Research

Peer-Reviewed Publications

"Do Tuition Subsidies Raise Political Participation?" (with Igor Geyn), Conditionally Accepted [pending AEA Data Editor review] at The American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. [Working Paper]

"Help Really Wanted? The Impact of Age Stereotypes in Job Ads on Applications from Older Workers" (with Ian Burn, Daniel Ladd, and David Neumark), Forthcoming at The Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 44 (4), October 2026. [NBER Working Paper 30287] Media Coverage: The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Barron's, MarketWatch

"Economic Distress and Electoral Consequences: Evidence from Appalachia" (Sole Author), The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 106 (3), pg. 778-793, May 2024. [A. Kimball Romney Award]
[Open Access Manuscript] Media Coverage: The Boston Globe

"The Impact of Post-Admission Merit Scholarships on Enrollment Decisions and Degree Attainment: Evidence from Randomization" (Sole Author), The Economics of Education Review Vol. 84, 102221, February 2022.

Special Issues and Invited Submissions

"Machine Learning and Perceived Age Stereotypes in Job Ads: Evidence from an Experiment" (with Ian Burn, Daniel Ladd, and David Neumark), The Journal of Pension Economics and Finance Vol. 22 (4), pg. 463 - 489, October 2023.

"Age Discrimination and Age Stereotypes in Job Ads" (with Ian Burn, Daniel Ladd, and David Neumark), Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letters, March 2023.

Working Papers

"The Effect of Selective Colleges on Student Partisanship"

(Sole Author) [SOCAE 2022 Best Paper Award] [Working Paper]

Media Coverage: The Boston Globe, Marginal Revolution

Abstract: College-educated voters are trending toward the political left across democracies, with the most politically powerful and left-leaning students originating from a smaller number of elite colleges. Using data on over 250,000 University of California applicants and multiple discontinuous admission policies, I estimate the impact of elite colleges on later life partisanship. Admission to highly selective campuses shifts students away from the Republican Party and toward independent or Democratic registration. Administrative data, surveys, and a poll of in-sample students show that on-campus peer socialization and long-run mechanisms like graduate school attendance are plausible, but intentional efforts by faculty to persuade their students are unlikely to explain these results.

"Nonresident Tuition and Human Capital Flows: Evidence from a Lottery"

(Sole Author) [Working Paper]

Abstract: I use a pre-analysis plan and a computer-randomized lottery at a major American university to estimate the longer-run causal effects of nonresident tuition on the relocation of high-skill workers. Waiving nonresident tuition increases eventual migration by targeted students to the same state 12 years later, attracting workers with pre-specified innovation and executive skills. Every 10,000 dollars of tuition relief offered to nonresident students costs the institution 800 dollars in the short-run, but raises the net present value of longer-run estimated earnings from targeted students by 25,300 dollars within the local labor market.

Works in Progress

"Partisan Costs of Unfulfilled Student Loan Forgiveness" (with Michael Patrick Span)

"From Training to Employment: A Multi-Inquiry Study of Noncredit Workforce Training Programs" (with Di Xu, Benjamin Castleman, Catherine Finnegan, Betsy Tessler, Kelli Bird, and Sabrina Solanki)

"Rational Inattention and the Size of Government" (Sole Author)