Senior Lecturer of Economics, University of Hong Kong
Visiting Scholar, Hoover Institution
Teaching: klopfer at hku dot hk
Research: john klopfer at gmail dot com
I am on the 2026-27 job market.
Senior Lecturer of Economics, University of Hong Kong
Visiting Scholar, Hoover Institution
Teaching: klopfer at hku dot hk
Research: john klopfer at gmail dot com
I am on the 2026-27 job market.
"Opportunity When Parents Matter" with Corbin Miller
[Draft 10/26] [Presentations: MEA-SOLE 2026, AEW 2026, HKU Labor 2026, HKEA 2026, WUSTL, OSU, NTA 2026, ES Australasia 2026, ES EWM 2026, AASLE 2026, AEA 2027]
[Status: Revising for resubmission]
"Fair Inequality" with Lieke Beekers, Sam Bowles, Wendy Carlin, Max Greenberg, Isabel Martinez (coordinating team); Tom Hertz, Corbin Miller, Owen Thompson (US team); and 32 coauthors on other country teams
[Abstract 10/26; email for most recent draft - pending release] [Presentations: *UCL, *UChicago, *UMass Amherst, *UCI, *EPE 2026, *IEA 2026, *IIPF 2026, *Atkinson Conference 2026, *HKU, *SNU, *NTU (Taipei), *University of Indonesia, *Workshop on Wealth Inequality 2026, *AASLE 2026, *University of Konstanz, *AEA 2027]
[Status: Preparing for submission]
"Labor Supply, Learning Time, and The Efficiency of School Spending: Evidence from School Finance Reforms"
[Draft 9/25] [Presentations: NTA 2017, APPAM 2017, MPRC 2018, AEFP 2019, SOLE/EALE/AASLE 2025, ISI Delhi 2025, ES AfM 2026]
[Status: Revising for resubmission]
"Using SSNs to Identify Immigration, Selection, and Censoring in Administrative Data" with Corbin Miller
[Draft 11/24] [Presentations: NTA 2024]
[Status: Revising for resubmission]
"Information and Wage Inequality in Labor Markets" with Maria Zumbuehl
[Draft 5/17] [Slides 11/18] [Presentations: NTA 2018]
"Does School Spending Pay for Itself? Long-Run Effects on Personal Income and Tax Revenue" with Corbin Miller
[Abstract 10/26] [Presentations: OTA 2022, AEFP 2022, AEA 2023, AEFP 2023, NTA 2023, NTA 2024, MEA-SOLE 2026]
"Learning Time and Achievement: Evidence from a Nationwide Natural Experiment"
[Abstract 11/19] [Slides 6/21] [Presentations: NCES 2019, APPAM 2019, AEA 2020, HKEMW 2021]
"Immigration in Tax Data" with Amy Kim, Corbin Miller, Richard Patterson, and Uta Schoenberg
[Status: IRS JSRP data access proposal submitted; data extracts and preliminary analysis complete]
"School Finance in Tax Data" with Joshua Hyman, Corbin Miller
[Status: IRS JSRP data access proposal submitted; data extracts complete]
"Youth Interventions in Tax Data" with Monica Bhatt, Ashley Craig, Jonathan Davis, Jonathan Guryan, Sara Heller, Max Kapustin, Corbin Miller, and Harold Pollack
[Status: IRS JSRP data access proposal submitted]
Other projects on school finance, education, immigration, inequality, and intergenerational mobility. Details by request.
*presented by coauthor
2026: Internal Research Grant, HKU Stone Centre on Socio-Economic Inequality in Asia (HKD 100,000) with Ming-Jen Lin and Jungmin Lee
2025: ESG Research Grant, HKU Jockey Club Enterprise Sustainability Research Center (HKD 174,000) with Uta Schoenberg
2022: General Research Fund, University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (HKD 633,088)
2021: Seed Fund, University of Hong Kong (HKD 60,660)
2020: Seed Fund, University of Hong Kong (HKD 300,000)
Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education
National Assessment of Educational Progress
Schools and Staffing Survey
National Household Education Survey
Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies
Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
Panel Study of Income Dynamics
Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Cohort