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W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

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Articles 1 - 30 of 93

Full-Text Articles in Education Economics

Eliciting Information About Teacher Applicants Using Open-Ended Questions, Joseph Aguilar-Bohorquez, Dan Goldhaber, Cyrus Grout, Elton Mykerezi, Prayash Pathak, Aaron Sojourner Sep 2026

Eliciting Information About Teacher Applicants Using Open-Ended Questions, Joseph Aguilar-Bohorquez, Dan Goldhaber, Cyrus Grout, Elton Mykerezi, Prayash Pathak, Aaron Sojourner

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Employers commonly use open-ended questions in hiring, but usually responses aren’t recorded, and knowledge about the usefulness of such responses is limited. This study investigates properties of written responses to open-ended questions collected over many years via an application tracking platform that school districts use to hire teachers. We develop a scalable process to discover topics within the corpus of responses to each question and then to classify each response with respect to the topics while preserving interpretability and transparency. It adapts a traditional qualitative topic modeling approach, Inductive Thematic Analysis, to best combine the strengths of researcher judgment and …


The Columbus Promise: Three-Year Pilot Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney Sep 2026

The Columbus Promise: Three-Year Pilot Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney

Reports

The Columbus Promise is a place-based, tuition-free college program designed to expand postsecondary access and economic mobility for graduates of Columbus City Schools. Launched with the high school class of 2022, the three-year pilot provides tuition support at Columbus State Community College (CSCC), a $500-per-semester stipend, and dedicated coaching and academic services. This evaluation, conducted by the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, examines outcomes for all three cohorts (2022, 2023, and 2024), using administrative data, a comparison group of Columbus City Schools graduates from 2017–2021, regression-adjusted estimates of academic outcomes, and a synthetic difference-in-differences analysis of overall college enrollment. Findings …


20 Years Of The Kalamazoo Promise: A Visual Guide To Selected Highlights, Kathleen Bolter Aug 2026

20 Years Of The Kalamazoo Promise: A Visual Guide To Selected Highlights, Kathleen Bolter

Reports

No abstract provided.


Do Universities Underpay Professors? Yes, Especially Women, Zhanhan Yu, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes Jul 2026

Do Universities Underpay Professors? Yes, Especially Women, Zhanhan Yu, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


Close To Home? Five Key Facts About Child Care Customer And Worker Commutes, Gabrielle Pepin, Jonathan Borowsky, Elizabeth E. Davis, Aaron Sojourner Jun 2026

Close To Home? Five Key Facts About Child Care Customer And Worker Commutes, Gabrielle Pepin, Jonathan Borowsky, Elizabeth E. Davis, Aaron Sojourner

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Parents often cite location and convenience as important factors in choosing a child care provider. We use data on individual mobility from GPS in cell phones to study commutes to each licensed early childhood care and education (ECE) provider in 14 states separately for center customers, center workers, and customers of home-based child care providers. We document five key facts about ECE customer and worker commutes. One, center customers and workers commute farther than home-based customers to ECE providers. Two, substantial shares of customers and workers commute 10+ miles to their ECE provider. Three, commute distances to ECE providers vary …


Bearcat Advantage: Year Two Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman, Bridget Timmeney, Kevin Hollenbeck Jun 2026

Bearcat Advantage: Year Two Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman, Bridget Timmeney, Kevin Hollenbeck

Reports

No abstract provided.


Do Universities Underpay Professors? Yes, Especially Women, Zhanhan Yu, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes May 2026

Do Universities Underpay Professors? Yes, Especially Women, Zhanhan Yu, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.


