Highlighted Publications




 

Zhong (2024) asks whether third-grade test-based retention improves or harms students’ long-term outcomes. He examines administrative data from Texas public schools linked to college enrollment records and state earnings data, following students from third grade into their mid-20s. Using a regression discontinuity design around the reading test promotion cutoff, he finds that retention briefly raises test scores but increases absenteeism, violent behavior, and juvenile crime.

Cohodes and Pineda (2025) ask whether attending Massachusetts charter schools affects students’ college preparation, enrollment, and degree completion, and whether these effects differ between urban and nonurban schools. They analyze randomized admission lottery data from Massachusetts charter schools between 2002 and 2014, linked to state education records and National Student Clearinghouse college data. They find that urban charter schools substantially increase test scores

Hankins, Momeni, and Sovich (2025) ask whether trade tariffs raise consumer borrowing costs by changing auto loan terms, not just vehicle prices. They examine millions of U.S. auto loans from Regulation AB II data, comparing loans from captive auto lenders (owned by manufacturers) to non-captive lenders before and after the 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs. They find that captive lenders increased interest rates by about 26 basis points after the tariffs, roughly a 10 percent

Cunningham and Gillezeau (2025) ask whether granting collective bargaining rights to police unions increases civilian deaths caused by law enforcement. They analyze county-level data from 1959–1988, combining historical records on police bargaining laws with Vital Statistics data on deaths due to legal intervention, disaggregated by race. Using an event-study design, they find that the adoption of “duty to bargain” laws leads to a substantial increase in civilian deaths over

Wang et al. (2026) ask whether state adoption of broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) increases SNAP participation, and how much of that increase comes from newly eligible versus already eligible households. They analyze state-level SNAP participation from 1996–2016 using administrative SNAP Quality Control data combined with state policy and economic data. Using a difference-in-differences design that allows effects to vary over time and across states, they find that B

Schneider and Harknett (2026) examine whether state and local paid sick leave laws affect workers who are not legally covered through spillovers within large, multi-state firms. They ask whether firm-level exposure to paid sick leave mandates leads companies to extend paid sick leave to workers in non-mandate locations. They analyze linked employer–employee survey data from the Shift Project, combined with administrative data on firm locations and mandate coverage. They find

Anders and Rafkin (2025) examine whether expanding SNAP income-eligibility limits increases program use among households that were already eligible. Using administrative SNAP Quality Control data from 1996–2016, they track state-level changes in eligibility thresholds and their effect on participation. They find that a 10-percentage-point increase in the income limit raises take-up among always-eligible households by about 1–2 percent. For every newly eligible person who enro

Bowden, Rodriguez, and Weingarten (2025) examine whether relaxing high-school grading standards reduces student effort and learning. They use statewide administrative data from North Carolina (2013–2019), linking exact birthdates, course grades, absences, and ACT scores. They find that the shift to a more lenient 10-point scale mechanically raised GPAs by about 0.13 points (roughly 4.8%) but caused meaningful declines in effort: absences rose 22% (about 1.3 days) and numeric

Crema (2025) investigates whether charter school openings increase racial segregation within traditional public school classrooms. She analyzes North Carolina administrative data covering 97 charter openings from 1997–2015, along with classroom-level records showing the racial composition of students in grades 1–5. She finds that segregation in nearby public schools rises as soon as a charter opening is announced, before any students transfer. Classroom segregation increases

This study asks whether court-appointed attorneys achieve different outcomes for low-income defendants based on whether they share the same race. Using administrative data on more than 17,000 misdemeanor cases in Travis County, Texas, the authors examine quasi-random attorney assignment to compare results for Black and White defendants. They find that Black defendants represented by White attorneys are 14–16 percent more likely to have their charges dismissed and 15–26 percen

The study asks which neighborhoods in the United States give children the best chances of rising out of poverty. Using Census and IRS data on more than 20 million children born between 1978 and 1983, the researchers link childhood Census tracts to adult outcomes such as income, incarceration, and teen birth rates. They find large neighborhood gaps: for children from families earning $27,000, adult household income differs by about $12,850 across nearby tracts. Quasi-experimen

The authors ask whether state recreational cannabis legalization reduces long-standing racial disparities in the criminal legal system. Using national data from 2007–2019 on arrests, prison admissions, hospitalizations, crimes, and police staffing, they track outcomes for White and Black adults before and after legalization. They find large drops in cannabis possession arrests (down 62% for White adults and 51% for Black adults) and cannabis sales arrests (down 44% and 49%).

