"In a Hurry to Graduate? Compressed Schooling and Degree Completion" (submitted to Economic Analysis & Policy)
Using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel, this paper studies a reform that compressed instructional time by reducing the academic track by one year. Difference-in-difference estimates show that this compressed education reduced the age of graduation by 0.65 years. It also increased the share of students who ultimately graduate by 5.4 percentage points. These advantages must, however, be weighed against a large increase in late graduation, which rose by 19.3 percentage points. Late graduation requires repeating one or more years, with an associated increase in education expenditure.
"Fast-Tracked to the Labor Market: Wage Impacts of Compressed Schooling" (under review at Education Economics)
Beginning in 2001, German states reduced years of high school education by one year while retaining the same total hours of instruction. Using a quasi-experimental design, I find sizable wage penalties at labor-market entry, on the order of 10–20% for monthly earnings and somewhat smaller for hourly earnings, ruling out labor supply as the primary channel. Estimates are robust to alternative specifications and a range of sample restrictions. The penalty is concentrated among younger workers and narrows with age, closing by roughly age 30, suggesting a transitory entry penalty rather than a permanent loss in human capital. This suggests that greater instructional intensity does not fully substitute for an additional year of schooling.
"Educational Attainment: The Role of Personality, Cognition, and Childhood SES" (under review at the Journal of Economic Studies)
Using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel, this paper examines how cognitive ability, noncognitive skills, and childhood socioeconomic status relate to educational attainment. I present two main sets of results. First, differences in fluid intelligence translate more strongly into educational attainment among individuals from less educated families. Second, differences in noncognitive skills—particularly locus of control and openness to experience—are more strongly associated with educational attainment among individuals from highly educated families. These robust descriptive findings highlight an important interaction between family background and individual traits in the formation of human capital.
"The Wage Implications and Sex Differences of Educational Mismatch: A Cross-Country Comparison between Germany and the U.S." (with Dr. Benjamin Adams)