Publications
Short-Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Child Health, with Jessamyn Schaller.
[Accepted at American Journal of Health Economics, a previous version circulated as NBER Working Paper No. 21745]
[Accepted at American Journal of Health Economics, a previous version circulated as NBER Working Paper No. 21745]
Working Papers
Preschool Attendance and Child Health and Development: Evidence from State Pre-K Programs
Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of attending state pre-kindergarten programs on child health and development up to eight years after preschool age. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, the Current Population Survey, state legislature and other sources, I implement reduced-form and two-sample two-stage least squares regression models that exploit the variation in the timing of the implementation of pre-K programs across states. The reduced-form results indicate that boys who live in states that had pre-K programs when they were 4 years old are less likely to receive special education services in the following four years, and their developmental outcomes are improved five to eight years after preschool age. I also find that boys and girls in states with pre-K programs have increased health problems in the first four years after preschool age. In the instrumental variables analysis, my first-stage estimates indicate that the implementation of pre-K programs increases preschool enrollment rates by close to 8 percentage points. When I use this result to estimate the size of treatment-on-the-treated effects of preschool attendance on child outcomes, using pre-K programs as an instrument, the results imply large effects on both developmental and health outcomes.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of attending state pre-kindergarten programs on child health and development up to eight years after preschool age. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, the Current Population Survey, state legislature and other sources, I implement reduced-form and two-sample two-stage least squares regression models that exploit the variation in the timing of the implementation of pre-K programs across states. The reduced-form results indicate that boys who live in states that had pre-K programs when they were 4 years old are less likely to receive special education services in the following four years, and their developmental outcomes are improved five to eight years after preschool age. I also find that boys and girls in states with pre-K programs have increased health problems in the first four years after preschool age. In the instrumental variables analysis, my first-stage estimates indicate that the implementation of pre-K programs increases preschool enrollment rates by close to 8 percentage points. When I use this result to estimate the size of treatment-on-the-treated effects of preschool attendance on child outcomes, using pre-K programs as an instrument, the results imply large effects on both developmental and health outcomes.
Work in Progress
Children's health insurance coverage and health expenses after parental job loss: Are families landing in or falling through the safety net? With Chloe East, Elira Kuka, and Jessamyn Schaller.
Social Assistance and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Uruguayan PANES. With Marco Manacorda and Andrea Vigorito.
Family Income and Human Capital Investments