Brian A Jacob
Biographic Data
| ID | 960278 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brian A Jacob |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brian A |
| FAMILY NAME | Jacob |
| SIGNATURE | JACOB B A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Michigan |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The Value of Student Debt Relief and the Role of Administrative Barriers: Evidence from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
We explore how much borrowers value student debt relief in the setting of the federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness program, which cancels between $5,000 and $17,500 in debt for teachers at high-need schools. Using both quasi-experimental evidence and a randomized controlled trial, we find that neither eligibility nor a targeted information intervention affects employment decisions. Information was found to increase application and receipt rates for t…
Economics of Foster Care
Foster care provides substitute living arrangements to protect maltreated children. The practice is remarkably common: it is estimated that 5 percent of children in the United States are placed in foster care at some point during childhood. This paper describes the main tradeoffs in child welfare policy and provides background on policy and practice most in need of rigorous evidence. Trends include efforts to prevent foster care on the demand sid…
The Return to Hours Worked within and across Occupations: Implications for the Gender Wage Gap
Prior research suggests that gender differences in hours worked play an important role in the gender pay gap. Yet common estimates of the wage returns to hours worked are close to zero, implying that hours differences explain little of the gender wage gap, even though men work more hours than women on average. However, while the wage returns to hours worked within occupations are small, the authors document that the wage returns to average hours …
New Evidence on Teacher Labor Supply
Recent evidence on the large variance in teacher effectiveness has spurred interest in teacher labor markets. Research documents that better qualified teachers typically work in more advantaged schools but cannot determine the relative importance of supply versus demand. To isolate teacher preferences, we document which schools prospective teachers interviewed at during job fairs in Chicago. We find substantial variation in the number of applican…
The Effects of Housing Assistance on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Voucher Lottery
This study estimates the effects of means-tested housing programs on labor supply using data from a randomized housing voucher wait-list lottery in Chicago. Economic theory is ambiguous about the expected sign of any labor supply response. We find that among working-age, able-bodied adults, housing voucher use reduces labor force participation by around 4 percentage points (6 percent) and quarterly earnings by $329 (10 percent), and increases Tem…
The impact of research grant funding on scientific productivity
Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?
Research on the relationship between teacher characteristics and teacher effectiveness has been underway for over a century, yet little progress has been made in linking teacher quality with factors observable at the time of hire. To extend this literature, we administered an in-depth survey to new math teachers in New York City and collected information on a number of nontraditional predictors of effectiveness, including teaching-specific conten…
The Short-Term and Localized Effect of Gun Shows: Evidence from California and Texas
We examine the effect of more than 3,400 gun shows using data from Gun and Knife Show Calendar and vital statistics data from California and Texas. Considering the one month following each show and a surrounding area ranging from 80 to 2,000 square miles, we find no evidence that gun shows increase either gun homicides or suicides. The similarity of our estimates for California and Texas suggests that the much tighter California gun show regulati…
Can Principals Identify Effective Teachers? Evidence on Subjective Performance Evaluation in Education
We examine how well principals can distinguish between more and less effective teachers. To put principal evaluations in context, we compare them with the traditional determinants of teacher compensation—education and experience—as well as value‐added measures of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement gains. We present “out‐of‐sample” predictions that mitigate concerns that the teacher quality and student achievement measures are dete…
The Effect of School Choice on Participants: Evidence from Randomized Lotteries
School choice has become an increasingly prominent strategy for enhancing academic achievement. To evaluate the impact on participants, we exploit randomized lotteries that determine high school admission in the Chicago Public Schools. Compared to those students who lose lotteries, students who win attend high schools that are better in a number of dimensions, including peer achievement and attainment levels. Nonetheless, we find little evidence …
The impact of school choice on student outcomes: An analysis of the Chicago Public Schools
Accountability, incentives and behavior: The impact of high-stakes testing in the Chicago Public Schools
Public Housing, Housing Vouchers, and Student Achievement: Evidence from Public Housing Demolitions in Chicago
This paper utilizes a plausibly exogenous source of variation in housing assistance generated by public housing demolitions in Chicago to examine the impact of high-rise public housing on student outcomes. I find that children in households affected by the demolitions do no better or worse than their peers on a wide variety of achievement measures. Because the majority of households that leave high-rise public housing in response to the demolitio…
Remedial Education and Student Achievement: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis
As standards and accountability have become increasingly prominent features of the educational landscape, educators have relied more on remedial programs such as summer school and grade retention to help low-achieving students meet minimum academic standards. Yet the evidence on the effectiveness of such programs is mixed, and prior research suffers from selection bias. However, recent school reform efforts in Chicago provide an opportunity to ex…
Are Idle Hands the Devil’s Workshop? Incapacitation, Concentration, and Juvenile Crime
This paper examines the short-term effect of school on juvenile crime. To do so, we bring together daily measures of criminal activity and detailed school calendar information from 29 jurisdictions across the country, and utilize the plausibly exogenous variation generated by teacher in-service days. We find that the level of property crime committed by juveniles decreases by 14 percent on days when school is in session, but the level of violent …
Where the boys aren't: Non-cognitive skills, returns to school and the gender gap in higher education
Defining Culture in a Multicultural Environment: An Ethnography of Heritage High School
The primary goal of this article is to examine how multicultural education can alter the learning environment of a school and thereby influence student relations, attitudes, and behaviors. The study generated three primary findings. (1) By creating an engaging and close-knit learning environment, activities that recognize and celebrate cultural diversity can increase motivation, effort, and school identification in minority students. (2) Despite …
New Evidence on Teacher Labor Supply
Recent evidence on the large variance in teacher effectiveness has spurred interest in teacher labor markets. Research documents that better qualified teachers typically work in more advantaged schools but cannot determine the relative importance of supply versus demand. To isolate teacher preferences, we document which schools prospective teachers interviewed at during job fairs in Chicago. We find substantial variation in the number of applican…
Defining Culture in a Multicultural Environment: An Ethnography of Heritage High School
The primary goal of this article is to examine how multicultural education can alter the learning environment of a school and thereby influence student relations, attitudes, and behaviors. The study generated three primary findings. (1) By creating an engaging and close-knit learning environment, activities that recognize and celebrate cultural diversity can increase motivation, effort, and school identification in minority students. (2) Despite …
Defining Culture in a Multicultural Environment: An Ethnography of Heritage High School
The primary goal of this article is to examine how multicultural education can alter the learning environment of a school and thereby influence student relations, attitudes, and behaviors. The study generated three primary findings. (1) By creating an engaging and close-knit learning environment, activities that recognize and celebrate cultural diversity can increase motivation, effort, and school identification in minority students. (2) Despite …
Where the boys aren't: Non-cognitive skills, returns to school and the gender gap in higher education
Are Idle Hands the Devil’s Workshop? Incapacitation, Concentration, and Juvenile Crime
This paper examines the short-term effect of school on juvenile crime. To do so, we bring together daily measures of criminal activity and detailed school calendar information from 29 jurisdictions across the country, and utilize the plausibly exogenous variation generated by teacher in-service days. We find that the level of property crime committed by juveniles decreases by 14 percent on days when school is in session, but the level of violent …
Public Housing, Housing Vouchers, and Student Achievement: Evidence from Public Housing Demolitions in Chicago
This paper utilizes a plausibly exogenous source of variation in housing assistance generated by public housing demolitions in Chicago to examine the impact of high-rise public housing on student outcomes. I find that children in households affected by the demolitions do no better or worse than their peers on a wide variety of achievement measures. Because the majority of households that leave high-rise public housing in response to the demolitio…
Remedial Education and Student Achievement: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis
As standards and accountability have become increasingly prominent features of the educational landscape, educators have relied more on remedial programs such as summer school and grade retention to help low-achieving students meet minimum academic standards. Yet the evidence on the effectiveness of such programs is mixed, and prior research suffers from selection bias. However, recent school reform efforts in Chicago provide an opportunity to ex…
The impact of school choice on student outcomes: An analysis of the Chicago Public Schools
Accountability, incentives and behavior: The impact of high-stakes testing in the Chicago Public Schools
The Effect of School Choice on Participants: Evidence from Randomized Lotteries
School choice has become an increasingly prominent strategy for enhancing academic achievement. To evaluate the impact on participants, we exploit randomized lotteries that determine high school admission in the Chicago Public Schools. Compared to those students who lose lotteries, students who win attend high schools that are better in a number of dimensions, including peer achievement and attainment levels. Nonetheless, we find little evidence …
Can Principals Identify Effective Teachers? Evidence on Subjective Performance Evaluation in Education
We examine how well principals can distinguish between more and less effective teachers. To put principal evaluations in context, we compare them with the traditional determinants of teacher compensation—education and experience—as well as value‐added measures of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement gains. We present “out‐of‐sample” predictions that mitigate concerns that the teacher quality and student achievement measures are dete…
The impact of research grant funding on scientific productivity
Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?
