Yuval Elmelech

Associate Professor of Sociology; Research Associate, Levy Economics Institute

Academic Program Affiliation(s): American and Indigenous Studies, Jewish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Sociology

Area of Specialization: Social stratification, social demography

Biography: Yuval Elmelech’s research interests include social stratification, race, ethnicity and immigration, poverty, and housing inequality. His recent book Wealth (Polity Press, 2021) illuminates the various, often elusive, ways in which personal wealth is accumulated and unevenly distributed. Blending theoretical approaches with empirical evidence, the book describes how wealth trajectories over the life course, and across generations, are shaped by powerful macro- and meso-level forces that include multiple markets, changing demographic landscapes, and persistent inter-group wealth disparities. Publications also include Transmitting Inequality: Wealth and the American Family (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008), book chapters, and journal articles in Social Forces, Social Science Research, Sociological Inquiry, and Housing Studies, among others. He teaches courses on social inequality, the sociology of the family, Israeli society, quantitative research methods, and contemporary social problems.

BA, MA, Tel Aviv University; PhD, Columbia University. At Bard since 2001.

• Research Interests: Poverty; wealth inequality; intergenerational transfers; immigration and racial/ethnic inequality; subjective well-being; housing
• Teaching Interests: Social stratification; sociology of the family; social problems; Israeli society; research methods (quantitative)

2016-08-30 — Publication
“Wealth.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology. Ed. Janeen Baxter. New York: Oxford University Press.

2015-09-01 — Publication
“Public Preferences for Redistributive Policies in Israel,” Levy Institute Working Paper No. 815
Website: http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/public-preferences-for-redistributive-policies-in-israel

2012-12-01 — Publication
"Ethnic Inequality in the Education of Immigrants and Second Generation Immigrants: A Reexamination." Megamot: 48 (3-4): 486-503 (with Joel Perlmann).

2012-01-01 — Publication
"Housing Inequality in the United States: Explaining the White-Minority Disparities in Homeownership" in Housing Studies 27 (1): 1-26 (with Sanjaya DeSilva)

2010-11-01 — Publication
"Immigrant Parents’ Attributes versus Discrimination: New Evidence in the Debate about the Creation of Second Generation Educational Outcomes in Israel." Levy Institute Working Paper No. 633 (with Joel Perlmann).
Website: http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/?docid=1324

2009 — Publication
“Housing Inequality in the United States: A Decomposition Analysis of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Homeownership.” Levy Institute Working Paper No. 565 (with Sanjaya DeSilva).
Website: http://www.levy.org/vdoc.aspx?docid=1150

2008-06-12 — Interview
Radio interview about the book Transmitting Inequality in the program Behind the News with host Doug Henwood. WBAI, 99.5 FM. Thursday, June 12th 2008.

2008 — Publication
Transmitting Inequality: Wealth and the American Family. 2008. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc.

Phone: 845-758-7547
Email:
Location: Seymour
Office: 304