Research

Working Papers

Taking a Chance on Workers: Evidence on the Effects and Mechanisms of Subsidized Employment from an RCT

with Tania Barham and Brian Cadena, May 2024, Revisions requested at the American Economic Review [Updated Draft] [IZA Discussion Paper 16221] 

The Effects of Emergency Rental Assistance During the Pandemic: Evidence from Four Cities

with Robert Collinson, Anthony A. DeFusco, John Eric Humphries, Benjamin J. Keys, David C. Phillips, Vincent Reina, and Winnie van Dijk, February 2025, Revisions requested at the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy [NBER Working Paper 32463]

Media: [J-PAL Summary]

Demographic Transition and Structural Transformation

with Tania Barham, Randall Kuhn, and Brett McCully, June 2025 [STEG Working Paper 114] 

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Financial Coaching: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial with Catholic Charities Dallas

with William Skimmyhorn, June 2025 [Preliminary Report—TIAA Insitute Research Paper Series No. 228] [AEA Registry]

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Fighting Poverty One Family at a Time: Experimental Evidence from an Intervention with Holistic, Individualized, and Wrap-Around Services

with William N. Evans, Shawna Kolka, and James X. Sullivan,  American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 17(1):311– 61, February 2025. [Publication] [AEA Replication Package][NBER Working Paper 30992]

High Schools Tailored to Adults Can Help Them Complete a Traditional Diploma and Excel in the Labor Market

with Rebecca Brough and David C. Phillips, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 16(4):34–67, November 2024. [Publication][AEA Replication Package][SSRN Working Paper] 

Media: [Notre Dame Stories][The Conversation][What Would You Fight For?—Notre Dame Halftime featured research]

• Previously distributed as "The Labor Market Return to Reversing High School Dropout"

No Place Like Home: Long-Run Impacts of Early Child Health and Family Planning on Labor and Migration Outcomes

with Tania Barham and Randall Kuhn, Journal of Human Resources, published online before print, December 2023. [Publication][Working Paper] 

Media: [VoxDev]

High-Skilled Immigration and the Labor Market: Evidence from the H-1B Visa Program

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 41(1):92–130, Winter 2022. [Publication][Pre-Publication Draft] [Crosswalks] 

Media: [JPAM's Closer Look Podcast Interview] [NPR's Marketplace]

Thirty-Five Years Later: Long-Term Effects of the Matlab Maternal and Child Health / Family Planning Program on Women's Well-Being

with Tania Barham, Brachel Champion, Andrew D. Foster, Jena D. Hamadani, Warren C. Jochem, Gisella Kagy, Randall Kuhn, Jane Menken, Abdur Razzaque, and Elisabeth Dowling Root, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(28): e2101160118, July 13, 2021. [Publication][Data and Code]

Media: [Time]

Health and Well-Being of Male International Migrants and Non-Migrants in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Follow-Up Study

with Randall Kuhn, Tania Barham, and Abdur Razzaque, PLoS Medicine 17(3): e1003081, March 2020. [Publication]

Work in Progress

Reversing the School to Prison Pipeline: The Impact of an Adult High School Program

with Emily Merola and David Phillips

Staying Connected: Experimental Effects of Weekly Text Messages in an Adult High School During the Pandemic

with Alberto Ortega and Pietro Pellerito

Testing the Impact of Guaranteed Basic Income for Low-Income Households in Rochester

with Priti Kalsi and David Phillips [AEA Registry]

Projects in the Field

"An Impact Evaluation of NPower's Tech Fundamentals Program" with Tania Barham and Brian Cadena [AEA Registry]

"An Impact Evaluation of Santa Clara County's Housing Problem Solvers Program" with Rob Collinson [AEA Registry]

"The Longer-Term Effects of an Intervention with Holistic, Individualized, Wrap-Around Services" with William N. Evans and James X. Sullivan

"An Impact Evaluation of Entrepreneurship Training for Black Women" with Robert Fairlie [AEA Registry]

"An Impact Evaluation of a Recidivism Reduction Program at the Goodwill Excel Center" with William N. Evans and Lauren Schechter [AEA Registry]

"An Impact Evaluation of Extending Supportive Services to WIOA Youth in Los Angeles" with Tania Barham and Brian Cadena [AEA Registry]

"Evaluating College Persistence Counseling in Chicago" with Lisa Barrow and Chloe Gibbs

"Seeing is Believeing? A Cognitive View of Program Take-Up" with Olga Stoddard and Jonathan Tebes [AEA Registry]

"Forming Catholic School Teacher Leaders: An Impact Evaluation of the ACE Ascent Program" with Christine Trinter [AEA Registry]