Donor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Date: 2019

Amount: $558589

Number: 1919504

This research will use experimental methods to study the reasons parents make school choices with very little information about options available to them. The research will study the relative importance of two mechanisms through which this occurs: (i) difficulty and cost of acquiring information about school characteristics, and/or (ii) families have incorrect beliefs about the distribution of schools, believing that all schools are the same. The research will develop a theoretical model based on parent?s beliefs about school quality and how these beliefs change as they receive new information. The research will then test this theory by providing different amounts of information to parents to see how this affects their school choice decisions. The pilot study was conducted in 2017 and the first research paper is titled Search Costs, Biased Beliefs and School Choice under Endogenous Consideration Sets, coauthored with Adam Kapor, Claudia Allende and Patrick Agte.

Donor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Date: 2016

Amount: $457853

Number: 1629226

The project combines a household survey measuring the preferences, sophistication, and beliefs of potential school choice participants with administrative records of school choice and, academic outcomes to estimate a latent utility model of school choice participation. We will conduct this study in the context of the public school district in New Haven, Connecticut , which uses a centralized mechanism closely related to the “immediate acceptance” or “Boston” algorithm to administer school choice.

Donor: DIV-USAID

Date: 2015

Amount: $1498979

Number: AID-0AA-F-14-00030

Large scale impact evaluation implemented in conjunction with the government of the Dominican Republic (IDEICE) that looks to increase investment in human capital by reducing information frictions among adults and children regarding the cost, benefit and feasibility of higher education levels. A panel of in depth house hold surveys are conducted on a custom designed application measure time use, parental investments and labor supply decisions. Administrative data is used to evaluate the impact and survey data is used through the lens of a dynamic human capital accumulation model to study the mechanisms through which information on financial aid, returns to levels of education and to field of study can affect investment in human capital and labor supply.

Donor: United States Department of Labor

Date: 2015

Amount: $977690

Number: IL-26701-14-75-K-9

Large scale impact evaluation to assess how the provision of this information affects drop-out rates and parents’ and students’ perceptions and decisions. A panel of in depth house hold surveys are conducted on a custom designed application measure time use, parental investments and labor supply decisions. Administrative data is used to evaluate the impact and survey data is used through the lens of a dynamic human capital accumulation model to study the mechanisms through which information on financial aid, returns to levels of education and to field of study can affect investment in human capital and labor supply. The project is in collaboration with Peruvian Government and Innovations for Poverty Action.

Donor: Microsoft Research

Date: 2017

Amount: $20000

Number:

This projects looks to take advantage of the extensive scalable computational resources provided by cloud computing to use large administrative datasets and machine learning techniques to help inform policies that will help reduce the date: amount of students that drop out of school in developing countries.

Donor: Peruvian Government and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (BIRF)

Date: 2016

Amount: $202000

Number: 038-2016/BIRF 8212-PE

Studying the role of information asymmetries in higher education choice in the Peruvian market and how informative online platforms can help shift educational choices. Ministry of Education and Innovations for Poverty Action are leading the project.

Donor: Post Primary Initiative JPAL Global

Date: 2016

Amount: $50000

Number: 5710004043

Large scale impact evaluation implemented in conjunction with the government of the Dominican Republic (Pruebas Nacionales and IDEICE) looks to inform students of high academic performance through letters that contain information and motivational messages. Its main goal is to reduce dropout rates in developing countries. Currently working partnered with the government in the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Chile. JPAL and the government of the Dominican Republic are the leaders of this project.

Donor: Skills for Youth Program, J-PAL LAC

Date: 2018

Amount: $49479

Number: N/A

Donor: Post Primary Education Initiative, J-PAL

Date: 2018

Amount: $256893

Number: N/A

Donor: Governance Initiative, J-PAL

Date: 2018

Amount: $48990

Number: N/A

Donor: Philanthropic Fund

Date: 2018

Amount: $500000

Number: N/A

Donor: Overdeck Princeton Education Fund

Date: 2019

Amount: $85000

Number: N/A