Job Market Paper
Effort Choices and Funding Instruments in Higher Education, joint with Juan Pal ([Working Paper])
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This paper examines the effects of Free College policies on student enrollment and academic performance, with a focus on the 2016 Chilean reform that granted tuition-free higher education to students from the lowest five income deciles. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that Free College increased enrollment and persistence in higher education but had modest effects on graduation and dropout rates. To disentangle the role of student effort from selection effects, we develop a structural model in which students choose effort levels in response to financial incentives. Our results highlight that Free College expanded access, in particular for low-achieving students. Despite the removal of academic progress requirements, we found no evidence of weakening performance.Working Papers
Differences in returns to vocational and general education: evidence from a differentiated schooling system, joint with François Poinas
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Returns to education literature has focused on the choice of major and years of schooling, but vocational education tracks have attracted less attention. In this paper, we study how the type of post-secondary education (general vs. vocational) affects occupational choices and wages in Germany. To do so, we develop a dynamic model of education and occupation choices, accounting for unobserved multidimensional ability. We find that after controlling for sorting of individuals with high cognitive ability in general tracks, non-cognitive ability can explain heterogeneity in wages.Work in Progress
General Equilibrium Effects of Large-Scale Education Expansions, joint with Matteo Bobba, Olivier De Groote, Ana Gazmuri and Juan Pal
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While small-scale educational interventions provide valuable insights into effective investments, large-scale education programs may generate substantial general equilibrium (GE) effects that alter their ultimate impact on welfare and inequality. This paper analyzes the consequences of a large-scale college enrollment expansion in Chile, explicitly accounting for GE effects in both education and labor markets, to understand how firms adjust their demand for skill-biased labor in response to increased college graduate supply. The model enables us to decompose observed wage changes into individual returns to education and GE effects, revealing how firm responses shape education decisions and ultimately affect the distribution of earnings. By incorporating both household education choices and firm production decisions, this framework provides a comprehensive assessment of how large-scale education expansions affect welfare and distributional outcomes.Co-Residence, Housing and Labour Market Decisions
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Other
- Non peer-reviewed articles.