Working Papers

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Non-Cognitive Ability, Test Scores, and Teacher Quality: Evidence from 9th Grade Teachers in North Carolina (2013)

This paper presents a model where students have cognitive and non-cognitive ability, and a teacher’s...

 

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Can Higher-Achieving Peers Explain the Benefits to Attending Selective Schools?: Evidence from Trinidad and Tobago (2009)

Using exogenous secondary school assignments to remove self-selection bias to schools and peers, I obtain...

 

Publications 2014

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Teacher Quality at the High-School Level: The Importance of Accounting for Tracks, Journal of Labor Economics (2014)

Unlike in elementary school, high-school teacher effects may be confounded with both selection to tracks...

 

Publications 2013

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Do College-Prep Programs Improve Long-Term Outcomes?, Economic Inquiry (2013)

This paper presents an analysis of the longer-run effects of a college-preparatory program implemented in...

 

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Match Quality, Worker Productivity, and Worker Mobility: Direct Evidence From Teachers, Review of Economics and Statistics (2013)

I investigate the importance of the match between teachers and schools for student achievement. I...

 

Publications 2012

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School Competition and Teacher Labor Markets: Evidence from Charter School Entry in North Carolina, Journal of Public Economics (2012)

I analyze changes in teacher turnover, hiring, effectiveness, and salaries at traditional public schools after...

 

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Single-Sex Schools, Student Achievement, and Course Selection: Evidence from Rule-Based Student Assignments in Trinidad and Tobago, Journal of Public Economics (2012)

Existing studies on single-sex schooling suffer from biases because students who attend single-sex schools differ...

 

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Recruiting, Retaining, and Creating Quality Teachers, Nordic Economic Policy Review (2012)

This article synthesizes the research literature on how to ensure that the teaching workforce is...

 

Publications 2011

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One for the Road: Public Transportation, Alcohol Consumption, and Intoxicated Driving (with Emily G. Owens), Journal of Public Economics (2011)

We exploit arguably exogenous train schedule changes in Washington DC to investigate the relationship between...

 

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Do Social Connections Reduce Moral Hazard? Evidence from the New York City Taxi Industry (with Henry Schneider), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (2011)

We investigate the role of social networks in aligning the incentives of agents in settings...

 

Publications 2010

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A Little Now for a Lot Later: A Look at a Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program, The Journal of Human Resources (2010)

The Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program pays both students and teachers for passing grades on...

 

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Do Students Benefit From Attending Better Schools?: Evidence From Rule-based Student Assignments in Trinidad and Tobago, The Economic Journal (2010)

In Trinidad and Tobago students are assigned to secondary schools after fifth grade based on...

 

Publications 2009

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Teaching Students and Teaching Each Other: The Importance of Peer Learning for Teachers (with Elias Bruegmann), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (2009)

Using student examination data linked to longitudinal teacher personnel data, we document that a teacher’s...

 

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Student Demographics, Teacher Sorting, and Teacher Quality: Evidence From the End of School Desegregation, The Journal of Labor Economics (2009)

The reshuffling of students due to the end of student busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg provides a...

 

Publications 2008

Other Papers

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The Effects of a Novel Incentive-Based High-School Intervention on College Outcomes (2009)

I analyze the longer-run effects of a program that pays both 11th and 12th grade...

 

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Ability-Grouping and Academic Inequality: Evidence From Rule-Based Student Assignments, (2008)

In Trinidad and Tobago students are assigned to secondary schools after fifth grade based on...

 

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Cost Should Be No Barrier: An Evaluation of the First Year of Harvard's Financial Aid Initiative (with Christopher Avery, Caroline Hoxby, Kaitlin Burek, Glenn Poppe, and Mridula Raman), Working Papers (2006)

This paper evaluates the first year of Harvard’s Financial Aid Initiative, which increased aid and...