Access to and use of financial services can affect a wide range of economic behaviors, including decisions about consumption, saving, home ownership, business formation, investment and retirement. These services have the potential to empower disadvantaged groups and give them greater control over their economic future. However, little is known about the use of financial services among one historically impoverished group - immigrants to the United States. To what extent do they participate in mainstream financial institutions?

New immigrants to the United States bring with them new attitudes about gender roles and the division of labor within the family. Though these cultural differences may translate into new patterns of workforce participation for men and women, until now little research has focused on gender differences in outcomes and rates of assimilation.

A growing body of evidence in behavioral economics suggests that people's behavior differs in systematic and predictable ways from the model of rationality assumed by classical economists. However, empirical studies in behavioral economics have tended to focus on people of ordinary means, to the exclusion of people at economic extremes. Might people in poverty -- who have few resources and limited experience in economic decision-making -- display different behavioral patterns than others?

The field of behavioral public finance examines the relevance of various deviations from rationality in decisions relating to taxation and government expenditures. Research in this discipline includes assessment of the effectiveness of public policy in modifying self-damaging behavior and the efficacy of tax-collection procedures. With support from the Russell Sage Foundation, Joel Slemrod will convene a meeting at the University of Michigan to assess recent research in behavioral public finance.