Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3499-6358

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Department

Economics

Committee Chair

Bryan McCannon

Committee Member

Kole Reddig

Committee Member

Cathleen Johnson

Committee Member

Christopher Freiman

Abstract

The first chapter investigates the labor market impacts of the Clean Slate Law, a policy designed to reduce barriers to entry by automating the sealing of criminal records. Using IPUMS CPS data from six states, I employ a difference-in-differences framework with individual fixed effects and an event study design to identify changes in employment outcomes. I find that the Clean Slate policy increases employment by 0.33 percentage points and weekly hours worked by 0.44 hours (approximately 24 minutes). Full-time employment rises, while self-employment declines by 0.12 percentage points, suggesting a shift from informal to more stable, formal jobs. These employment gains are primarily driven by individuals entering the labor market from unemployment, rather than by existing workers increasing their hours or shifting from part-time to full-time roles, indicating that effects operate mainly along the extensive margin. Additional analysis reveals the largest gains are found among men aged 25–34 and those without a college degree, with blue-collar industries such as manufacturing, construction, and food services showing the most significant gains.

The second chapter, coauthored with Bryan McCannon, explores the long-term consequences of being involved in the criminal justice system when young. Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we employ Coarsened Exact Matching to mitigate selection effects. We consider teenagers who self-report being criminally engaged in 1997 and identify samples of those arrested and those not arrested who are observationally similar. We show that by 2019 being criminal-justice-involved corresponds with less employment and lower incomes. Additionally, we explore a potential mechanism $-$ human capital accumulation. We find that criminal justice involvement coincides with an increase in the likelihood of not completing high school and reduces the total number of years of education obtained. Further, human capital interruption explains most of the later-in-life income differences.

The third chapter examines the impact of an Illinois disciplinary reform policy on school suspension practices. By making high suspension rates publicly visible, the policy introduces a form of social sanction that pressures districts to adjust behavior through reputational incentives. Senate Bill 100 requires public flagging of school districts in the top 20\% for out-of-school suspension rates. Using administrative data and a sharp regression discontinuity design around the 80th percentile cutoff, I estimate the causal effect of being flagged as a high-suspension district. I find that public identification increases next-year suspension rates by 3.2 percentage points. The effect is concentrated among first-time flagged districts, with no change following mandated reporting requirements after three consecutive years. Districts just below the threshold appear to reduce suspensions to avoid being

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