Research

Baby Bonuses and Early-Life Health Outcomes: Using a Regression Discontinuity Approach to Evaluate the Causal Impact of an Unconditional Cash Transfer

with John Lynch, Aurelie Meunier, Rhiannon Pilkington, and Stefanie Schurer.

We estimate the effect of an unconditional cash transfer on early life health outcomes and health care utilization of children within their first year of life, using administrative data from South Australia.

You can find an archive version of this project: IZA Discussion Paper Nr 12230 .

New Evidence on the Formation of Teacher Expectations

I present new empirical evidence of teacher bias, and highlight new mechanisms through which teacher bias operates, using administrative data from the Netherlands.

A working paper will soon be available.

On the Mechanisms of Ability Peer Effects

With Nicolás Salamanca.

We study the effects of higher-achieving peers on standardized test scores and several mechanisms, in a setting where students are randomly assigned to classrooms within schools.

You can find an up-to-date version of this project: Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 19/20 (October 2020).

The Hidden Cost of Policy Uncertainty: Students Avoid College-Preparing Tracks when Financial Aid Becomes Uncertain

With Jan Kabátek.

We study the effects of policy announcements about financial aid on students' high school tracks and dropout, using administrative data from the Netherlands.

A working paper will soon be available.

Quantifying Aspirational Poverty Traps

With Nicolás Salamanca.

We propose a simple methodology to estimate the size and location in the population of aspirational poverty traps.

A working paper will soon be available.