This paper investigates the effect of work interruption on workers' subsequent productivity. We employ a data set of individual productivity and machine conditions, in which each worker faces the chance, on a daily basis, that her machine will break down randomly. Our analysis finds that...

This paper examines gender peer effects on students' academic and noncognitive outcomes. We use a nationally representative survey of middle school students in China and focus on schools that randomly assign students to classrooms. Our findings show that having a higher proportion of female...

This paper examines the role of teacher gender in education production. We extend student outcomes from traditionally focused academic achievement to noncognitive outcomes. Drawing on a representative survey of middle-school students and teachers in China, we focus on schools in which...

A central question in human development is what causes health inequalities over the life cycle. We link a harsh environment in the teen years to individuals' health conditions almost 40 years later, and employ Regression Discontinuity Design to make a causal inference between adolescent...

Human skills are formed throughout multiple stages over the life cycle. Different types of skills are manipulable at different ages. This paper investigates whether and how the adolescent environment affects individuals' noncognitive skills. We exploit the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the...