"Relative School Starting Age and Educational Inequality."
This study investigates how school starting age (SSA) affects educational outcomes by disentangling the impact of relative and absolute SSA. I use a natural experiment in Switzerland where cutoff dates vary across time and regions and analyze data from 2012-2023. Being younger relative to classmates increases the likelihood of special needs placement and grade retention in early elementary school. These effects are driven by relative, not absolute, SSA and persist for up to eight years, influencing secondary school track placement. Children of less educated parents are more affected, suggesting SSA policies may reinforce educational inequality.
"Locked-in vs. Locked-out: Detracked Classes, Individualized Curricula, and Educational Inequality"
I use a difference-in-differences design to evaluate a reform in one Swiss canton that detracked classes while allowing students to follow more individualized curricula, without altering financial resources, student grading, or teacher quality and quantity. Using register data from 2012–2022, I find that the reform increased the weekly hours that students with non-tertiary educated parents and non-native speakers spent in classrooms with socio-economically more advantaged peers. The reform also raised the likelihood of students being assigned to further academic education, with effects concentrated among socio-economically less advantaged students. This suggests that similar reforms can reduce educational inequality.
"Do exchange rate shocks affect mental health?"
joint work with Lukas Kauer and Lukas Schmid.
This paper explores whether an exchange rate shock affects mental health in an open economy. We study the sudden, substantial, and persistent appreciation of the Swiss Franc in 2015 and argue that the shock impacted individuals both as workers---by deteriorating labor market conditions---and as consumers---by lowering prices. Using individual-level panel data from the largest Swiss health insurer, we compare psychotherapist visits and psychotherapeutic drug prescriptions between individuals more and less exposed to the shock. We find that the currency shock increased the likelihood of a psychotherapist visit but had no impact on psychotherapeutic drug prescriptions.