Education & Child Development Research
Led by Professors Rucker Johnson and Jesse Rothstein, the Education and Child Development Initiative is focused on investigating the impacts of childhood experiences on opportunity for life-long success. Our scholars lead the discussion on the impact of educational institutions on equality of opportunity. Central research topics include the effects of preschool programs for disadvantaged children, the role of elementary and secondary school funding, teacher quality, and the impact of segregation on student outcomes. Our work also extends to postsecondary education, including the measurement of colleges’ “value-added” for their graduates’ earnings, admissions policies and racial diversity, and the role of student debt in occupational choices.
Our flagship initiative in this subject area, the Initiative on Child and Family Economic Security, began in 2022 as a partnership with The Urban Institute and the California Policy Lab, with generous financial support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Led by O-Lab Faculty Director Hilary Hoynes, the initiative aims to produce new findings on how the 2021 expansion of the Child Tax Credit has impacted families with children.
Affiliated Faculty
Patrick Kline
Associate Professor of Economics; Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Hilary Hoynes
Professor of Public Policy and Economics; Haas Distinguished Chair in Economic Disparities; Co-Editor of American Economic Review; Director, O-Lab
Edward Miguel
Oxfam Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics; Faculty Director, Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)
Chris Walters
Associate Professor of Economics; Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Danny Yagan
Associate Professor of Economics; Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Faculty Leadership
Jesse Rothstein
Professor of Public Policy and Economics
Rucker Johnson
Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy
