Essays in the Economics of Education: Inequities in Educational Outcomes, Resource Disparities, and Deficiencies.

Abstract

This dissertation examines both the demand and the supply sides of education, focusing on how resource disparities and deficiencies shape educational outcomes. Central to my work is analyzing how entrenched inequities in access to experienced teachers interact with class size reduction policies. To complement this study, I develop a theoretical model of teachers' endogenous effort allocation, predicting heterogeneity in the policy effect across classrooms. On the demand side, I explore how electricity supply disruptions influence household investment in education, focusing on girls' school enrollment.I analyze cross-sectional, panel, pseudo-panel, and time-series data using econometric methods such as event study and difference-in-differences (DiD) estimators with fixed effects, finite distributed lag (FDL), and complete dynamic models. I also perform tests for Granger causality, spurious regression problem, and cointegration in the time-series data. My theoretical paper examines a constrained utility optimization problem to explore how teachers' private cost functions shape their effort allocation decisions in response to the policy intervention.The outcomes of the education production function depend on multiple inputs, not all of which can be adjusted by policy. Where policy can intervene, interventions should be more comprehensive. This dissertation goes beyond analyzing partial equilibrium effects by examining unintended behavioral responses to policy interventions. This work underscores the need for policies to be designed with a knowledge of their broader, often unintended, consequences on individual decision making and educational outcomes.