Research

Work in Progress

The Quantity-Quality Tradeoff and the Formation of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills (2015, joint with Chinhui Juhn and Yona Rubinstein)

We estimate the impact of increases in family size on childhood outcomes using matched mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. We use the timing of sibling arrivals to estimate the effect of younger siblings on older children. We find evidence that families face a substantial quantity-quality tradeoff: increases in family size decrease childhood cognitive abilities, increase behavioral problems, and decrease parental investment. We also find evidence of heterogeneous effects by race and mother's AFQT score, with the effects being much larger for African-Americans and children of mothers with low AFQT scores. The negative effects on cognitive abilities are much larger for girls while the detrimental effects on behavior are larger for boys.

Relative Obesity and the Formation of Non-cognitive Abilities During Adolescence (joint with Elaine Liu) (2016)

We study the role relative childhood and adolescent obesity plays in the development of non-cognitive abilities. We employ a novel identification strategy: utilizing the fact that one's body size is a relative concept and that there are large variations in body sizes across MSAs. We focus on children who move between MSAs. Controlling for origin-destination state pair fixed effects, we find that becoming relatively heavier as a result of moving leads to increased behavioral problems. Overweight boys during adolescence have more externalizing problems when their relative weight increases.

The Impact of Emergency Contraception on Dating and Marriage (2015)

I study the effects of improvements in contraception on premarital sexual behavior, pregnancy, and marriage. I develop a model where individuals date before marrying in order to learn about relationship quality. While dating, individuals face the risk of pregnancy or contracting a sexually-transmitted infection (STI). The model predicts that contraceptive improvements increase the number of sexual partners, increase sexual acts, increase STI rates, and, under certain conditions, delay marriages and lower single motherhood rates. I use changes in states' over-the-counter (OTC) sales policies for emergency contraception as a natural experiment in varying access to contraceptive technology. Using multiple sources of data on birth rates, STIs, marriages, and sexual activity, I confirm the predictions of the model and find that OTC policies have a significant impact on sexual behavior and relationships.

The Pill and Marital Stability (2014)

Better contraception will have competing impacts on marital stability and divorce rates. Preexisting marriages are likely to become less stable as better contraception raises the value of reentering the dating market. Subsequent marriages are likely to be more stable as couples delay marriages and use better contraception to search for better partners. I investigate this hypothesis using variation in access to the birth control pill by state and cohort as developed by Goldin and Katz (2002) and others. Access to the pill decreased stability of preexisting marriages and increased stability of subsequent marriages.

Parental Beliefs about Children's Abilities and Intrahousehold Investment (2013)

I estimate how new information about children's cognitive abilities leads parents to adjust investment within and across children. I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth matched mother-child data to construct measures of both child cognitive ability and parental investment during childhood. I find that parents respond to improvements in a child's cognitive abilities by devoting more resources towards that child. I find that positive information about one child leads to compensating investments in other children, evidence that parents have a concern for equity within the household.

Spare the Rod? What the Changing Nature of Selection Can Tell Us About the Causal Effect of Spanking (2013)

Over the past 30 years the probability that a mother spanks her child has substantially declined. Over the same time the negative correlation between spanking and outcomes has significantly worsened. I show that the decline in spanking is driven through changes in social stigmas surrounding corporal punishment. Changes in the correlation between spanking and outcomes over time can therefore be used to estimate a causal treatment effect of spanking for households who changed their behavior due to the increasingly negative stigma. I estimate this treatment effect to be significant and generally positive: spanking improves childhood test scores, educational attainment, and labor market outcomes. However, spanking has a negative impact on childhood behavioral problems and non-cognitive measures.

Parental Relocations and Child Development

Vacancy Chains and Inefficiency: The Case of Academic Turnover (joint with Ezra Oberfield)

Marrying Up or Marrying Down: The Rise of Women's Education and Interracial Marriages in the U.S. (2012, joint with Jee-Yeon Lehmann)

Labeling Health: Does "Obese" Mean Anything? (2010)

New Evidence on Immigration and Native Wages (2008)