
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
JUST IN: ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, which exposes the fatal consequences of abortion bans, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
This is the second consecutive year we’ve been awarded this distinction and our eighth Pulitzer: www.propublica.org/series/life-...
This is the second consecutive year we’ve been awarded this distinction and our eighth Pulitzer: www.propublica.org/series/life-...
May 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
JUST IN: ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, which exposes the fatal consequences of abortion bans, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
This is the second consecutive year we’ve been awarded this distinction and our eighth Pulitzer: www.propublica.org/series/life-...
This is the second consecutive year we’ve been awarded this distinction and our eighth Pulitzer: www.propublica.org/series/life-...
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
The next OSUS seminar is tomorrow at 11:30am ET. osus.info
Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (UC Berkeley) presents “Immigration and Slums”.
Sebastian Galiani and Aradhya Sood will be our panelists.
Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (UC Berkeley) presents “Immigration and Slums”.
Sebastian Galiani and Aradhya Sood will be our panelists.
May 1, 2025 at 7:12 PM
The next OSUS seminar is tomorrow at 11:30am ET. osus.info
Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (UC Berkeley) presents “Immigration and Slums”.
Sebastian Galiani and Aradhya Sood will be our panelists.
Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (UC Berkeley) presents “Immigration and Slums”.
Sebastian Galiani and Aradhya Sood will be our panelists.
Petting zoo inexplicably set up by the federal building next door today. If anyone is trying to think of a present for me, I'd like one of these tiny pigs.
April 29, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Petting zoo inexplicably set up by the federal building next door today. If anyone is trying to think of a present for me, I'd like one of these tiny pigs.
As I was walking home, all the neighbors and kids were wishing me a happy birthday and I couldn't figure out how everyone knew 🥲
April 28, 2025 at 9:34 PM
As I was walking home, all the neighbors and kids were wishing me a happy birthday and I couldn't figure out how everyone knew 🥲
Reposted by Allison Shertzer
📢Heavily revised working paper on AI + Zoning —
with @alexbartik.bsky.social and Dan Milo, we have a new draft of our paper which expands on our method to understand housing regulations with AI.
Incudes a new public data release with more housing regulation data:
with @alexbartik.bsky.social and Dan Milo, we have a new draft of our paper which expands on our method to understand housing regulations with AI.
Incudes a new public data release with more housing regulation data:
April 22, 2025 at 1:53 PM
📢Heavily revised working paper on AI + Zoning —
with @alexbartik.bsky.social and Dan Milo, we have a new draft of our paper which expands on our method to understand housing regulations with AI.
Incudes a new public data release with more housing regulation data:
with @alexbartik.bsky.social and Dan Milo, we have a new draft of our paper which expands on our method to understand housing regulations with AI.
Incudes a new public data release with more housing regulation data: