Is It Costly to Transition from Fossil Fuel Energy: A Trade-Off Analysis (with Faraz Farhidi). Energies, 15(21), 7873. 2022.
Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the trade-off between using cheaper and contaminated energy versus cleaner and more expensive energy and ultimately assess their combined effect on social externalities. We estimate the impact of air pollution and income level—mechanisms of energy consumption—on violent crimes and mortality rates. We propose an integrated causal analysis to address an endogeneity concern caused by the energy selection process by employing a difference-in-differences method (DiD) for the mechanism approach using policy changes. We explore the energy variations in neighboring counties caused by the implementation of green act policies to measure violent crimes and mortality rates using air pollution and income as the mechanisms. The results reveal that reducing fossil fuel by one terawatt hour can save 23 lives. Further, lowering nonrenewable energy use reduces 53 rapes yearly by lowering the maximum temperature, whereas decreasing fossil fuel does not negatively impact production and income. Thus, replacing fossil fuel energy with nuclear power is the most effective approach to reduce environmental and social damages caused by energy use.
Achieve Atlanta’s Impact on College Students: A Mixed Methods Approach (with Carycruz M. Bueno, Myla Cash-Williams, Daivon Jarrell, Lindsay C. Page, Jonathan Smith, and Amy Stich). Georgia Policy Labs Policy Brief. October 2024.
Abstract: Achieve Atlanta helps Atlanta Public Schools students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. It does so by providing students from low-income backgrounds with college advising and coaching supports, and a need-based scholarship of $5,000 per year for those pursuing a bachelor’s degree and $1,500 per year for those pursuing an associate or technical degree. We use a mixed-method approach to study how the Achieve Atlanta Scholarship and associated services impact students’ loan-taking in college and academic performance and progression. We find that Achieve Atlanta Scholars take out fewer loans than non-Scholars and by doing so, they are less stressed about other college-related and living expenses, which all translates into academic success.
Effect of TSA’s College Bound Initiative FAFSA Events on FAFSA Completion (with Monica Mogollon Plazas, and Thomas Goldring). Georgia Policy Labs Policy Brief. June 2023.
Abstract: In this report, we evaluate the impact of TSA’s FAFSA initiative events in four metro-Atlanta high schools during the 2021–22 school year (SY). We focus on whether the events caused FAFSA completion rates to rise for participating high schools. Previous evidence on financial aid support suggests that informational interventions alone have limited impacts, while interventions that provide application support show more promising results.3 Based on descriptive results and the use of a more rigorous synthetic control method, we find that TSA’s FAFSA events had a positive effect on the cumulative average FAFSA completion rate of about 4.5 percentage points, although we cannot statistically rule out no effect.
The Role of Charter Schools in Supporting English Learners
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of charter schools on English Learners (EL). Using administrative data from a suburban school district in a southeastern state, our variables of interest include test scores, EL status. Thanks to this rich dataset, we can analyze how the charter school effect varies for different groups of EL students. We can measure the charter schools’ impact on test scores both in the short run and long run. First, we estimate the effect of attending any charter schools for EL students compared to non-EL students using the ordinary least squares (OLS) method. Second, we are working on getting lottery enrollment data from an elementary charter school that focuses on EL students to investigate the short-run and long-run impacts of this inclusive charter school. We will exploit the weighted lottery enrollment to compare EL students who “won” to those who sought admission but did not “win”.
Does the Age at Arrival Affect Postsecondary Education Outcomes of Refugee Children?
Abstract: This paper explores how the age at arrival influences postsecondary education attainment for refugee children in the United States. Postsecondary education is crucial for economic stability and social mobility, but foreign-born individuals, particularly refugees, may face additional barriers to education such as language acquisition, and education gaps. Using data from the American Community Survey and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, this paper exploits the variation in arrival age and per-refugee funding to investigate the impact of arriving at an older age and how that changes based on funding. By utilizing a fixed effects model, this paper compares refugee children who arrived from the same country of origin in the same year of immigration and living in the same state, and, thus, only differing in arrival age. Findings suggest that refugee children who arrived in the United States at an older age are less likely to attend postsecondary education and obtain a bachelor’s or higher degree.
How do place-based scholarships affect student outcomes? Lessons from Atlanta (with Carycruz Bueno, Lindsay Page, and Jonathan Smith)
Abstract: Previous research shows that Atlanta’s placed-based scholarship and associated services meaningfully improve college persistence and completion (Bueno, Page and Smith; forthcoming). In this follow up study, we examine whether scholarship recipients change their portfolio of student loans, along with course-taking and performance. By doing so, not only do we learn about the impacts of the scholarship on several new and important outcomes, but we also better understand the mechanisms driving college persistence.