The study asks whether providing free universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-old children in disadvantaged Arab communities in Israel improves long-term educational and social outcomes. Using administrative data that follow nearly 85,000 children from early childhood through young adulthood, the authors analyze test scores, high school completion, college enrollment, juvenile crime, and early marriage. They find substantial gains: high school graduation rises by 2.8 percentage

This study asks how extreme heat affects international migration from El Salvador. The authors use detailed agricultural production data from 2013–2018 and household survey data from 2009–2018, combined with high-resolution temperature records. They find that each additional week of extreme temperatures during the main corn-growing season reduces annual corn production by about 3 percent and lowers producers’ demand for hired workers by roughly 3.6 percent. These income losse

This study asks why Black and Hispanic homeowners earn lower housing returns than White homeowners. The authors use nationwide administrative data linking race, home purchases, and later sale prices for more than 13 million ownership spells. They find that minority homeowners earn about 2.3 percentage points lower unlevered annual returns mainly because they face far higher rates of distressed sales, such as foreclosures and short sales. When a sale is distressed, homeowners

This study asks whether sending people who commit financial crimes to prison reduces future offending and whether these sentences also discourage their coworkers from committing similar crimes. The authors use detailed administrative data from Finland, linking court records, workplace information, and criminal histories. Using random assignment of judges to identify causal effects, they find that a prison sentence reduces a defendant’s likelihood of reoffending by about 43 pe

This study asks whether prosecutors’ incorrect beliefs about who is likely to commit violent crimes affect their charging and sentencing recommendations. The authors link survey data from 171 North Carolina prosecutors to more than 600,000 felony cases from 1995–2019. They find that prosecutors systematically underestimate how much violent re-offending declines with age and overestimate how strongly criminal history predicts future violence—by about ninefold. These mistaken b

The study asks whether countries that are more connected to global financial markets recover more quickly from natural disasters. The authors use quarterly data from 61 advanced and emerging economies between 1970 and 2018, including detailed information on floods, storms, earthquakes, and other sudden disasters. They compare economic outcomes—GDP, consumption, and investment—between countries with high versus low levels of cross-border financial assets and liabilities. They

The study asks whether intensive college advising helps low-income students earn bachelor’s degrees and why it works. The authors use data from a multisite randomized controlled trial, baseline surveys, advisor–student interaction records, and National Student Clearinghouse enrollment data. They find that advising increases four-year college enrollment by about 9 percentage points and raises bachelor’s degree completion by 7.6 percentage points within five years—about a 16 pe

This study asks whether giving teachers detailed maps of their students’ classroom social networks can reduce social isolation and antisocial behavior. Using data from an RCT in 46 Italian primary schools, the researchers analyzed friendship nominations, incentivized games measuring sabotage and cooperation, and surveys on student well-being. The intervention reduced the share of children reporting no classroom friends by 1.5 percentage points (a 50% relative decrease) and cu

The study asks whether immigration increases local innovation and wage growth in U.S. counties. Using census, ACS, patent records, and wage data from 1975–2010, the authors link immigration shocks to changes in patenting and earnings. They find that an influx of 10,000 immigrants raises patenting by about 1.22 patents per 100,000 residents over five years (a 25 percent increase) and boosts annual wages by roughly $150 per capita (about 8 percent higher wage growth). More educ

The study asks whether ransomware attacks on hospitals disrupt care and harm patients. Using a linked dataset of 74 hospital ransomware attacks (2016–2021) combined with Medicare claims, the authors examine changes in hospital operations and patient outcomes during the attacks. They find that hospital volume drops sharply in the first week: ER, inpatient, and outpatient visits fall by 17–24%, and Medicare revenue declines by 19–39%. Most importantly, patients already admitted

The study asks whether having more classmates whose parents hold advanced degrees increases a student’s chances of entering highly selective university programs. Using Norwegian administrative data that follow students from middle school through early adulthood, the authors link each student to detailed records on peers, parents, grades, university enrollment, and earnings. They find that a one–standard deviation increase in exposure to such peers raises selective-degree enro

The study asks whether homeowners are more likely to move when a new next-door neighbor is of a different race. The authors use national housing transaction data matched with mortgage records, allowing them to observe both household race and the exact timing and location of moves. They compare move rates for homeowners who receive a different-race neighbor immediately next door versus two or three doors away on the same block. Both Black and White homeowners are more likely t