Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2473-6360

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Department

Economics

Committee Chair

Daniel Grossman

Committee Co-Chair

Nathaniel Burke

Committee Member

Nathaniel Burke

Committee Member

Kole Reddig

Committee Member

Joshua Price

Abstract

The first chapter explores the impact of online education on student outcomes by comparing students pre-2020 school closures to students post-2020 school closures. Using student-level panel data from a large U.S. school district spanning 2017-2023 and two outcome variables, reading tests and end-of-level exams, I estimate the effects on different demographic groups, the dynamics of these effects over time, and how these effects differ across students ages. I find a significant decline in student performance after the move to online learning, with additional adverse effects on students who are classified as low-income, female, special education, or ELL. Mechanisms contributing to this decline include socioeconomic disparities, challenges faced by students who are in special education and language learning programs. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to mitigate disparities and support students following moves to online education.

The second chapter investigates the impact of the removal of universal free school meals on student test scores following the expiration of the Keep Kids Fed Act in 2022. After its expiration, some states extended the policy, while others did not, creating a natural experiment to examine the effects of losing universal access to free meals. By using a triple difference-in-differences model and data from the Stanford Education Data Archive, the Census Household Pulse Survey, and the Common Core of Data, I find that the removal of free meals led to a significant decline in math and reading language arts test scores. These findings not only provide valuable insights into the effects of food security policies on educational outcomes, but also highlight the critical intersection of social and education policy. The results underscore the complementary role that policies aimed at addressing food insecurity play in supporting academic achievement, suggesting that effective education policy cannot be fully realized without addressing the broader social determinants that influence student performance. These findings advocate for a more integrated approach to policymaking, where food security and educational access are seen as complementary tools for student success.

The third chapter explores the effect of umpire inaccuracies on domestic violence reports. Using pitch-by-pitch data from Major League Baseball and crime reports from the National Incident-Based Reporting System, I show an increase in the number of domestic violence reports when MLB teams lose with an inaccurate umpire. This effect is focused to losses in games with extremely inaccurate umpires, played in September, and played on Thursdays and Saturdays. Additionally, the effect is driven by umpire's calls favoring the opposing team. I show this effect to be robust to different specification of domestic violence timing, and driven by domestic violence that occurs after a game. I find no evidence of an effect on other crime.

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