Ritika Sethi

#EconConf

Great first day at @appam.bsky.social. One point of clarity.

Research consistently concludes no short-run impact of the CTC expansion on employment. Please, please, please stop making me/others recite the literature and just update your priors.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hi #EconSky,

Not sure if the Starter Pack party's over, but I've made an Econ Starter Pack of Starter Packs! 😄
It's a work in progress, so I may have missed some. Let me know if there's anything to add—DMs are open!
Thanks for support @economista.bsky.social!

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

I created a starter pack focused on the economics of taxation. I'm unsure if I can grant editing access, but please feel free to suggest any additions!
go.bsky.app/QmnUAzv

At today's #2024APPAM Rossi Award Lecture, I’ll argue the substantial impact of open-science practices has been far too narrow.

It’s time to adapt & adopt open-science practices—especially
preregistration—for quasi-experimental designs (QEDs).

#EconSky #EduSky #APPAM2024 @appam.bsky.social

🧵…

Labor Market Power in Sub-Saharan Africa. Guest Post by Samuel Marshall

In today's #econjmp, Sam Marshall of Warwick uses a structural approach to estimate labor monopsony in Tanzania, showing how self-employment and migration costs affect labor market power. He finds most workers are paid between 66-71% of marginal product. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

At APPAM today? See @paolaguerreror.bsky.social in action!

Count Me in? Identifying Factors That Predict Centers’ Application to Boston’s Mixed-Delivery Universal Pre-K Program

1:45-3:15pm, National Harbor 6, 2nd Floor Ballroom Level, Gaylord National Harbor

1/ Excited to share my JMP! I study how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)—which taxed nonprofit salaries over $1M—reshaped college leadership. Using a natural experiment, I explore how financial incentives impact presidents’ pay, exits, and priorities. 🧵

sites.google.com/view/nicolas...

I'm on the job market! My #EconJMP examines climate adaptation inequality in labor markets (see ⬇️).

This is part of my research on the effects of climate change/plastic pollution on workers & society - often with unique data & an interdisciplinary lens.

Learn more: https://pappanna.github.io/

Dual enrollment continues to rise. Check out these numbers from @ppicnotes.bsky.social in California: www.ppic.org/publication/...

And here's a cool stat: In the California class of 2023, high school students earned 2,438 college credentials, including 1,512 associate degrees.

The Elite College Students Fighting to End Legacy Admissions In November, organizers at more than 18 universities met for a conference with Class Action to discuss how to democratize higher education.

Interesting coverage of student-led efforts to end legacy preferences and make college admissions about merit and fairness. www.thenation.com/article/acti...

I started a starter pack for World Bank researchers. Let me know if I am missing you go.bsky.app/BWMsQG6

#EconJMP

www.ritikasethi.com

Ignorance is Bliss? Evaluating the Impact of Rank Non-Disclosure on High School Course Choice

Understanding California’s Midwife Workforce - California Health Care Foundation Midwives are licensed clinicians who play a key role in the maternity care workforce. California credentials two types of midwives: licensed midwives (LMs) and nurse-midwives (NMs). Although there are...

Three new reports on California’s midwifery workforce have been posted! Tons of data on demographics, patient pop, job satisfaction, work environment, contributions to health equity. A PUF for your use will come soon! #midwifery #birth #healthequity

www.chcf.org/publication/...

I just changed my DM settings; thank you! I tried DMing you but couldn't. You can read my paper here: ritikasethi.com/research/
Thanks for your interest!

AI in education Join the conversation

I'm putting together a starter pack of people and publications that cover AI in education who have accounts on this platform. If you'd like to be on it, just let me know in a reply or at jeff@edsurge.com

go.bsky.app/SYuRWxV

I've created a #healtheconomics starter pack! There's a few other great packs out there but in this one I've tried to make it more international! 🌎

Let me know if you'd like to be added or if you have recommendations.

And feel free to share!

go.bsky.app/8Lj8FLB

One reason why so few 8th graders in the poorest schools are ready to take algebra: too much class time spent reviewing old stuff and disciplining students. Two more reasons in my story: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

No one-size-fits-all solution to chronic absenteeism - Kappan Online Districts can best address absenteeism through low-cost, evidence-based efforts that align with the needs of their communities.

How should schools address chronic absenteeism given other headwinds?

In the current Kappan, I advocate combining local attendance-barrier data with continuous-improvement processes privileging aligned interventions that are evidence-based, lower-cost, & scalable.
kappanonline.org/no-one-size-...

I've created a starter pack I'm calling "Education economics and policy", based on folks I follow in this area.

Please let me know if I've missed you!

go.bsky.app/GHJzy4L

Event-study showing impact of 287(g) agreements on Hispanic & non-Hispanic enrollment

Sadly apt to re-up evidence on immigration enforcement's impact on students & schools

Dee, T. & Murphy, M. (2020). Vanished classmates: The effects of local immigration enforcement on student enrollment. American Educational Research Journal 57(2), 694-727.
Ungated files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1...

Thrown into the deep end of algebra An experiment put remedial math students into ninth grade algebra and many succeeded

Been thinking about Algebra 1 lately. Last week I wrote about @tomdee.bsky.social study letting struggling 9th graders skip remedial math and go straight to Alg 1. hechingerreport.org/proof-points... Next week I have a piece on 3 reasons that so few low income 8th graders make it to Alg 1.

🧵 Thanks for reading! Questions? DMs open!

📖 Read more:
Details on methods, findings, and counterfactuals are in my paper: ritikasethi.com/assets/rs_jm...

🔮 Beyond rank:
My work sheds light on how information shapes individual decisions, with implications for feedback policies in schools and workplaces.

⚖️ Implications:
University admissions policies (like TX's Top 10% Rule) amplify the importance of rank.
Non-disclosure policies could inadvertently widen achievement gaps by disproportionately impacting high achievers vs. others.

🧪 Findings:
When rank is undisclosed:
Top students overestimate their rank, leading to an increase in AP math enrollment.
Contrary to intentions, non-disclosure doesn't "lighten the load".
Quasi-experimental evidence from recent district-level policies corroborates these findings.

🛠️ Dynamic Model:
Students face a trade-off: AP math courses improve GPA/rank but require more effort.
I estimate a dynamic discrete choice model with learning using a sequential EM algorithm (students learn about their relative academic standing through rank signals).

🔍 My Approach: I model students' course choices using administrative data for 100K+ students from school districts in Texas.

🏫 Policy Context: Many schools are switching to rank non-disclosure to alleviate student stress. But does this policy achieve its intended goal? Or does it inadvertently push students toward harder courses, increasing academic pressure?