News // Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities // University of Notre Dame

LEO Co-Founders Present at Notre Dame's Saturday Scholars Series

Published: October 09, 2017

Bill Evans and Jim Sullivan shared how the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) fulfills Fr. Sorin's vision that Notre Dame be " one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country". Watch the full talk...

Researchers find sharp decline in poverty in the U.S. despite report from U.S. Census Bureau.

Published: September 12, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

LEO Director, Jim Sullivan, and Bruce Meyer of University of Chicago released the Consumption Poverty Report for 2016. Contrary to numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday (Sept. 12), Sullivan and Meyer show that poverty has fallen sharply in...

Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking Releases Final Report

Published: September 07, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

Today the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking (CEP) released its final report, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking. LEO co-Founder, Jim Sullivan, Associate Professor of Economics at Notre Dame, worked with policymakers on the creation of the Commission. In November 2016, he testified...

Bring It On: LEO's Jim Sullivan Talks with APHSA's Policy and Practice Magazine about the Role of Research in Poverty Reduction.

Published: August 21, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

In the August 2017 issue of Policy and Practice Magazine - a publication of the American Public Human Services Association - LEO Co-founder, Jim Sullivan, and President and CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth, Heather Reynolds talk about the challenges of changing...

New NBER Working Paper by LEO's Jim Sullivan and Bruce Meyer on consumption inequality.

Published: August 15, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

LEO Co-founder, Jim Sullivan, the Rev. Thomas J. McDonagh, C.S.C., Associate Professor of Economics, and co-author Bruce Meyer of University of Chicago, have a new NBER Working Paper demonstrating the changes in income inequality and consumption inequality over the past 50...

LEO earns $700,000 in funding awards to support continued anti-poverty work.

Published: July 31, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame has received multiple funding awards totaling nearly $700,000 this summer to continue its work reducing poverty and improving lives through...

Meet Our Summer Interns!

Published: July 28, 2017

Author: Annalise Burnett

Each year, the LEO staff nearly doubles with the arrival of our summer interns. Chosen from a pool of highly qualified undergraduates at Notre Dame, our interns prove to us how capable they are of jumping into a fast-paced work environment...

Research by LEO's Jim Sullivan Highlighted in Real Clear Policy article on Data and Poverty

Published: July 05, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

Fundamental to the work that LEO does is the use of data to improve understanding of anti-poverty programs. In a recent article for Real Clear Policy, Robert Doar, Morgridge Fellow of Poverty Studies at the American Enterprise Institute articulates the...

Economic benefits of admitting refugees outweigh costs

Published: June 27, 2017

Author: Patrick Gibbons

Although working-age adult refugees who enter the United States often initially rely on public assistance programs, a study by researchers at the University of Notre Dame indicates that the long-term economic benefit...

LEO’s Jim Sullivan Presents on Homelessness Prevention at the National Human Services Data Consortium 2017 Spring Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Published: May 28, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

In April 2017, Jim Sullivan, Associate Professor of Economics and co-Founder of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), presented to practitioners and data administrators from across the country at the Spring Conference of the...

Co-Founder James Sullivan Appears on WGN Radio to Discuss LEO Study on Homelessness Prevention

Published: April 25, 2017

Author: Steven Koich

LEO co-founder Jim Sullivan spoke on The Opening Bell on WGN Radio to address the issue of homelessness and a new study in support what may be the best prevention method. The interview highlights the findings of his recent publication in Science Magazine…

LEO Faculty Affiliate Craig Gundersen talks SNAP program with the Washington Post.

Published: April 01, 2017

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

LEO Faculty Affiliate Craig Gundersen sat down with the Washington Post to debunk some of the common misconceptions readers have about SNAP. Read the article here…

The Fiscal Case for Refugee Resettlement

Published: March 30, 2017

Author: Steven Koich

New research from LEO Co-Founder Bill Evans shows first-of-its-kind evidence of the fiscal case for the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. The Issue A common argument for scaling back the U.S. refugee program is a fiscal one: that it places an...

LEO Faculty Affiliate Abigail Wozniak Reflects on her Time as a White House Adviser

Published: December 15, 2016

Author: Steven Koich

Notre Dame economist and LEO faculty affiliate Abigail Wozniak spent the 2014-15 academic year giving non-partisan expert advice to the White House as part of the Council of Economic Advisers. “It’s not something you apply for. It’s more of...

LEO’s James Sullivan presents homelessness prevention study on Capitol Hill

Published: December 14, 2016

Author: Brittany Collins Kaufman

James Sullivan, Rev. Thomas J. McDonagh, C.S.C., Associate Professor of Economics and co-founder of the Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame, will participate...

In the News: LEO Partner and CEO

Published: November 15, 2016

Author: Steven Koich

LEO partner and CEO of Sparrow Mobile Matt Bauer discusses the RefugeeMobile project and how bringing together technology and research can improve the integration of refugees into the U.S. Sparrow mobile helps refugees integrate into the U.S. by providing them...

Economics chair William Evans to present research on refugees to USCCB

Published: November 14, 2016

Author: Tom Lange

William Evans and Danny Fitzgerald’s findings indicate that over the course of 20 years, refugees adapt to American life and, on average, pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits.

James Sullivan to testify before Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking

Published: November 02, 2016

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

James Sullivan, co-founder of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Development and Rev. Thomas J. McDonagh, C.S.C., Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame, will testify Nov. 4 in...

LEO receives NSF award to research the impact of homelessness

Published: August 15, 2016

Author: Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

LEO Professor James X. Sullivan, Thomas J. McDonagh, C.S.C., Associate Professor of Economics and co-Founder of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) has received an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support the evaluation of the impact...

LEO Study on Homelessness Prevention Published in Science

Published: August 12, 2016

Author: Steven Koich

Co-Founders Jim Sullivan and Bill Evans and recent Notre Dame grad Melanie Wallskog (Econ ’16) determined the impact of receiving emergency funding on those at risk of homelessness in Chicago. “Policymakers and housing experts have long debated how best to...