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I am a PhD student in economics at Aalto University and Helsinki GSE.
I spent the academic year 2024-2025 visiting the London School of Economics and specifically the Centre for Economic Performance. During the spring of 2024, I visited the Department of Economics at Uppsala University.
I will be on the academic job market in 2026/2027.
My research focuses on topics in the economics of education and crime, with a current emphasis on children. I am particularly interested in why some groups on average have worse outcomes in life and how that gap can be reduced.
You can find my CV here.
Email: ellen.sahlstrom@aalto.fi
Job market paper:
Treated and beyond: Effects of providing long-term support to disadvantaged boys
Draft coming soon!
Abstract: This paper evaluates the effects of a program providing up to twelve years of almost daily support to boys from severely disadvantaged families. To address the full impact of the program -- both on program participants and their peers -- I estimate effects on all same-aged individuals in the targeted area. I find a two-percentage-point (18 percent) decrease in youth crime rates in areas where the program was provided. At least two thirds of this overall decrease is driven by spillover effects on non-participating children. Estimated effects on educational attainment are less precise, but the point estimates are consistently positive. Overall, my findings highlight the widespread potential of preventive support and the importance of taking spillovers into account when evaluating policies.
Working papers and work in progress:
The extent and consequences of teacher biases against immigrants (with Mikko Silliman, submitted)
Working paper available: Helsinki GSE, IZA, CESifo, Annenberg Institute 4/2024. Updated version (7/2026) available upon request.
in media: Helsingin Sanomat, Yle (in Finnish, Swedish, Russian)
Building a Shared Reality: Social Cohesion in Diverse Classrooms (with Michela Carlana, Matti Sarvimäki, Mikko Silliman, and Marco Tabellini)
Draft coming soon!
Preferences and educational choices of the youth (with Daniel Carvajal, Tushar Kundu, Matti Sarvimäki, and Mikko Silliman)
Data collection in progress
Well-being in school and academic achievement (with Daniel Carvajal, Tushar Kundu, Matti Sarvimäki, and Mikko Silliman)
Data collection in progress
Policy and other writing:
Pienituloisten perheiden lapset joutuvat kiusatuksi muita useammin (with Matti Sarvimäki, Mikko Silliman, and Niina Nurkka)
FINEEC report (in Finnish), Shorter summary (in Swedish) 10/2024.
in media: Helsingin Sanomat, Yle, MTV Uutiset
Selective Friendship? A Study of Immigrant Segregation within Finnish Classrooms (2022, Master's thesis)
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