W. Scott Langford, PhD

W. Scott Langford, PhD

Assistant Professor

Research

You can also find my articles on my Google Scholar profile.

Working Papers

Do Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants Pay Off? An Empirical Analysis of Cost-Effectiveness Using a Portfolio Approach.

Published:

This paper examines whether federal hazard mitigation assistance grants are cost-effective using an empirical analysis with a portfolio approach.

Recommended citation: Hines R, Grandage AJ, Chaudhry H, Langford WS, Waddell M. Do Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants Pay Off? An Empirical Analysis of Cost-Effectiveness Using a Portfolio Approach. Available Upon Request.

Extreme Weather Events Disrupt the Flow of Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder Medications

Published:

Extreme weather events are becoming more common and have significant health impacts on local residents. Injuries caused by these events may drive demand for pain-relieving medications. In addition, the US remains in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis, with an unprecedented number of Americans relying on opioid use disorder (OUD) medications, such as buprenorphine, to manage symptoms of OUD. At the same time, inclement weather makes delivering supplies, such as medication, more challenging. This study evaluated the effects of extreme weather events on supplies of opioid medications. We used an event study model to demonstrate extreme weather events cause temporary decreases in shipments of several types of opioids: buprenorphine, methadone, hydrocodone, morphine and oxymorphone. These results indicate extreme weather events may disrupt treatment for OUD as well as for those experiencing extreme pain. These results point to an additional cost of extreme weather events: disruption of OUD and pain treatment.

Recommended citation: Langford WS, Steuart SR. Extreme Weather Events Disrupt the Flow of Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder Medications. Available Upon Request.

Extreme Weather and Employment: Differential Effects Across Race and Ethnicity.

Published:

This paper examines the differential effects of extreme weather events on employment across race and ethnicity.

Recommended citation: Langford WS, Sanders M, Peters V. [Author list alphabetical.] Extreme Weather and Employment: Differential Effects Across Race and Ethnicity. Available Upon Request.

George Bailey Meets the Tempestates: How Local Finance Strengthens Economic Resilience Through Extreme Weather Events.

Published:

The economic costs incurred by extreme weather events are substantial and increasing. In this study, we demonstrate how community banks - a type of financial institution with strong local ties and customer relationships - mitigate these costs at the local level. We use an event study model to demonstrate that US counties with higher community bank market shares experience fewer employment losses through extreme weather events. We then use bank-level analyses to demonstrate the mechanism - the small business credit supply. Community banks maintain their lending following extreme weather events, while other banks reduce it. These findings provide novel evidence on how local financial institutions strengthen economic resilience through extreme weather events. As policymakers develop strategies to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events, local finance may be a solution.

Recommended citation: Peters V, Langford WS, Sanders M, Feldman MP. George Bailey Meets the Tempestates: How Local Finance Strengthens Economic Resilience Through Extreme Weather Events. SSRN Working Paper #4868821
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Let Us Put Our Moneys Together: Minority-Owned Banks and Resilience to Crises.

Published:

Racial and ethnic minorities disproportionately suffer more severe consequences during economic downturns, having heightened vulnerability in employment and credit. We investigate the role of minority-owned banks in mitigating these challenges, focusing on shared borrower-lender identity, and analyzing how these minority-owned banks affect employment through the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 Crisis. Using multiple econometric specifications including propensity score matching and instrumental variables, our study reveals that communities with higher minority-owned bank market shares experience fewer employment declines through the two crises, thus exhibiting greater resilience. These banks achieve this by increasing lending to small businesses and households during crises. By addressing financial constraints, particularly for minority-owned businesses and households, minority-owned banks contribute to economic resilience, bridging racial gaps, and fostering community employment during times of crisis.

Recommended citation: Langford WS, Roman R, Berger AN, Feldman MP. “Let Us Put Our Moneys Together:” Minority-Owned Banks and Resilience to Crises. SSRN Working Paper #4231594
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Journal Articles

Young and Small Firms and Resilience to Extreme Weather Events.

Published:

In this paper, we demonstrate that the presence of entrepreneurial organizations, proxied by young and small firms, in an economy increases its resilience to external shocks. We estimate the effect of local young and small firm employment shares on employment growth through extreme weather events in US counties using an event study model. We find that higher employment shares of young and small firms reduce employment losses for given levels of property damages. We contribute to the literature by showing that entrepreneurship enhances economic resilience to physical climate shocks at the local level. As regional resilience can be considered a public good, our findings add an argument to the case for supporting young and small firms in the face of progressing climate change.

Recommended citation: Heinzel C, Langford WS, Peters V, Sanders M. Young and Small Firms and Resilience to Extreme Weather Events. Journal of Business Venturing Insights
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We’re Not in Dreamland Anymore: The Consequences of Community Opioid Use on Local Industrial Composition.