Solving Affordability Challenges In Education, Housing And Childcare, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams, Brian J. Asquith, Chloe R. Gibbs May 2026

Solving Affordability Challenges In Education, Housing And Childcare, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams, Brian J. Asquith, Chloe R. Gibbs

Presentations

These three presentations emphasize that affordability challenges across education, housing, and childcare stem from structural market and policy frictions, and that effective solutions require coordinated public investment, simplified systems, and attention to both supply and demand. The first presentation argues that while college tuition growth has slowed and aid has increased, affordability challenges persist due to complexity, misperceptions, and uneven costs, and it advocates for simple tuition-free programs combined with investments in advising, streamlined pathways, and stronger school-to-work connections. The second presentation highlights a growing housing affordability crisis in the Rust Belt driven by aging housing stock and limited supply, …


Monopsony In Academia And The Gender Pay Gap: Evidence From California, Zhanhan Yu, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes Apr 2026

Monopsony In Academia And The Gender Pay Gap: Evidence From California, Zhanhan Yu, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We investigate monopsony power in a highly skilled labor market made up of tenure-ranked faculty in the University of California system, and analyze differential monopsony power exposure by gender. We infer the campus-level labor supply elasticity by estimating the elasticity of separations utilizing individual-level faculty data and two instruments based on campus revenues and salary scales. We find that the “exploitation rate,” a common measure of monopsony power, is about 7% for tenure-ranked faculty. There is a statistically significant difference in the monopsony power experienced by male and female faculty that appears to account for a relatively small percentage of …


Flex, Pivot, Sustain: Adaptive Design Of Promise Programs, Michelle Miller-Adams, Jennifer Iriti Mar 2026

Flex, Pivot, Sustain: Adaptive Design Of Promise Programs, Michelle Miller-Adams, Jennifer Iriti

Reports

The design of a Promise program or place-based college scholarship requires community partners to make three key decisions: 1) Which students are eligible, 2) Where can students use the scholarship?, and 3) How should the scholarship be structured? Changes in available funding may affect all three decisions. This practice brief, developed in conjunction with the Kresge Foundation, lays out key principles for redesigning Promise programs when available funding changes, providing three case study examples to illustrate how program officials navigated redesign choices.


More Hours, More Work: Head Start Expansions Boost Maternal Employment, Chloe R. Gibbs, Esra Kose, Maria Rosales Rueda Feb 2026

More Hours, More Work: Head Start Expansions Boost Maternal Employment, Chloe R. Gibbs, Esra Kose, Maria Rosales Rueda

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Women’s employment remains highly sensitive to childcare constraints, making childcare availability a critical lever for supporting mothers’ labor force attachment. We study the effects of expanded full-day programming in Head Start, using the 2016 federal funding initiative that targeted grantees with low full-day enrollment. Linking administrative program data, geo-coded center locations, and household data on employment, we estimate a difference-in-differences design by comparing mothers of young children in treated and untreated areas. The policy increased full-day enrollment by 19 percent and raised single mothers’ employment (1.9%), hours (2.5%), and earnings (6.5%). Results show that extending program duration meaningfully improves maternal …


Human Capital And Labor Market Effects Of Elite Schooling In England, Scotland, And Wales: New Causal Evidence From Nonparametric Bounds, Zhanhan Yu, Vikesh Amin, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Giuseppe Germinario Feb 2026

Human Capital And Labor Market Effects Of Elite Schooling In England, Scotland, And Wales: New Causal Evidence From Nonparametric Bounds, Zhanhan Yu, Vikesh Amin, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Giuseppe Germinario

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We estimate the causal effect of attending elite schools in England, Scotland, and Wales on human capital and labor market outcomes for cohorts of children from the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. For identification, we employ a nonparametric partial-identification approach that provides bounds on the causal effect by assuming that, on average, there is positive selection into elite school attendance, and that attending an elite school does not worsen average potential human capital or labor market outcomes. The bounds indicate that there could possibly be large education and labor market returns from attending an …


Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs Feb 2026

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among …


Does Investing In Schools Reduce Violent Crime?, Jamein Cunningham, Monique E. Davis, Kenneth Whaley Dec 2025

Does Investing In Schools Reduce Violent Crime?, Jamein Cunningham, Monique E. Davis, Kenneth Whaley

Presentations

No abstract provided.


