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Essays on the Economics of Education, Labor, and Health

Abstract

In the first chapter of this dissertation, I examine the effect of preschool participation on the probability of ever being diagnosed with certain intellectual and behavioral disorders in childhood. To study this relationship, I use two-sample two-stage least squares where I instrument for preschool participation using an indicator for the availability of universal preschool. I find that, for children from low-education households, preschool participation reduces the probability of ever having been diagnosed with behavioral or conduct problems, and requiring the use of special therapy. For children from high-education households, however, I observe that preschool participation increases the probability of ever having been diagnosed with behavioral or conduct problems, and requiring the use of special therapy.

In the second chapter, I study the effect of participation in career technical education on high school, post-secondary, and labor market outcomes. To study this relationship, I exploit a policy change in Kentucky that reduced the cost of participation in career technical education for high school students. I find that participation in career technical education increases the probability of completing high school, earning a KOSSA certificate, and attending college. I find positive but imprecisely estimated effects for the probability of being employed, and annual earnings. I do not observe a statistically significant effect for the probability of earning a program certificate.

In the final chapter, I study the effect of reduced insurance coverage for inpatient psychiatric care on emergency department utilization. I examine this relationship by exploiting Medicaid's Institutions for Mental Disease exclusion, which states that for beneficiaries between the age of 21 and 64, inclusive, Medicaid will not reimburse for medically necessary inpatient psychiatric care administered at an institution with more than sixteen beds. Using a ``fuzzy" regression discontinuity framework, I find that at age 21 reduced coverage for inpatient psychiatric care increases mental health emergency department visits by 11 percent for Medicaid-eligible men. I argue that we can interpret this increase in mental health emergency department visits as the unintended cost of reduced coverage for inpatient psychiatric care. For Medicaid-eligible women, I tend to find statistically insignificant effects.

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