Published:

We estimate the effect of opioid use rates on local economic resilience through changes in industrial composition. We find regional opioid use rates adversely affect firm growth in general, with the greatest impact on small firms. Our results are robust to several identification strategies (Difference in Differences, Propensity Score Matching, and Instrumental Variables) and alternative empirical specifications. Our findings establish that local industrial composition and long-term resilience are each adversely affected by the opioid public health crisis.

Recommended citation: Langford WS, Feldman MP. We’re Not in Dreamland Anymore: The Consequences of Community Opioid Use on Local Industrial Composition. Journal of Regional Science (2024)
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Banking for the Other Half: The Factors That Explain Banking Desert Formation.

Published:

Banks are one of the key drivers of economic development across communities. Banking deserts—defined by inadequate banking access—limit access to capital, inhibit wealth accumulation, and increase exposure to predatory lending. Banking desert formation could be profit-driven, with lower-income and less densely populated regions more likely to become banking deserts. Discrimination could also play a role here: banks may have less presence in areas with higher minority populations. The authors use a panel, census tract-level data set for the entire state of North Carolina to investigate how these forces impact banking access and banking desert formation. Panel methodologies are incorporated to investigate the extent to which profit and discrimination mechanisms each drive banking access and banking desert formation. Profit and discrimination mechanisms are shown to play roles, highlighting the need for policies that mitigate bank branch losses in underserved neighborhoods.

Recommended citation: Langford WS, Thomas HW, Feldman MP. Banking for the Other Half: The Factors That Explain Banking Desert Formation. Economic Development Quarterly. (2023)
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The NIH Childhood Adversity Portfolio: Unmet Needs, Emerging Challenges).

Published:

Despite the significant increase in pediatric funding, an important question is whether recent changes in the burden of disease and conditions (child and adolescent mortality and nonfatal health loss) are reflected in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) allocation process. As it sets future priorities, NIH acknowledges “a need to scan the landscape for unmet needs and emerging challenges” so that supported “research translates into meaningful health benefits.” Our focus is to scan the pediatric budgetary landscape, report research funding for childhood adversity and adverse childhood experiences, and to illuminate gun violence, suicide, and drug abuse/overdose as prime examples of pediatric unmet needs and emerging challenges. Our findings suggest that pediatric researchers must reconceptualize gun violence as a form of childhood adversity and adverse childhood experiences, as we also need to do for other leading causes of child and adolescent mortality such as suicide and drug abuse/overdose. As it relates to the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, pediatric-related gun violence research spending remains only 0.0017% of the NIH pediatric portfolio.

Recommended citation: Gitterman D, Hay Jr WW, Langford WS. The NIH Childhood Adversity Portfolio: Unmet Needs, Emerging Challenges. Pediatric Research (2023)
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We Miss You George Bailey: The Effect of Local Banking Conditions on the County-Level Timing of the Great Recession.

Published:

Community banks have a unique capacity to strengthen economic resilience by alleviating local firm credit constraints during economic downturns. We provide evidence that banking access and community bank market share affected both the county-level timing and duration of the Great Recession in the United States. Using the Cox Proportional Hazards and Heckman Selection models, we find that communities with a higher community bank market share are less likely to experience recession conditions, conditional on local bank health. This suggests community banks have unique institutional structures, allowing them to continue providing funds to firms through economic downturns. This research demonstrates that local financial institutions affect economic resilience, in particular the timing and duration of recession conditions.

Recommended citation: Langford WS, Feldman MP. We Miss You George Bailey: The Effect of Local Banking Conditions on the County-Level Timing of the Great Recession. Regional Studies. (2022)
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Making the Case for Pediatric Research: A Life-Cycle Approach and The Return on Investment.

Published:

There is unmistakable evidence of increased NIH funding for pediatric and perinatal research, but there is much work to be done. To further promote NIH-funded pediatric and perinatal research, we advocate for a life-cycle approach in which the return on the investment continues over the lifespan. Although elected policymakers have short-time horizons, pediatric and perinatal researchers must provide novel evidence and theoretical arguments demonstrating the long-term health benefits for the adults of tomorrow by improving the health of our current pediatric populations. Child health researchers must communicate the role of early developmental events on childhood and adult disease, including those that are prenatal and gestational so that its importance is understood by the public and policymakers.

Recommended citation: Gitterman D, Langford WS, Hay Jr WW. Making the Case for Pediatric Research: A Life-Cycle Approach and The Return on Investment. Pediatric Research. (2022)
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The Distribution of Indirect Cost Recovery in Academic Research.

Published:

Research universities rely heavily on external funding to advance knowledge and generate economic growth. In the USA, tens of billions of dollars are spent each year on research and development with the federal government contributing over half of these funds. Yet a decline in relative federal funding highlights the role of other funders and their varying contractual terms. Specifically, nonfederal funders provide lower recovery of indirect costs. Using project-level university-sponsored research administrative records from four institutions, we examine indirect cost recovery. We find significant variation in the amount of indirect funding recovered—both across and within funders, as well as to different academic fields within a university. The distribution of sponsors in the overall research funding portfolio also impacts indirect cost recovery. The recovery variation has important implications for the sustainability and cross-subsidization of the university research enterprise. Together, our results show where universities are under-recovering indirect costs.

