Embedded Files
Working Papers (authors listed in alphabetical order)
Working Papers (authors listed in alphabetical order)
Intervention in Networks: Evaluating Positive Youth Development Program Participation in the U.S., under review. - Job Market Paper
Abstract: This paper investigates individual decisions to participate in behavioral health interventions and provides insights into policy approaches that leverage social networks, depending on how these networks evolve in response to treatment participation. Behavioral health interventions, such as Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs, not only influence individual behaviors but also alter participants’ social network dynamics. The novelty of this work lies in capturing the interdependence between intervention participation and network dynamics, as well as identifying the role of social network dynamics in enhancing intervention efficiency. Using restricted Add Health data, my analysis underscores the importance of social influence, showing that each additional friend joining a PYD program significantly increases an individual’s likelihood of participation. This is comparable to the effect of a one-point increase in math GPA. A counterfactual analysis suggests that with targeted strategies, for every individual incentivized by a policy to join, the social influence and network changes induced by their participation will attract at least one additional participant. Failing to account for network dynamics could introduce a 25% to 47% downward bias in a policy’s predicted social multiplier effect.
School Assignment with Endogenous Capacity, work in progress.
with Thayer Morrill
Abstract: A standard assumption in the school assignment literature is that a school’s capacity is fixed and exogenous. However, in some applications, the capacity available for assignment is endogenous to the assignment itself. We detail two sources of endogeneity we encountered when designing the assignment procedure for the Wake County Public School System magnet schools. Moreover, we introduce solutions to each source of endogeneity. Our solutions also have novel theoretical implications: there is more than one strategyproof and fair assignment mechanism.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefit Expansions and Participation among Older Adults, work in progress.
with Melissa McInerney and Melinda Morrill
Abstract: Prior research has shown that households with working-age adults are quite responsive to SNAP benefit expansions yet much less is known about the determinants of SNAP participation among households with an adult over the age of 60. This is important because SNAP participation rates in older households are low and the prevalence of food insecurity in these households is rising. This study uses the 2006-2019 American Community Survey (ACS) to provide new evidence on three questions related to SNAP participation and older adults. First, the study provides descriptive evidence showing how the characteristics of SNAP households differ by age. The typical working-age household receiving SNAP has children, rents their home, and has earned income, but the typical older SNAP household is a single woman living alone who owns her home and receives Social Security. Second, the study examines whether SNAP participation rates are low because fewer households enroll (i.e., smaller numerator) or because more households become eligible with age (i.e., the denominator rises). We show that declining SNAP participation with age is driven by increases in eligibility (i.e., the denominator rising). This occurs both because the federal eligibility parameters loosen when someone in a household reaches age 60 and because income tends to fall as households age. Third, this paper leverages quasi-experimental methods to provide new causal evidence on how state eligibility expansions impact households with older adults. Although SNAP is a federal program, states can adopt eligibility expansions, called Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE), which permit them to expand generosity of the federal asset, gross income, and net income limits. Although SNAP participation for older adults does not seem to increase in response to more generous federal eligibility criteria, older households may respond to BBCE expansions because of increased awareness, eligibility, or ease of applying. We provide new evidence that BBCE responsiveness is similar among households of different ages, and that eliminating the net income limit yields large gains in SNAP participation but treatment of gross income does not seem to matter. Finally, we examine whether there are heterogeneous effects by household characteristics. We first consider differences by gross income and find that BBCE expansions affect both those who are likely already eligible and newly eligible. Along other dimensions, such as household structure, BBCE-induced expansions are experienced broadly.
Published and Forthcoming Articles (authors listed in alphabetical order)
Published and Forthcoming Articles (authors listed in alphabetical order)
Health and Retirement: Heterogeneity in the Responsiveness to Pension Incentives, accepted Economics Letters, March 24, 2024.
De Fen Hsu, Melinda Morrill, and Aditi Pathak
Page updated
Report abuse