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Olugbenga Ajilore

Senior Economist, Center for American Progress
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About Olugbenga

Ajilore's research focuses on the impact of ethnic diversity in policing outcomes, race, police, militarization, and the use of lethal and non-lethal force. He also has published work on the role of peer effects on adolescent behavior and how it relates to topics such as obesity, civic engagement, and risky behaviors.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

How Civilian Review Boards Can Further Police Accountability and Improve Community Relations

In the News

Olugbenga Ajilore quoted by Joseph Zeballos-Roig , "The Economic Prospects of Black Americans Have Stayed Largely Unchanged for Decades. Here Are 12 Charts Demonstrating Alarming Rates of Inequality" Business Insider, June 10, 2020.
"On the Persistence of the Black-White Unemployment Gap," Olugbenga Ajilore, Center For American Progress, February 24, 2020.

Publications

"The Spillover Effect of Race on Police Expenditures: An Alternative Test of the Minority Threat Hypothesis" The Review of Black Political Economy 43, no. 1 (2016): 21-34.

Implements a novel application of spatial econometrics to test the minority threat hypothesis by estimating the relationship and potential spillovers between race and police expenditures. Shows counties with more residential segregation and that are more conservative exhibit positive spillovers on neighboring county police expenditures.

"Do #AllLivesMatter? An Evaluation of Race and Excessive Use of Force by Police" (with Shane Shirey). Atlantic Economic Journal 45, no. 2 (2017): 201-212.

Estimates the impact of race on police accountability using a sample of citizen complaints to the Chicago Police Department. Shows that not only does race play a role in excessive use of force complaints, but also that race plays a role in which complaints are sustained.

"The Militarization of Local Law Enforcement: Is Race a Factor?" Applied Economics Letters 22, no. 13 (2015): 1089-1093.

Estimates the role of race on police militarization, with a specific focus on armored vehicles acquired through the Pentagon's 1033 program. Finds that while the presence of a large African-American population is negatively correlated to police acquisition of mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, greater residential segregation is positively correlated to MRAP procurement.

"Mental Health, Race, and the Deadly Use of Force" Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon 37, no. 1 (2017): 423-428.

Explores the relationship between suspected mental illness and officer-involved shootings, using data from an independently sourced database. Shows that African Americans were more likely to be victims of fatal officer-involved shootings, and this likelihood increased for those who displayed signs of mental illness.