Recommended citation: Graddy-Reed A, Feldman MP, Bercovitz J, Langford WS. The Distribution of Indirect Cost Recovery in Academic Research. Science and Public Policy. (2021)
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Catching the Whale: A Comparison of Place Promotion Strategies Through the Lens of Amazon HQ2.

Published:

Identifying potential sites for firm relocation or expansion is a negotiated process that involves both firms and localities. Some firms focus on profit enhancement through cost minimization, while others seek qualities that maximize talent attraction and benefit corporate identity. Simultaneously, localities seek to maximize the economic welfare for residents through job creation and place-based economic development strategies. The purpose of this work is to examine how localities use place promotion strategies to attract relocating or expanding firms based on analysis of proposals submitted by communities in response to the 2017 Amazon HQ2 Request for Proposals. Our results support literature streams that argue quality of life and talent attraction, as well as cost are priorities for place-based economic development strategies. We present a complete picture of place promotion strategies that localities use to differentiate themselves and avoid competing only on cost in the competitive marketplace of corporate recruiting.

Recommended citation: Nager AN, Lowe Reed AS, Langford WS. Catching the Whale: A Comparison of Place Promotion Strategies Through the Lens of Amazon HQ2. Geography Compass. (2019)
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The Uncertain Fate of the National Institutes of Health Pediatric Research Portfolio.

Published:

Background: The amount of federal dollars allocated to improving the health of our pediatric population can serve as an indicator of the priority placed on child well-being. Although Congress has established novel mechanisms that marginally increase pediatric research funding, the pediatric research portfolio is facing an increasingly uncertain fate. Methods: This work examines pediatric, perinatal and pediatric research initiative (PRI) spending using data collected by the NIH that uses the novel research, condition and disease categorization system. Further, this work reports on recent policy developments in pediatric biomedical research and offers recommendations to insulate this portfolio from future uncertainty. Results: Federal support for pediatric research has declined with average annual growth rates of NIH pediatric spending dropping from 12.8% (FY 1998-2003) to 1.7% (FY 2004-2015). After taking into account Biomedical Research and Development Price Index growth, the pediatric research portfolio’s purchasing power has declined by 15.9% (FY 2004-2015). Conclusion: Federal support for pediatric biomedical research has plateaued in nominal terms and declined significantly in real terms. Future congressional action will be necessary to protect gains and to expand the capacity of the pediatric portfolio.

Recommended citation: Gitterman DP, Langford WS, Hay Jr WW. The Uncertain Fate of the National Institutes of Health Pediatric Research Portfolio. Pediatric Research. (2018)
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The Fragile State of the National Institutes of Health Pediatric Research Portfolio, 1992-2015.

Published:

In this article, we examine the status of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) pediatric research portfolio between start of federal fiscal year (FY) 1992 and end of FY 2015. The NIH experienced the greatest mean annual growth rate during the “doubling era” (FY 1998-2003): both the NIH budget (13.5%) and pediatric research portfolios (11.5%) increased annually by double digits. However, in the “postdoubling” era (FY 2004-2009), both the NIH (2.0%) and pediatric (−0.2%) mean annual growth rates decreased dramatically. In the most recent era (FY 2010-2015), the NIH mean annual growth rate has been flat (−0.1%) and pediatric research funding has posted very modest gains (3.5%) without accounting for 1-time increases under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We offer recommendations to protect against further erosion of the pediatric research portfolio because continuation of these trends will have a negative effect on the health of children during their childhood and as adults. As capacity to conduct basic and applied research is further constrained, it will be a challenge for pediatric researchers to do more with less and less.

Recommended citation: Gitterman DP, Langford WS, Hay Jr WW. The Fragile State of the National Institutes of Health Pediatric Research Portfolio, 1992-2015. JAMA Pediatrics. (2018)
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Synthesis of Proposed Inhibitors of the Enzyme Aspartate-Beta-Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase.

Published:

Analogs for the substrates of aspartate semialdehyde dehydrogenase were prepared. Phosphonomethylcysteine, its sulfoxide, and its sulfone were synthesized starting from phosphonomethyltrifluoromethanesulfonic acid and cysteine. Phosphonomethylhomocysteine, its sulfoxide, and its sulfone were prepared in a similar manner. 2-Amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid, 2-amino-4-butanoic acid, were synthesized via the Hell-Volhard-Zelinsky reaction. S-Methylcysteinesulfone was synthesized by oxidation of S-methylcysteine. A bisubstrate analog was also synthesized, namely S-(3-(acetyl)pyridinyl) homocysteine. Most of these molecules are potential inhibitors of aspartate β -semialdehyde dehydrogenase.

Recommended citation: Halkides CJ, Langford WS, Kish WS, Johnson NP, Lookadoo DB, Hey B, Jansen D, Hifko N. Synthesis of Proposed Inhibitors of the Enzyme Aspartate-Beta-Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase. Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research. (2018)
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