The Effects Of Tulsa Remote On Inducing Moves To Tulsa: Estimates And Implications, Timothy J. Bartik May 2025

The Effects Of Tulsa Remote On Inducing Moves To Tulsa: Estimates And Implications, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

Tulsa Remote is one of the largest of over 100 remote worker attraction programs in the United States. Since its beginning in 2018, the program has provided generous incentives ($10,000 for moving to Tulsa and staying one year), along with accompanying networking services and incentives to encourage entrepreneurship, to over 3,000 Tulsa Remote member households, selected out of tens of thousands of applicants. Tulsa Remote’s purpose is to promote economic development in Tulsa. Tulsa Remote members spend more locally and generate fiscal benefits, as well as start up businesses and help make Tulsa more attractive for high-tech job growth. These …


Tulsa Remote’S Benefits For Other Tulsa Residents: Results And Implications, Timothy J. Bartik May 2025

Tulsa Remote’S Benefits For Other Tulsa Residents: Results And Implications, Timothy J. Bartik

Presentations

No abstract provided.


How College Affordability Has Changed For Different Families, Peter Hinrichs May 2025

How College Affordability Has Changed For Different Families, Peter Hinrichs

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


Bearcat Advantage: Year One Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Kyle Huisman Apr 2025

Bearcat Advantage: Year One Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Kyle Huisman

Reports

No abstract provided.


How College Affordability Has Changed For Different Families, Peter Hinrichs Apr 2025

How College Affordability Has Changed For Different Families, Peter Hinrichs

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.


How Much Can Families Afford To Pay For College?, Peter Hinrichs Apr 2025

How Much Can Families Afford To Pay For College?, Peter Hinrichs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper studies families’ capacity to pay for college in the United States, focusing on changes over time and differences by race and socioeconomic status. I use data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) to document changes over time in the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The results suggest that the EFC has been rising over time, and that this has been driven primarily by families in the upper quartile of the income distribution. I then use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to calculate alternative measures …


The Columbus Promise: Year Two Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Kyle Huisman Apr 2025

The Columbus Promise: Year Two Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Kyle Huisman

Reports

No abstract provided.


Tuition-Free College Options For Michigan: What Policymakers Need To Know About A Statewide Promise Program, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman May 2024

Tuition-Free College Options For Michigan: What Policymakers Need To Know About A Statewide Promise Program, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman

Reports

No abstract provided.


The Kalamazoo Promise: A Piece In The Puzzle Of Housing Preferences, Kathleen Bolter, Alfonso Hernandez Apr 2024

The Kalamazoo Promise: A Piece In The Puzzle Of Housing Preferences, Kathleen Bolter, Alfonso Hernandez

Reports

No abstract provided.


The Columbus Promise: Year One Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Kyle Huisman Apr 2024

The Columbus Promise: Year One Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Kyle Huisman

Reports

No abstract provided.


Behind The Numbers: Comparing College-Going Outcomes Of Kalamazoo Public Schools To Those Of Similar Urban School Districts In Michigan, Kathleen Bolter, Brad J. Hershbein Oct 2023

Behind The Numbers: Comparing College-Going Outcomes Of Kalamazoo Public Schools To Those Of Similar Urban School Districts In Michigan, Kathleen Bolter, Brad J. Hershbein

Reports

No abstract provided.


Workforce Outcomes Of Tuition-Free College: Early Findings, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams Mar 2021

Workforce Outcomes Of Tuition-Free College: Early Findings, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.


The Promise Landscape In Michigan, Michelle Miller-Adams Oct 2020

The Promise Landscape In Michigan, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.


How Communities Can Connect Economic And Skills Development, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams Oct 2020

How Communities Can Connect Economic And Skills Development, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.


Kansas City Scholars Program: Year 2 Evaluation: Executive Summary, Bridget Timmeney, Kevin Hollenbeck, Brad J. Hershbein Mar 2019

Kansas City Scholars Program: Year 2 Evaluation: Executive Summary, Bridget Timmeney, Kevin Hollenbeck, Brad J. Hershbein

Reports

No abstract provided.


Evaluating The Kansas City Scholars College Scholarship Program: Year Two Report, Bridget Timmeney, Kevin Hollenbeck, Brad J. Hershbein Mar 2019

Evaluating The Kansas City Scholars College Scholarship Program: Year Two Report, Bridget Timmeney, Kevin Hollenbeck, Brad J. Hershbein

Reports

No abstract provided.