Using administrative data from an urban school district and the public higher education institutions in Georgia, we observe detailed financial outcomes such as the amount and type of loans as well as course-taking information such as the number of credit hours attempted and earned at the individual level, which allow us to analyze how the scholarship affects loan-taking at the extensive and intensive margins. We employ a regression analysis to compare high school graduates from an urban school district who received the scholarship to those who did not but shared similar observable characteristics. To validate our approach, we explore alternative explanations and systematically rule out common sources of bias from OLS, such as scholarship take-up and college attended. We find that students who receive the scholarship reduce loan amount, shift to more favorable loans, earn more credit hours, and attain higher GPA. Additionally, we find that the reduction in loan amount is driven by students taking lower than the full amount of loans offered, and we do not observe the place-based scholarship crowding out other grants or scholarships.
Assessing the EPIC Program on Freshman Learning (with Brennan Collins, Kathryn Crowther, Robert Hendrick)
Abstract: High-Impact Practices (HIPs) and Student Success have gained prominence in higher education over the past decade, sharing some overlapping goals, but often having very different methods and measures. Georgia State University (GSU), one of the largest and most diverse universities in the country, is nationally known for improving student success measures for historically underserved students. The Experiential, Project-based, Interdisciplinary Curriculum (EPIC) program connects faculty-development efforts around HIPs to some of the well-established student success measures at GSU to create a sustainable model of developing, implementing, and assessing classroom practices to build off GSU’s student success accomplishments. In particular, our program worked with the Student Success office to schedule EPIC FLCs, that were deliberately built to concentrate HIPs in the incoming freshman semester. EPIC provides GSU students with opportunities to develop foundational skills to help them become adaptable problem-solvers, overcoming the academic challenges they face in their studies and creating solutions to the issues they will tackle as they graduate into their professions and lives.
Research Practice Partnerships . . . It Takes a Village: Enhancing the Benefits of an RPP Through Multiple Research Methods and Multiple Voices. American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. April 2025.
How do place-based scholarships affect student outcomes? Lessons from Atlanta. Association for Education Finance & Policy (AEFP) Annual Conference. March 2025.
Refugee Education Integration Patterns. Southern Economics Association Conference. November 2024.
The Role of Charter Schools in Supporting English Learners and Immigrant Populations. Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference. November 2024.
Assessing How Atlanta’s Place-Based Scholarship Improves College Outcomes. Saturday Poster Luncheon at APPAM Fall Research Conference. November 2024.
Connecting High-Impact Practices and Student Success Measures (with Brennan Collins, Robert Hendrick, and Mike Metzler). The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Commons Conference. February 2022.
Abstract: High-impact Practices (HIPs) and Student Success are expanding in influence and have vaguely similar goals, but often have very different methods and measures. Georgia State University (GSU) has become a national model for student success measures, but these are generally based outside of classroom instruction. By connecting to some of these deeply embedded measures at GSU, and other well-established and documented practices, the Experiential, Project-based, Interdisciplinary Curriculum program at GSU is creating a sustainable model of developing, assessing, and implementing classroom-based HIPs to build off GSU’s student success accomplishments. Initial assessment data has shown significant gains.
Why Do We Still Use Fossil-Fuel Energy: A Trade-off Analysis (with Dr. Faraz Farhidi). Association of Environmental and Resource Economists @ Eastern Economics Association (EEA) Annual Conference. February 2021.
Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the trade-off between using cheaper and contaminated energy versus cleaner and more expensive energy and ultimately assess their combined effect on social externalities. We estimate the impact of air pollution and income level—mechanisms of energy consumption—on violent crimes and mortality rates. We propose an integrated causal analysis to address an endogeneity concern caused by the energy selection process by employing a difference-in-differences method (DiD) for the mechanism approach using policy changes. We explore the energy variations in neighboring counties caused by the implementation of green act policies to measure violent crimes and mortality rates using air pollution and income as the mechanisms. The results reveal that reducing fossil fuel by one terawatt hour can save 23 lives. Further, lowering nonrenewable energy use reduces 53 rapes yearly by lowering the maximum temperature, whereas decreasing fossil fuel does not negatively impact production and income. Thus, replacing fossil fuel energy with nuclear power is the most effective approach to reduce environmental and social damages caused by energy use.
Competing for Resources and Meeting Demands: How Non-profits in Georgia Suburbs Fare Against Those in the Urban Center (with Dr. Amanda Wilsker, and Michelle Wiggle). Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Annual Conference. November 2015.
Abstract: In attempting to integrate economics with nonprofit studies, scholars define “markets.” Rarely do we study the dynamics within the market. Based on conversations with local nonprofit leaders, we learned that select nonprofit industries in the suburbs feel in direct competition with organizations in the urban center for revenue streams. We begin to explore the basis for this feeling, and using Georgia as a case study, analyze the distribution of resources per person in need between urban centers and the suburbs. Our findings are currently descriptive but provide a basis for continued research, theoretical advancements, and policy implications.