Excited to share that @vbolotnyy.bsky.social, Mike Lovenheim, and I are studying how access to educational opportunities during incarceration affects post-release outcomes. We are grateful to @arnoldventures.bsky.social for supporting this work and to our data partners in Tennessee!
Working on your PhD? Looking for dissertation funding?
The Russell Sage Foundation and the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research jointly support dissertation research on employment-related topics in any discipline. Apply by tomorrow!
#Fundsocsci, #Econsky,
@russellsagefdn.bsky.social
Winnie van Dijk
@johneric.bsky.social
@revisenretweet.bsky.social
Derek Christopher
Daniel Rock
Noah Boden-Gologorsky
#econsky #ASSA
Ended #ASSA2026 with a great session on Collaborative State and Local Policy Research! Thanks to @vbolotnyy.bsky.social for organizing and to @jondr44.bsky.social for a thoughtful discussion of my JMP. I’m excited to continue following the excellent papers, authors, and discussants from this session
Children, Publicly Provided Childcare, and Parent Employment Paper Session Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM (EST) Philadelphia Convention Center, 308
"Parents' Earnings and the Returns to Universal Pre-Kindergarten" John Eric Humphries, Yale University Christopher Neilson, Yale University Xiaoyang Ye, Amazon Seth D. Zimmerman, Yale University "Short and Long Run Maternal Labor Supply Responses to Publicly Provided Schooling for Children" Jocelyn Wikle, Brigham Young University Riley Wilson, Brigham Young University
"Preschool as Child Care: Head Start Duration Expansions and Maternal Employment" Chloe Gibbs, Upjohn Institute & Notre Dame Esra Kose, University of California-Merced Maria Rosales-Rueda, University of Delaware "Sick Days, Snow Days, and the Labor Market Impacts of Caretaking Inequities" Garrett Anstreicher, University of Nebraska Rebecca Jack, University of Nebraska
Interested in what freezing federal funds for child care means for U.S. families?
Recent, relevant evidence incl. in our Sunday @assameeting.bsky.social session
"Children, Publicly Provided Childcare, and Parent Employment," 2:30-4:30pm, 308 CC
www.aeaweb.org/conference/2...
#ASSA2026 #EconSky
ICYMI: Do workers actually learn from collaboration, or just benefit from the help?
New paper uses teacher co-teaching to answer this question. Spoiler: genuine skill transfer is real, but partner experience matters a lot.
john-fallon-econ.com/Files/LBDT.pdf
#ASSA2026 #EconSky
Higher Education and Political Polarization Paper Session Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST) Philadelphia Convention Center, 204-C Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Chair: Joshua Goodman, Boston University
Politics, Institutional Choices, and Student Outcomes in Education Paper Session Monday, Jan. 5, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST) Philadelphia Convention Center, 203-A Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Chair: Amalia Miller, University of Virginia
I’m in Philly for #ASSA2026! I’ll be discussing and presenting, respectively, in these two sessions👇
Lots of great work will be shared in both, so come by if you’re around!
Heading to Philadelphia for the #ASSA2026. Presenting research you think our readers would be interested in? Working on something you think I should know about? Reach out here or by any of the ways linked in my bio: www.nytimes.com/by/ben-casse... #EconSky
4. Ben Hyman — "How Retrainable Are AI-Exposed Workers?" (Daniel Rock discussing) @revisenretweet.bsky.social
www.benhyman.com
👷♀️ Labor papers
3. Natalie Millar — "The Labor Market Returns to Customized Job Training" (Jonathan Roth discussing) @nataliemillar.bsky.social
drive.google.com/file/d/18Rjx...
2. Derek Christopher presenting “Individual and Social Effects of Shelter for People Experiencing Homelessness: Evidence From Los Angeles County's Winter Shelters Program” (Noah Boden-Gologorsky discussing)
www.derekachristopher.com
🏠 Housing papers
1. Winnie van Dijk presenting “Reducing Default Eviction Judgements: An Information Experiment” (Vincent Reina discussing)
Planning your #ASSA schedule? Join us for “Collaborative State & Local Policy Research” organized by @vbolotnyy.bsky.social
📅 Mon, Jan 5th | 1–3pm (EST)
📍 Philadelphia Convention Center, Room 203-B
Hope to see you there! #ASSA2026
www.aeaweb.org/conference/2...
Update on JOE postings -- things are worse: paulgp.com/2025/12/10/q...
Here's my thread of this year's new scholars in Economics of Education and Education Policy.
These PhD students and postdocs are on the job market, so take a look (and spread the word to others who might benefit from exposure).
And now onto the scholars... 👇
My #EconJMP, “The Labor Market Returns to Customized Job Training”, examines how subsidized firm training that aligns skill supply with skill demand affects workers and whether subsidies generate benefits that justify public investment.
Website: nataliemillar.net
In future work, I will extend this agenda by examining the impact of CJT on firm outcomes and the broader spillovers of CJT.
Answer to RQ 3⃣: Benefits to the government through higher individual income tax revenues exceed training costs, yielding an infinitely high marginal value of public funds. This exceeds the MVPFs of other job training and adult-focused programs. See the figure below.
Answer to RQ 2⃣: I map program descriptions to O*NET detailed work activities using the NLP-based skill classification. I find that 87% of CJT training is transferable or partially transferable, and programs with high industry-specific scores increase earnings by 9% per quarter.
Answer to RQ 1⃣: My estimates show that enrolling in a CJT program, typically lasting about four months, increases earnings by 3% per quarter for at least five years, comparable to the return from one additional year of work experience.
Data: Answering this research question required partnership with state and regional officials to assemble a novel data set that links the Tennessee longitudinal labor, education, and public assistance data with individual CJT enrollment data.
Empirical Approach:
1⃣Compare workers within firms using variation in grant funding caps via DID
2⃣Compare workers across applying firms using variation in regional funding amount and timing via DID
3⃣Use firm-level grants as an instrument for individual treatment via DID-IV
Contributions:
1⃣Estimate causal effects of CJT on worker earnings
2⃣Hand-collect and digitize CJT applications to open the black box of firm-designed training
3⃣Measure skill transferability with NLP
4⃣Estimate how skill transferability impacts the returns for workers and firms
Research Questions:
1⃣What is the causal impact of enrolling in CJT on workers' earnings?
2⃣What skills are being taught, how transferable are these skills, and how do effects vary by transferability?
3⃣How do the benefits of CJT compare with costs to firms and the government?
On the surface, much of CJT training appears partly, if not largely, firm-specific. This is theoretically puzzling, as Beckerian theory predicts that firms and workers should bear the cost of specific training.
Customized Job Training (CJT) programs, used across most U.S. states, split costs between governments and firms and give employers full control over curriculum, participants, and delivery. For instance, an enrollee might learn robots or machine tools used only at one automaker.
Motivation: The U.S. spends $4.3B a year on job training, yet evidence finds limited impacts and weak alignment between skill supply and employer demand. Are training models that match skill supply and demand a more efficient use of public funds?
My #EconJMP, “The Labor Market Returns to Customized Job Training”, examines how subsidized firm training that aligns skill supply with skill demand affects workers and whether subsidies generate benefits that justify public investment.
Website: nataliemillar.net
Hello! My name is Natalie. I am an applied microeconomist and a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University and am on the 2025-2026 academic #econjobmarket studying how human capital policies and public subsidies impact the labor market outcomes of workers and firms. #EconSky
