Abstract: This note studies the relationship between the gender composition of a student’s peers and two of their non-cognitive factors: sense of belonging and self-worth. Using data from Add Health and exploiting idiosyncratic variation in the share of female peers across grades within schools, I find positive but small effects of a higher share of female peers for male students. I do not find statistically significant effects for female students, but I can rule out large positive effects.
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Joint with
Todd Elder and
Steven J. Haider
Abstract: The uncompensated wage elasticity of labor supply is a fundamental parameter in economics. Despite its central role, very few papers have studied directly how it has changed over time. We examine the evolution of the uncompensated labor supply elasticity using cross-sectional methods over the last four decades. We find robust evidence that the elasticities weakly increased between 2000 and 2020, which represents a striking reversal from the sizeable declines for single and married women between 1979 and 2000. We additionally find that these changes arose almost entirely on the extensive margin. We then conduct a series of counterfactual simulations to identify which factors are most responsible for these trends.
Joint with
Riley Acton and Salem Rogers
Abstract: We study the effects of increased school spending in rural American school districts by leveraging the introduction and subsequent expansion of Wisconsin’s Sparsity Aid Program. We find that the program, which provides additional state funding to small and isolated school districts, increased spending in eligible districts by 2% annually and that districts primarily allocated funds to areas with low baseline budget shares. This increased spending has little effect on standardized test scores, but modestly increases college enrollment and completion for students with a low likelihood of attending or completing college.
EdWorkingPaper No. 23-724 | IZA DP No. 15915
Abstract: This paper studies how college students choose their credit hour enrollment, labor supply, and borrowing, paying particular attention to the role of wages, financial resources and beliefs. To formalize these relationships, I construct a dynamic structural model where students choose their credit hours, work hours, and borrowing to maximize lifetime utility. I collect data from two sources to estimate the model: (1) a unique survey of Michigan State undergraduates eliciting their employment history, family financial support, beliefs about the returns to studying and beliefs about earning a high GPA, and (2) administrative data from the University. Estimates of the model suggest that students’ credit hour decision is inelastic with respect to changes in financial aid, tuition, beliefs, or wages. Students’ labor supply and borrowing decisions are responsive to changes in wages, and for a subset of students, changes in beliefs. I also conduct two counterfactual simulations, increasing the minimum wage and making college tuition free, and evaluate how these policy changes affect student decisions and outcomes.
Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between college students’ beliefs about the returns to studying and their reported study hours. Using novel survey data, I report the typical study hours of students and how study behavior differs by student observables like gender, race, college, etc. I then describe students’ beliefs about the GPA returns to studying and future labor market returns to graduating with a high GPA and quantify the heterogeneity of returns and uncertainty of returns. Next, I present correlations in the data between students’ observables and their beliefs about the returns to studying and earning a high GPA. Finally, I regress reported schoolwork hours on these beliefs to quantify the relationship between these variables.
Joint with
Andrew Foote and
Michel Grosz
Abstract: In this paper we study the effect of warehouse and distribution center openings on enrollment in community colleges. Our analysis takes two parts. First, we identify the precise location of all new warehouses, distribution centers, and similar facilities since 1995 using establishment-level data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). We estimate the effect of these new employment opportunities on enrollment in nearby colleges, using national-level data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Second, we use individual- and establishment-level data on enrollment, employment, and establishment locations from Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes and LEHD. These data provide detailed employment and educational enrollment information for most postsecondary students in many states, and longitudinal information on establishment locations, industry, and employment size. Using these data, we study the employment and enrollment trajectories of students who live near these new facilities to understand the student’s decision to seek employment there. These data allow us to observe students’ earnings, as well as their enrollment persistence and eventual program completion.