UCLA

This dissertation consists of two chapters at the intersection of labor and the economics of education. Chapter 1 examines the impact of academic tracking on long-term student outcomes. Tracking allows teachers to tailor instruction based on students' abilities, but it may also lead schools to underinvest in lower-performing students, widening achievement gaps and long-run inequities. We test these hypotheses by examining the most widespread tracking program in the U.S.: Advanced Placement (AP). Leveraging the rapid expansion of AP in Texas following a statewide incentive policy, along with longitudinal microdata on postsecondary and labor-market outcomes, we estimate that the introduction of AP increased students' high school graduation rate by 3.9 pp, boosting college enrollment by 2.1 pp, college completion by 1.2 pp, and adult earnings by 3.3%. The largest absolute gains accrued to students with the highest pre-high school test scores. However, lower-performing students also experienced modest absolute gains, but large relative gains, in educational outcomes. These students benefited from more tailored instruction and positive spillovers within schools. Contrary to the concern that tracking disadvantages non-college-bound students, our estimates reject that tracking harms the secondary, postsecondary, or labor-market outcomes of any academic, racial, or socioeconomic group. Chapter 2 examines the long-term effects of the China shock on student outcomes. I exploit variation in exposure to Chinese imports using a shift in U.S. trade policy in 2000 and study the effect of trade exposure on college enrollment and long-run labor market outcomes. I find that exposure to a larger trade shock had no effect on students’ decisions about whether to attend a post-secondary institution. However, conditional on attending, the trade shock led to a significant shift in the type of institution students chose. Students from counties with greater trade exposure were more likely to enroll in a two-year college rather than a four-year university. Moreover, individuals from counties more affected by the policy change had higher employment rates and worked more hours annually ten years after graduating from high school. However, they also tended to have lower annual earnings in their mid-30s.