Three Essays on the Economics of Education

Author

Ge WuFollow

Date of Award

8-2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Economics

Major Professor

Celeste K. Carruthers

Committee Members

J. Scott Holladay, Maria Padilla-Romo, Robert Kelchen

Abstract

This dissertation presents three essays that use empirical methods to study the economics of education.

The first chapter evaluates the effect of wildfire smoke on primary and middle school student achievement across the United States. The increasing number of wildfires and their destructive consequences has drawn much public attention in recent years. While a growing body of research explores the effect of wildfires on the environment and public health, the evidence of a causal relationship between wildfires and cognitive performance is limited, especially for young students. I merge satellite-based wildfire smoke boundaries, daily estimates of PM-2.5 concentrations at the 1km-grid level, and student achievement records for over 320,000 students across the U.S. to estimate the effect of wildfire-generated smoke pollution on student learning. Findings improve our understanding of the social cost of wildfires.

The second chapter studies whether high school students respond to labor market dynamics when choosing career & technical education electives. Research has shown that U.S. college and university students consider the broader economy and labor market when selecting a major, but it is unclear if high school students similarly respond to labor market signals, or if they have the opportunity to do so. I assess if students in Tennessee are more or less likely to enroll in advanced manufacturing classes, and if schools are more or less likely to offer advanced manufacturing classes, following announcements about layoffs or new jobs in local manufacturing firms. Findings help to quantify the alignment between student skill development and workforce needs.

The third chapter evaluates the effect of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK) Flagship Scholarship on college enrollment and choice of college. In Fall 2007, UTK initiated the Flagship Scholarship, which offers a “free college” opportunity to students from designated high schools in Tennessee. I use statewide data on 2006-2009 graduating 12th graders to estimate the effect of attending a Flagshipeligible high school on college enrollment outcomes. Findings contribute to a large literature on financial aid, and in particular to the literature on scholarships that target disadvantaged students or their schools.

Recommended Citation

Wu, Ge, "Three Essays on the Economics of Education. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2023.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/8728