Highlighted Publications




 

Bloem, Hu, and Hurwitz (2026) ask how post-college earnings vary across colleges when using the full earnings distribution and how college selectivity relates to those outcomes. They analyze U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data covering nearly all four-year colleges, including earnings percentiles 6, 8, and 10 years after entry. They find that rankings change substantially across percentiles, with about 40% of colleges shifting more than 150 places. Earnings ov

Mbekeani, Papay, Mantil, and Murnane (2026) examine how much high schools affect students’ long-term outcomes, including college enrollment, graduation, and earnings. They use longitudinal data from Massachusetts following five cohorts of ninth-grade students, combining administrative records and survey data. They find large differences across schools: students attending higher value-added schools are 11% more likely to enroll in college, 31% more likely to graduate from a fo

Nelissen and De Witte (2026) examine whether raising the compulsory schooling age from 17 to 18 improves long-term educational and labor market outcomes. They use Dutch administrative microdata tracking individuals from adolescence into adulthood, exploiting a quasi-experimental reform. They find the policy reduced dropout by about 1.3 percentage points and increased high school completion by roughly 0.5 points, with stronger effects for vocational students. By age 31, employ

Singer (2026) examines whether the duration of remote learning in 2020–21 affected student attendance after the pandemic. He uses longitudinal administrative data on nearly one million Michigan students from 2017–18 through 2023–24, combined with district-level measures of remote learning duration. Using difference-in-differences and instrumental variables, he finds that each additional month of remote learning reduced post-pandemic attendance by about 0.46 percentage points.

Najam and Thompson (2026) examine whether adopting a four-day school week affects juvenile crime. They analyze incident-level crime data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System across six states, combined with longitudinal data on school schedule adoption from 2005–2019. Using a difference-in-differences design, they find that four-day school weeks increase juvenile crime by about 12%, driven by a 20% rise in property crime and a 9% rise in violent crime. They also

Bueno, Mawi, Page, and Smith (2026) examine how place-based scholarships affect student borrowing and early academic outcomes. They ask whether receiving the Achieve Atlanta scholarship changes loan use and first-semester performance. Using linked administrative data from Atlanta Public Schools, Achieve Atlanta, and Georgia’s public college systems, they compare recipients to similar non-recipients. They find recipients are 7 percentage points less likely to borrow (18% reduc

Burdick-Will and Stein (2026) ask how commute complexity, especially bus transfers, affects high school students’ attendance, school mobility, and academic performance. They analyze administrative data on all Baltimore City high school students in 2016–17 and 2017–18, exploiting a system-wide transit overhaul as a natural experiment. They find that total travel time has no meaningful effect on outcomes, but requiring a bus transfer increases absenteeism and school switching.

Morgan et al. (2025) examine whether large, effectiveness-based financial incentives combined with improved hiring authority can attract and retain high-quality educators in low-performing schools. They analyze administrative data from the Dallas Independent School District, including student test scores, teacher evaluations, and staffing records. Using a difference-in-differences design, they find that the reform substantially increased teacher quality and student achievemen

Garthwaite et al. (2025) examine who benefits from the economic rents generated by college sports under amateurism. They ask how revenue from football and men’s basketball is redistributed within athletic departments. They analyze panel data on revenues and expenditures from Power Five athletic programs (2006–2019), along with player-level demographic data. They find substantial rent-sharing: about $0.31 of each additional dollar is reinvested in revenue sports, while roughly

Yim (2026) asks whether being assigned to early morning college classes changes students’ academic outcomes and long-term academic paths. He analyzes administrative data from Purdue University covering several thousand freshman course enrollments after the university introduced a system that effectively randomized class times across course sections. The study links course schedules to grades, later STEM course enrollment, major choice, and expected earnings by major. Yim find

Hensvik and Jävervall (2024) ask whether increased school competition reduces parental “voice,” measured through formal complaints about schools. They analyze administrative complaint data from Sweden’s national education authorities and link it to changes in local school competition following the expansion of independent schools under the voucher system. They find that greater competition is associated with fewer parental complaints to regulators. A one–standard deviation in

Shakya (2026) asks whether participation in a pre-collegiate summer bridge program improves early college outcomes for economically disadvantaged and first-generation students. He analyzes student-level administrative data from a large U.S. public land-grant university, focusing on applicants to the Bridge Scholars Program between 2016 and 2022. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design based on a $16,000 Expected Family Contribution eligibility cutoff, he estimates causa

Crespin (2025) examines whether publicly releasing school social climate ratings affects housing prices and the socioeconomic sorting of homebuyers. He studies a plausibly exogenous information shock in Chicago in 2011, when school climate reports were first made public. He links parcel-level housing transaction data from Zillow (ZTRAX) with homebuyer income data from HMDA and school administrative records. He finds that homes zoned to the highest-rated schools saw price incr

Lawson and Sass (2026) study how teachers’ effectiveness changed when schools shifted from in-person to remote instruction. They ask whether the move to online learning altered relative teacher performance and which teacher traits predicted success. They analyze matched student–teacher administrative data from three large metro-Atlanta districts, using fall-to-winter math and reading test score growth for grades K–8. They find that variation in teacher effectiveness increased

Landon and Pope (2026) study whether changing how schools schedule instructional time—specifically longer school days paired with fewer school days—affects student achievement and teacher turnover . They ask whether reallocating the same total annual instructional hours alters productivity. Using administrative data from over 2 million Los Angeles Unified School District students (2002–2012) and policy-driven calendar changes, they estimate causal effects. They find minimal

Blazar et al. (2026) examine whether access to Maryland’s Teacher Academy (TAM) increases entry into teaching. They ask if a high school “grow-your-own” pathway affects students’ later education, careers, and earnings. They use statewide administrative data linking K–12 records, college enrollment and degrees, teacher employment, and unemployment insurance wages. They find that TAM exposure increased the probability of becoming a teacher by 0.6 percentage points, a 45% rise o

Wright, Arora, and Wright (2025) examine whether a non-binding commitment pledge combined with goal setting affects student achievement . They ask if having students state a target grade, identify study actions, and sign a pledge improves academic performance. The study uses a randomized field experiment in four Principles of Macroeconomics sections at a public university, analyzing survey responses and official course records. Although treated students pledged higher grades

Christakis et al. (2026) examine whether adult attitudes—especially parental attitudes—support banning student smartphone access during the school day. They ask whether support for school smartphone bans is widespread across countries and which individual characteristics predict that support. They analyze cross-sectional survey data from 35,018 adults across 35 countries, using logistic regression to adjust for demographics, parental status, life satisfaction, and digital beh

Baker, Halberstam, Kroft, Mas, and Messacar (2025) ask whether faculty unionization changes the distribution of wages in Canadian higher education. They analyze longitudinal administrative salary data from 1970–2022 and link it to the staggered rollout of faculty unions. They find that unionization raises wages at the bottom of the distribution by roughly 10 percent while leaving top salaries unchanged, compressing inequality. On average, salaries rise about 2 percent in the

Dupas et al. (2025) examine whether men and women are treated differently when presenting research in economics seminars. They ask whether presenter gender affects how often and how negatively audience members interrupt speakers. They analyze detailed data on thousands of seminars, job talks, and conference presentations, combining human-coded observations with machine learning analysis of audio recordings. The authors find that women receive about 10–20 percent more interrup