Research on the relationship between teacher characteristics and teacher effectiveness has been underway for over a century, yet little progress has been made in linking teacher quality with factors observable at the time of hire. To extend this literature, we administered an in-depth survey to new math teachers in New York City and collected information on a number of nontraditional predictors of effectiveness, including teaching-specific conten…
The Short-Term and Localized Effect of Gun Shows: Evidence from California and Texas
We examine the effect of more than 3,400 gun shows using data from Gun and Knife Show Calendar and vital statistics data from California and Texas. Considering the one month following each show and a surrounding area ranging from 80 to 2,000 square miles, we find no evidence that gun shows increase either gun homicides or suicides. The similarity of our estimates for California and Texas suggests that the much tighter California gun show regulati…
The Effects of Housing Assistance on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Voucher Lottery
This study estimates the effects of means-tested housing programs on labor supply using data from a randomized housing voucher wait-list lottery in Chicago. Economic theory is ambiguous about the expected sign of any labor supply response. We find that among working-age, able-bodied adults, housing voucher use reduces labor force participation by around 4 percentage points (6 percent) and quarterly earnings by $329 (10 percent), and increases Tem…
New Evidence on Teacher Labor Supply
Recent evidence on the large variance in teacher effectiveness has spurred interest in teacher labor markets. Research documents that better qualified teachers typically work in more advantaged schools but cannot determine the relative importance of supply versus demand. To isolate teacher preferences, we document which schools prospective teachers interviewed at during job fairs in Chicago. We find substantial variation in the number of applican…
Economics of Foster Care
Foster care provides substitute living arrangements to protect maltreated children. The practice is remarkably common: it is estimated that 5 percent of children in the United States are placed in foster care at some point during childhood. This paper describes the main tradeoffs in child welfare policy and provides background on policy and practice most in need of rigorous evidence. Trends include efforts to prevent foster care on the demand sid…
The Return to Hours Worked within and across Occupations: Implications for the Gender Wage Gap
Prior research suggests that gender differences in hours worked play an important role in the gender pay gap. Yet common estimates of the wage returns to hours worked are close to zero, implying that hours differences explain little of the gender wage gap, even though men work more hours than women on average. However, while the wage returns to hours worked within occupations are small, the authors document that the wage returns to average hours …
The Value of Student Debt Relief and the Role of Administrative Barriers: Evidence from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
We explore how much borrowers value student debt relief in the setting of the federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness program, which cancels between $5,000 and $17,500 in debt for teachers at high-need schools. Using both quasi-experimental evidence and a randomized controlled trial, we find that neither eligibility nor a targeted information intervention affects employment decisions. Information was found to increase application and receipt rates for t…
Economics (14 works) · Psychology (12 works) · School Choice and Performance (9 works) · Demographic economics (6 works) · Higher Education Research Studies (6 works) · Mathematics education (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Labour economics (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works)