Opportunity Insights

Last updated
Opportunity Insights
FormationOctober 1, 2018;7 years ago (2018-10-01)
Headquarters Cambridge, Massachusetts
Key people
Raj Chetty (Director)
John Friedman (Co-Director)
Nathaniel Hendren (Co-Director)
Website https://opportunityinsights.org/

Opportunity Insights is an American think tank and policy research institute based at Harvard University. The organization's research focuses on the economics of opportunity and social mobility.

Contents

History

Opportunity Insights was founded in 2018 by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, economists at Harvard University, and John Friedman, an economist at Brown University. [1] The group was formed out of the "Equality of Opportunity Project," Chetty's previous policy research group. [2] [3]

Chetty formed the think tank shortly after he returned to Harvard following a three-year stint at Stanford University. [2] Opportunity Insights received $3 million from John Overdeck's Overdeck Family Foundation and support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Research

During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Opportunity Insights launched the Opportunity Insights Economic tracker to measure and report economic metrics at the county and local level and the impact of the pandemic on local economies. [4] [5] Further research also found that reduced spending from wealthier Americans paired with increased spending from poorer Americans could stunt the country's pandemic economic recovery. [6]

In August 2022, a study led by Chetty found that friendships across socioeconomic status can be a contributor to reducing poverty. [7] [8] The work built on Opportunity Insights research focused on the influence of the neighborhood a person grows up in on their longterm socioeconomic trajectory. [7] [9] [10] James Heckman and Sadegh Esaghnia have questioned the group's research methodology, arguing that the influence of a family's choices is a stronger indicator than the neighborhood where the family lives. [11]

In a study in July 2024, Opportunity Insights researchers found that the influence of race on social mobility had been shrinking while the influence of class had been growing. [12] [11]

SAT and college admissions

In 2023, an Opportunity Insights study based on federal tax and college records found that wealthier students were considerably likelier to gain admission to "Ivy Plus" universities, consisting of the Ivy League, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Duke University, and the University of Chicago. [13] [14] The study also found that legacy applicants are also 33 percent likelier to be admitted to elite schools even without consideration of their legacy status. [15]

The same study also found a strong correlation between a student's standardized test scores and their future success. [16] After the publication of the Opportunity Insights study, several elite institutions that had stopped requiring standardized test scores for admission returned to mandating them. [17]

References

  1. "Chetty, Friedman, and Hendren Launch Opportunity Insights". Opportunity Insights. 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  2. 1 2 "Decorated Economist Raj Chetty Returns to Harvard | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  3. "Opportunity Insights | Policy Solutions to the American Dream". Opportunity Insights. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  4. "Helping local leaders reach the most vulnerable". www.gatesfoundation.org. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  5. "Job Postings Have Fallen Steadily During Pandemic, New Tracker Shows". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  6. Horsley, Scott (2020-06-17). "The Rich Have Stopped Spending And That Has Tanked The Economy". NPR. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  7. 1 2 Miller, Claire Cain; Katz, Josh; Paris, Francesca; Bhatia, Aatish (2022-08-01). "Vast New Study Shows a Key to Reducing Poverty: More Friendships Between Rich and Poor". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  8. "Opinion | What are friends for? Climbing the income ladder, for one". The Washington Post. 2022-08-07. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  9. "Why do some neighborhoods provide greater economic opportunity? - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  10. Vedantam, Shankar (2018-11-12). "Zipcode Destiny". NPR. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  11. 1 2 Lahart, Justin (2024-07-25). "What Gives Poor Kids a Shot at Better Lives? Economists Find an Unexpected Answer". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  12. Lopez, German; Wu, Ashley (2024-07-25). "Who Can Achieve the American Dream? Race Matters Less Than It Used To". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  13. Bhatia, Aatish; Miller, Claire Cain; Katz, Josh (2023-07-24). "Study of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own Qualification". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  14. "Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges". Opportunity Insights. 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  15. "How Big Is the Legacy Boost at Elite Colleges? (Published 2023)". 2023-07-27. Archived from the original on 2025-09-29. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  16. Leonhardt, David (January 7, 2024). "The Misguided War on the SAT". The New York Times .
  17. "Brown University will require SAT scores again". Washington Post. 2024-03-05. Archived from the original on 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2025-10-08.