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Julien Lafortune
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Working Papers
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"The Impact of School Facility Investments on Students and Homeowners: Evidence from Los Angeles," with David Schönholzer
(Revise and resubmit, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics) We study the effects and efficiency of school facility investments using administrative records from Los Angeles. Exploiting quasi-random variation in the timing of new facility openings and using a residential assignment instrument, we find positive impacts on test scores, attendance, and house prices. Effects are not driven by changes in class size, peers, teachers, or principals, but some evidence points towards increased facility quality. We evaluate the efficiency of these investments using both future earnings and housing capitalization. We estimate that for each dollar spent, the program generated 1.62 dollars in household value, with most due to non-academic benefits. [policy brief] In the news: Education Week "Advanced Math Tracking and Student Achievement: Evidence from North Carolina" In most U.S. schools, a significant track diversion occurs in 8th grade: high-achieving students are tracked into Algebra, while low-achieving students take Algebra in 9th grade or later. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design around prior-year test score proficiency thresholds, I examine the impact of tracking into Algebra in 8th grade rather than in high school. For students near the 80th percentile in the 7th grade state math distribution, advanced track enrollment leads to large increases in mathematics course-taking, AP course participation, and college entrance exam scores. However, for students near the 30th percentile in the 7th grade math distribution, advanced track enrollment is associated with large decreases in Algebra performance, with little indication of any longer-term gains. Results imply that advanced math tracking in secondary schools has heterogeneous impacts on students with different prior math achievement. Expanding access to advanced math courses among high-achieving but not low-achieving students could yield large improvements in mathematics skills and college preparedness. |
Publications |
"School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement,"
with Jesse Rothstein and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 10(2), April 2018. We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called “adequacy” era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases in spending in low-income school districts. Using representative samples from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, we find that reforms cause increases in the achievement of students in these districts, phasing in gradually over the years following the reform. The implied effect of school resources on educational achievement is large. [pre-publication version] [policy brief] In the news: NY Times; Bloomberg View; Slate; The Seventy Four |
Works in Progress |
"Local Economic Shocks and Human Capital Accumulation"
Local economic shocks, notably those driven by increased import competition, have led to large local employment and earnings losses in heavily affected areas. Less understood, however, is the intergenerational impact of these shocks on the human capital accumulation of individuals who experience such shocks in their youth. Using individual microdata with geographic identifiers from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), I exploit variation in the timing and location of Chinese import exposure shocks to examine the impact of local labor market shocks on youth human capital accumulation. I find evidence that cumulative exposure to Chinese import competition through adolescence increases the likelihood of high school graduation. I find no effects on the extensive margin of college enrollment, but find some evidence of positive effects on college completion. Effects are concentrated among males, those with more educated parents, and those with below median household income. I find no effect on geographic mobility by age 25. Effects appear to be driven by shocks to local labor markets and not shocks to parental income, consistent with theoretical predictions that individual human capital decisions respond to changes in the opportunity cost of schooling and the relative wages of high and low-skilled jobs. Future work will examine longer-run earnings and career outcomes, and will attempt to disentangle the role of various labor market signals through adolescence. "School Capital Expenditure Rules and Student Outcomes," with Barbara Biasi and David Schönholzer |
