School Choice and Neighborhood Change in Post-Katrina New Orleans
by Rosalind Fei Yang
Abstract
As school choice policies weaken the traditional link between neighborhoods and schools, traditional housing patterns previously governed by school zoning are changing. This paper examines the connection between school choice reform, specifically an increase in charter schools, and changes in neighborhood composition, focusing on New Orleans over time. I use data from the American Community Survey, the National Center of Education Statistics, and the Louisiana Department of Education. The goal is to understand how school choice policies influence residential dynamics, with a specific focus on their role in gentrification patterns.
Professor Patrick Bayer, Faculty Advisor
Professor Michelle Connolly, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: H75, I21, I28
To What Extent Does Relative Maturity Affect Test Scores Between Tracked and Untracked Education Systems? Evidence From TIMSS 2019
by Qi Xuan Khoo
Abstract
Most education systems enforce a cutoff birth date for school entry, and some group students based on their perceived ability—a practice known as tracking. While the former policy leads to maturity gaps among early learners, the concomitant performance gaps may or may not be exacerbated by the latter. Analyzing the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 dataset to study how relative maturity affects test scores with tracking, this paper finds that older students outperform their younger peers. This relative maturity test score premium is accentuated by tracking, and these effects are found to be more significant in mathematics than in science.
Robert Garlick, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: I2, I24, I28
Revisiting California Proposition 209: Changes in Science Persistence Rates and Overall Graduation Rates
by Anh-Huy Nguyen
Abstract
California Proposition 209 outlawed race-based affirmative action in the University
of California (UC) system in 1998. However, the UC system subsequently shifted towards
race-blind affirmative action by also reweighing factors other than race in the
admissions process. To evaluate the hypothetical changes in the science persistence rate
and graduation rate of all applicants if racial preferences had been removed entirely, I
estimate baseline and counterfactual admissions models using data from between 1995-
1997. Using a general equilibrium framework to fix the total number of admits and
enrollees, I find that the removal of racial preferences leads to a cascade of minority
enrollees into less selective campuses and a surge of non-minority enrollees into more
selective campuses. The improved matching between students and campuses results in
higher science persistence rates and graduation rates across the pool of all applicants.
In particular, the gains are driven by minority students who were admitted under racial
preferences, because the gains from better matching across UC campuses outweigh the
losses from potentially being pushed outside the UC system. Non-minority students
who are originally rejected under racial preferences also benefit, as some are induced
into the system in the counterfactual, where they are more likely to graduate. I also
investigate claims that applicants may have strategically gamed during the admissions
process by misrepresenting their interest in the sciences in order to maximize their
admissions probability. While there exist incentives to apply in different majors across
the campuses, I find evidence that applicants often fail to game optimally, suggesting
that they may not be fully informed of their relative admissions probabilities in the
sciences and non-sciences.
Professor Peter Arcidiacono, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: I23, I28, J24, H75
Benefit Spillovers and Higher Education Financing: An Empirical Analysis of Brain Drain and State-Level Investment in Public Universities
By Chinmany G. Pandit
This paper analyzes the impact of out-migration of college graduates on state higher education investment. A three-stage least squares regression model with state and year fixed effects is developed and estimated, addressing the relationship between state legislative appropriations, tuition, and educated out-migration across 49 U.S. states from 2006-2015. The results support the notion that states respond negatively to benefit spillovers in higher education: for every one percent increase in the rate of educated out-migration, state appropriations decrease by 1.92 percent (roughly $140 per student). These findings suggest that an education subsidy
provided to states may be necessary to prevent underinvestment in higher education.
Advisor: Thomas Nechyba and Kent Kimbrough | JEL Codes: H7, H75, I22, I28, R23
The Effects of Global Oil Price on Government Investment the Nigerian Agricultural Sector
By Chuka Obiofuma
Nigeria’s heavy dependence on oil makes it a prime target for the resource curse. The occurance of this phenomenon in Nigeria could mean that there is capital flight from the agricultural sectors of the economy when the oil sector increases in profitability. This would disproportionately hurt the poor of Nigeria who depend on agriculture for their livelihood. This work investigates whether or not the Nigerian government, the largest investor into the Agricultural sector, tends to increase or decrease its investment in the agricultural sector as global oil prices rise. Using data from the years 1978-2014, the results of this paper show that as oil prices increase so too does the Nigerian government’s investment in its agricultural sector.
Advisor: Alison Hagy, Gale Boyd | JEL Codes: I28, O13, Q43 | Tagged: Agriculture, Energy, Government Policy
