A statement of my research interests can be found here. My current research is below.
Research Papers
"Locus of Control and Performance Pay: Evidence from U.S. Survey Data", 2024. Labour: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations. Richard Perlman Prize Winner.
DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/labr.12273
This work estimates the relationship between locus of control and performance pay. Using the NLSY79, it uniquely examines different types of performance pay, demonstrating sharp differences. Bivariate probit estimates of receiving locus-sensitive and locus-insensitive performance pay show that moving from one standard deviation more external than the mean to one standard deviation more internal increases the probability of only receiving locus-sensitive performance pay from 9.13% to 11.11%. Moving from one standard deviation more external than the mean to one standard deviation more internal decreases the probability of only receiving locus-insensitive performance pay from 23.79% to 22.53%.
Linked here.
"The Returns to Returning to School", 2024. International Journal of Manpower.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-01-2023-0044
This work estimates the returns to education for workers who pursue additional education after time spent out of school and in the labor force. It expands on previous research by comparing the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of the NLSY and by examining both those who remain in the labor force while pursuing additional education and those who drop out. The results indicate a sheepskin effect of approximately 14 percent for those who remain in the labor force and a return of approximately 9 percent to years of additional education for those who drop out of the labor force. This contrasting pattern of returns is robust to expanded specifications, selection effects and a variety of alternative variable and sample definitions. This allows for speculation regarding the differences between the internal labor market faced by those who remain in the labor force to pursue additional education and the external labor market faced by those who drop out of the labor force.
Linked here.
"Performance Pay, Gender and Divorce".
This work examines the influence of receiving performance pay on the probability that a worker will divorce. Uniquely, it compares two different cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Probit estimates show that, for men, receiving performance pay has no impact on the probability of divorce among men in the older cohort and may decrease the probability of divorce in the younger cohort. For women, receiving performance pay increases the probability of divorce in the older cohort and has no impact in the younger cohort.
Linked here.
"Locus of Control and Drinking Behaviors."
This work examines the relationship between locus of control and alcohol consumption in the U.S. and finds that workers with an internal locus of control are more likely to drink but binge drink less often. A mediation analysis reveals that wages and education are critical mediators of the relationship between locus of control and drinking, but only education mediates the relationship between locus of control and binge drinking. This combination of results suggests that the decision to drink and the decision to binge drink are fundamentally different.
Linked here.
"Performance pay and mental health: Differences by pay scheme and race."
This work examines the relationship between performance pay receipt and anxiety and depression. Using a fixed-effects ordered logit model applied to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997), it finds that stock options are associated with decreased rates of anxiety and depression among white workers. Moreover, it finds that bonuses are associated with increased rates of anxiety among white and non-white workers and increased rates of depression among non-white workers. While past research has found performance pay to be correlated with a variety of negative mental and physical outcomes, this is the first analysis to examine different types of performance pay and to examine the difference between white and non-white workers. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed, as are policy implications.
Linked here.
Works in Progress
“The Wage Implications and Sex Differences of Overeducation: A Cross-Country Comparison Between Germany and the U.S.” With Ole Ulpts of UW - Milwaukee.
“Prison Training, Post-Prison Employment, and Local Labor Markets.” With Matthew Theobald of WI Dept. of Corrections.