Essays in Applied Microeconomics

Abstract

In this dissertation, I use a variety of econometric techniques to answer pressing questions about various questions in Applied Microeconomics that are relevant to public policy. In the first chapter, we study how schools respond to changes in voucher policy. Using quasi-experimental and empirical Industrial Organization techniques, we find that public schools increase school quality while private schools reduce school quality following the expansion of school choice programs. Moreover, the incentive for schools to provide quality varies non-linearly with voucher expansion and depends crucially on both the voucher value as well as the types of students eligible to receive the voucher. In the second chapter, we study the impact that field training has on a new officer’s subsequent policing behavior. Leveraging a setting with as good as random assignment of Field Training officers to new recruits, we find that a one standard deviation increase in a field training officer’s propensity to use force (138 percent) is associated with a 12 percent increase in their recruit’s subsequent propensity to use force. The effect of having a more aggressive field training officer persists for as much as two and a half years after the recruit completes training.