Title: Essays in Applied Microeconomics
Description: This dissertation broadly focuses on the role government should play in providing and financing education. The first chapter estimates the economic incidence of need-based student aid, one tool intended to ameliorate credit constraints in the market for higher education. The second chapter examines whether government programs providing support to low-income families should explicitly support or deny access to higher education by analyzing the impact of college attendance on the labor market outcomes of current and former welfare recipients. Chapter 3 focuses on publicly provided education at the primary and secondary levels, and estimates the impact of a teacher incentive pay program on student achievement.