Although academic ability is the most important explanatory variable in studies of student learning, researchers control for it with a wide array of proxies and combinations thereof. We investigate how the proxy choice affects estimates of undergraduate student learning by testing over 150...

Uniform equivalence scales are routinely used for welfare comparisons and require that utility function is IB/ESE (independent of base/equivalent scale exact). This condition itself requires restrictions on the level of measurability and interpersonal comparability of preferences across...

Our econometric research allows for a possible response of a person's hours worked to hours typically worked by members of a multidimensional labor market reference group that considers demographics and geographic location. Instrumental variables estimates of the canonical labor supply model...

This paper describes a field experiment in the classroom where principles of microeconomics students are randomly assigned into homework-required and not-required groups. We find that homework plays an important role in student learning, especially so for students who initially perform poorly in...

Our research examines the effect of interdependence on estimation and interpretation of earnings/labor supply equations. We consider the cases of (1) a positive spillover from others’ labor supplied and (2) a need for conformity with others’ labor supplied. Qualitative and quantitative...

This paper describes a field experiment in the classroom where principles of microeconomics students are randomly assigned into homework-required and not-required groups. We find that homework plays an important role in student learning, especially so for students who initially perform poorly in...