CAM4transfo

CAM4transfo

My research group CAM4transfo: Curricula, Access, and Mobility in Times of Transformation investigates how Curricula, Access to higher education, and (regional) Mobility affect higher education participation and entry into the labor market during times of major transformational change. The group's goal is to develop a deep understanding of the interplay between the decision-making processes of young adults and the institutional framework of the higher education system and the labor market. 

CAM4transfo operates at the intersection of education and labor economics, with a strong methodological focus on computational approaches and artificial intelligence. Methodologically, we work with large-scale data from both Germany and the United Kingdom, including administrative register data as well as unstructured text data. A central project within the group involves the design and implementation of a chatbot-based field experiment aimed at improving study guidance for high school graduates. This experiment not only offers targeted support to students but also enables us to collect unique process-generated data to analyze information asymmetries and behavioral patterns at the transition from school to higher education.

In addition, accompanying courses in the Economics of Education are offered each summer term, and a dialogue is maintained with educational practitioners, policymakers, and the academic community. 

Workshops (upcoming)

July 2027: Stay tuned about an exciting workshop in July 2027!

Publications

Peer-reviewed publications:

Nothing here yet... We've just started. But there will be more to come...

Work in progress

AI and Study Choice (with Luis Rumert, Pia Schilling, and Rosa Ricarda Wolf)

Young people's post-secondary study decisions are often shaped by incomplete or inaccurate information about academic programs, skill requirements, and career prospects. These information frictions contribute to inefficient matching between students and degree programs, leading to suboptimal educational and labor market outcomes, and exacerbating shortages in specialized occupations. This paper studies whether personalized information provision can reduce such frictions. We implement a randomized intervention using a conversational AI chatbot that interacts with high school students during their decision-making process. Students are randomly assigned to receive different types of information including highly personalized content tailored to individual preferences and profiles. The chatbot collects rich conversational data, allowing us to track changes in beliefs, preferences, and application intentions.

Grants or loans? How the composition of financial aid shapes students' enrollment, residential independence, and employment (with Leonardo Puehler) [currently under review]

This paper analyzes how replacing grants with loans in need-based financial aid affects students' educational choices and related adjustment margins, including labor supply and living arrangements. We develop a theoretical framework and test its predictions using the German Mikrozensus and a quasi-experimental design exploiting a reform of the German student financial aid program. The reform replaced a mixed grant-loan-scheme with a fully loan-based regime while leaving eligibility rules and benefit levels unchanged. Following the reform, higher education enrollment and financial aid take-up declined, while participation in vocational education and training increased. These effects are consistent with debt aversion as a key mechanism, an interpretation supported by contemporaneous survey evidence on students' concerns about debt. We also find that aid recipients increased employment, consistent with efforts to offset anticipated repayment burdens, while living arrangements remained largely unaffected. Overall, the findings show that the composition of student aid shapes how students make educational and financial decisions. The results highlight the importance of the structure of aid, not only its generosity, when evaluating and designing student support policies.

Intergenerational transmission of education through the lens of financial aid (with Jessica Ordemann, Leonardo Puehler & Ulrike Schwabe)