You often don’t think of gun violence, gentrification and drug crime when thinking about business education. But one recent economics alumnus found a research niche on that topic. 

Zachary Porreca, who graduated with his doctorate from Chambers, analyzed 2011-2020 data on shootings and real estate across various Philadelphia neighborhoods. His paper presenting the findings, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, is one of the first of its kind to study the impact of gentrification on crime displacement.

His research revealed that when one urban block becomes upwardly mobile, organized criminal activity surges outward to surrounding blocks, escalating the violence in the process.

Porreca’s findings illustrate a “striking representation of why it’s crucial that urban development occur responsibly and intentionally. Forced displacement of priced-out residents has very real effects on the surrounding neighborhoods.”