Availability of large, multilevel longitudinal databases in various fields including labor economics (with workers and firms observed over time) and ed- ucation research (with students and teachers observed over time) has increased the application of panel-data models with multiple levels of...

In this paper we consider the challenges and implications of controlling for school contextual bias when modeling teacher preparation program effects. Because teachers from any one preparation program are hired in more than one school and teachers are not randomly distributed across schools,...

Abstract: In this article, we carefully examine two important implementation issues when estimating propensity scores using generalized boosted models (GBM), a promising machine learning technique. First, we examine which of the following methods for tuning GBM lead to better covariate balance...

In this study we reconsider the relationship between heavy and persistent marijuana use and high school dropout status using a unique prospective panel study of over 4500 7th grade students from South Dakota who are followed up through high school. Propensity score weighting is used to adjust...

This article reviews the literature on teacher value-added. Although value-added models have been used to measure the contributions of numerous inputs to educational production, their application toward identifying the contributions of individual teachers has been particularly contentious. Our...

Peer interactions have been argued to play a major role in student academic achievement. Recent work has focused on measuring the structure of peer interactions with the location of the student in their social network and has found a positive relationship between student popularity and academic...

This paper uses CPS data to examine changes in single women’s labor supply elas¬ticities in recent decades. Specifically, the authors investigate trends in how single women’s hours of work and labor force participation rates responded to both wages and income over the years 1979–2003....

As employer-provided pension plans have largely shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension plans, responsibility for plan investments and the accompanying risks have also shifted from the provider to the employee. Employees have to decide how much to contribute to...

As a result of sustained housing market fragility, a growing number of borrowers are walking away from their underwater homes even though they have the ability to pay. Despite recent advances, questions remain about what influences this decision. In this paper, we use survey data to examine the...