James S. Schlaffer PhD

Expected Graduation Date: Summer 2016

RESEARCH FIELDS:

Public Economics, Education Economics, Applied Microeconomics

RESEARCH PAPERS

“Financing Public Education Facilities: The Role of Elderly Populations and Geographic Mobility.”

(Job Market Paper, accepted at Social Science Quarterly)

The elderly population in the U.S. is becoming an increasingly important component of the electorate. Previous research has produced ambiguous results concerning how these demographic shifts could affect education spending. We argue the motivations of the elderly are not uniform, and discuss the role of elderly mobility in this environment. The study examines California school bonds to see how the age distribution of voters, along with their recent mobility affects the probability of passage. By accounting for the percentage of the elderly population that recently moved into the school district, the study provides a novel investigation of how elderly populations with low levels of community connection influence school funding. The effect of recent elderly movers on the likelihood of bond passage is found to be negative, whereas no evidence is found to support the general “gray peril” that older households resist educational funding.

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

“New School Openings and Performance in Existing Schools”

The paper employs a massive micro data set of Texas students’ test scores for 3^rd to 8^th grades. A regression discontinuity design is employed evaluating school bond results for bonds specified for the construction of school buildings. A difference in difference design is also performed for students’ test results in already existing school when a new school is opened.

“Teacher Mobility and New School Opening: A Distance Weighted Quasi-Experimental Analysis”

The paper employs historical teacher experience and location data in Texas to examine how the opening of a new school affects the probability that a teacher will change school locations. The distance of existing schools to the newly opened school offers a method of weighting the force that a new school exerts on a teacher to change locations to better quantify the effect.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Oklahoma:

Principles of Microeconomics (Instructor): 3 semesters (2014-2015)

Principles of Microeconomics (Teaching Assistant): 6 semesters (2011-2014)

Principles of Macroeconomics (Instructor): 1 semester (2015)

University of North Texas:

Principles of Microeconomics (Instructor): 2 semesters (2006-2007)

SCHOLARSHIPS, HONORS AND AWARDS

Dissertation Fellowship, University of Oklahoma Graduate College (2015 – 2016)

Robberson Research and Travel Grant (2015)

Scholar’s Strategy Network Research Fellowship (2014 – 2015)

Chong Liew Outstanding Graduate Student Award (2012)

Graduate Teaching Fellow (2011)