Senior Economist
T: 617-973-3061
F: 617-973-8357
Bo.Zhao@bos.frb.org
Full CV

Biography
Bo Zhao is a Senior Economist in the New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  He specializes in urban and regional economics and public economics.  His research interests currently focus on state and local public finance, housing markets, and fair housing and lending.

Mr. Zhao served on the Municipal Aid Subcommittee of the Municipal Finance Task Force between 2006 and 2007. He was selected by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as one of 20 young scholars nationwide to participate in the 2005 Entrepreneurship Research Boot Camp at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Urban Economics, National Tax Journal and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. He has made presentation at various academic meetings, including the National Tax Association's annual conferences and the APPAM annual research conference.

Mr. Zhao earned a Ph.D. in economics and an M.S. in applied statistics from Syracuse University.

Education

Ph.D., economics, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 2005

Paul Speranza Tax Policy Research Scholarship, 2002-2004

Maxwell Summer Fellowship, 2004

Center for Policy Research Summer Research Fellowship, 2002

M.S., applied statistics, Syracuse University, 2002

B.A., economics, Renmin University of China, with distinction, 1997

Work experience

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Senior Economist, New England Public Policy Center, 2008-

Economist, New England Public Policy Center, 2005-2008

Syracuse University

Research Associate, Center for Policy Research, 2000-2005

Instructor, Summer 2003

Tutor, Stevenson Educational Center, 2000-2001

Teaching Assistant, 1999-2000

Books

Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in Urban Housing Markets: Evidence from Audit Studies, Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest / UMI, 2006.

“Data Appendix,” in The Color of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology, and Fair-Lending Enforcement, Stephen L. Ross and John Yinger, eds. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2002.

Journals

"Measuring Non-School Fiscal Disparities among Municipalities" with Katharine Bradbury, National Tax Journal, vol. 62, no. 1 (March 2009): 25-56. 

"Designing State Aid Formula" with Katharine Bradbury, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol.28, no. 2 (March 2009): 278-295.

“Do Lenders Discriminate Against Minority and Woman Entrepreneurs?” with Lloyd A. Blanchard and John Yinger. Journal of Urban Economics. vol. 63, no. 2 (March 2008): 467-497.

“Why Do Real Estate Brokers Continue to Discriminate? Evidence from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study,” with Jan Ondrich and John Yinger. Journal of Urban Economics. vol 59, no. 3 (May 2006): 394-419.

“Does the Number of Houses a Broker Shows Depend on a Homeseeker's Race?” Journal of Urban Economics. vol. 57, no. 1 (January 2005): 128-147.

Bank Publications

“Designing State Aid Formulas: The Case of a New Formula for Distributing Municipal Aid in Massachusetts,” with Katharine Bradbury. FRB Boston Series, paper no. 08-2, 2008.

“Measuring Non-School Fiscal Imbalances of New England Municipalities,” with Katharine Bradbury, New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief Series no. 07-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, policy brief no. 07-6, 2007.

“Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns,” with Katharine Bradbury. FRB Boston Series, paper no. 06-3, 2006.

“The Lack of Affordable Housing in New England: How Big a Problem? Why Is It Growing? What Are We Doing About It?” with Alicia Sasser and Darcy Rollins (with an overview by Robert Tannenwald), New England Public Policy Center Series, paper no. 06-1, 2006.

Other

“Do Credit Market Barriers Exist for Minority and Women Entrepreneurs?” with Lloyd A. Blanchard and John Yinger, Center for Policy Research Working Paper Series no. 74, Syracuse University (2005).

“Why Do Real Estate Brokers Continue to Discriminate? Evidence from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study,” with Jan Ondrich and John Yinger, Center for Policy Research Working Paper Series no. 67, Syracuse University (2005).

Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets: National Results from Phase I HDS 2000,” with Margery Austin Turner, Stephen L. Ross, George C. Galster, John Yinger, Erin B. Godfrey, Beata A. Bednarz, Carla Herbig, Seon Joo Lee, and AKM. Rezaul Hossain, final report submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, November 2002.

"The Fiscal Impact of Potential Local Option Taxes in Massachusetts," presented to the New England Study Group (May, 2009).

"Massachussetts' Economy and the Leisure and Hospitality Industry," presented at the Massachusetts Annual Governor's Conference on Travel & Tourism (March, 2009).

"Measuring Non-School Fiscal Disparities among Municipalities," University of New Hampshire, Department of Economics (February, 2009).

"Designing State Aid Formulas: The Case of a New Formula for Distributing Municipal Aid in Massachusetts ,” presented at the 30th APPAM Annual Conference (November, 2008).

"Regional Economic Overview," presented at the "Focus on the Regional Economy and the Green/Climate Change Economy” Event of the Environmental Business Council of New England (May, 2008).

“Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns,” presented at the International Seminar on Measuring Fiscal Health of Cities, World Bank Institute in Partnership with National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, India (April, 2008).

"The State of the New England Economy," presented at the MassASPA’s “The New England Economy and You” Conference (January, 2008).

“Designing State Aid Formulas: The Case of a New Formula for Distributing Municipal Aid in Massachusetts ,” presented at the National Tax Association's 100th Annual Conference (November, 2007).

“Outlook for the Massachusetts Hospitality Industry,” presented at the Massachusetts Lodging Association's Boston Outlook 2008 Conference (July, 2007).

“Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns,” presented at the Federal Reserve System Committee on Applied Microeconomics Annual Conference (May, 2007).

“Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns,” presented at the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard University (February, 2007).

“Overview of Research on a New Municipal Aid Formula,” presented to the Massachusetts Municipal Association and the Metro Mayors' Coalition (September and October, 2006).

“Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns,” presented at the National Tax Association's 99th Annual Conference (November 16, 2006 ).

“National Economic Overview,” presented to the Joint Economic Briefing of the New Hampshire House and Senate Ways and Means and Finance Committees (December, 2005).

“Understanding Housing Affordability in New England ,” presented to the New England Study Group (December, 2005).

Referee: Journal of Urban Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research

Editorial board member, Communities & Banking magazine, June 2008—

Chair, “Property Tax Administration and Property Tax Data” session, National Tax Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, 2008

Ph. D. dissertation committee member, Department of Economics, University of New Hampshire, 2007-2008

Judge for the APPAM Poster Session Award, 30th APPAM annual conference, 2008

Municipal Finance Task Force, Municipal Aid Subcommittee Member, 2006-2007