Starting with my dissertation, I was interested in issues related to education. My first paper focused on the effect of research funding on giving to universities. That work led to tackling challenging issues linked to more the "supply" side of higher education - noting that while my work has moved on from this topic, I am now going full circle in some of my more recent work which considers the role of universities for encouraging student enrollment in the face of increasing tuition. But it was also a late night industrial relations section conversation at Princeton that also led to my work on how schools operate in the face of government funding related to judicial decisions and legislation relating to school finance equity. As you will see, I have had the opportunity to work on a range of issues, most through the lens as a public economist.

Peer-Reviewed Academic & Policy Contributions

Highest Cited (Google Scholar), in order of recent citation count:

1. "School Finance Reform, the Distribution of School Spending, and the Distribution of SAT Scores,” with David Card, Journal of Public Economics, 83(1), 49-82, 2002 Publication Link 

2. "High School Choices and the Gender Gap in Stem,” with David Card, Economic Inquiry, 59(1): 9-28, (previously NBER Working Paper #23769), 2021 Publication Link 

3. "School Competition and Efficiency with Publicly Funded Catholic Schools,” with David Card and Martin Dooley, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4) (note previous version is NBER Working Paper #14176, 2010 Publication Link 

4. "Estimating the Effects of Federal Research Funding on Universities using Alumni Representation on Congressional Appropriations Committees?” with Aloysius Siow, Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy; BePress, 3(1), 1-22, 2003 Publication Link  (also posted under charities & philanthropy)

5. "The Impact of State Governance Structures on Management and Performance of Public Organizations: A Study of Higher Education Institutions,” with Jack Knott, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 23(1), 13-30, 2004 Publication Link (also posted under charities & philanthropy)

6. "Measuring the Effect of Federal Research Funding on Private Donations at Research Universities: Is Federal Research Funding More than a Substitute for Private Donations?” International Tax and Public Finance, 8, 731-51, 2001 Publication Link  (also posted under charities & philanthropy)

Additional Publications (Peer-Reviewed Academic & Policy Reports, by publication year)

7. "Youthview: a Platform for Interactive Visualizations to Explore Youth Disadvantage" with Ujjwal KC and Steeve Marchand, Data & Policy, 7: e69, (2025) Publication Link (also posted under poverty & data)

8. "Big Fish, Small Pond: The Effect of Rank at Entry on Postsecondary Outcomes” with Justin Smith, Southern Economic Journal, 86(4): 1575-1509, 2020 Publication Link 

9. "Understanding the STEM Path through High School and into University Programs”, with Martin Dooley, Mitch Steffler, and Jessica Wagner, Canadian Public Policy, 43(1): 1-16, 2017 Publication Link 

10. "Understanding the Gaps in Postsecondary Education Participation Based on Income and Place of Birth: The role of high school course selection and performance” with Martin Dooley and Les Robb, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2017 Publication Link 

11. "Understanding the STEM Path through High School and into University Programs” with Martin Dooley, Mitchel Steffler, and Jessica Wagner, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2016 Publication Link 

12. "Understanding the Gender Gap in Post-Secondary Schooling Participation: The Importance of High School Choices and Outcomes,” with David Card, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2015 Publication Link 

13. "Understanding the Determinants of Academic Success in Apprenticeship Programs at Mohawk College,” with Martin Dooley, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Research Report, 2013 Publication Link 

14. "The Impact of Scholarships and Bursaries on Persistence and Academic Success in University,” with Martin Dooley and Leslie Robb, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Research Report, January 2013 Publication Link 

15. "Persistence and Academic Success in University,” with Martin Dooley and Les Robb, Canadian Public Policy 38(3): 315-337, 2012 Publication Link 

16. "The Impact of Cost on the Choice of University,” with Martin Dooley and Les Robb, Canadian Journal of Economics 45(2):755-783, 2012 Publication Link 

17. "Understanding the Gender Gap in University Participation: An Exploration of the Application Behaviour of Ontario High School Students,” with David Card and Cristina Sechel, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Research Report, 2011 Publication Link 

18. "Understanding the Determinants of Persistence and Academic Success in University: An Exploration of Data from Four Ontario Universities,” with Martin Dooley and Leslie Robb, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Research Report, 2011 Publication LInk 

19. "The Effects of School Board Consolidation and Financing on Student Performance,” with Steve Chan and Jack Leach, Economics of Education Review, 29(6):1034-1046, 2010 Publication Link 

20. "School Choice and the Benefits of Competition,” with David Card and Martin Dooley, C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder 115, 2008 Publication Link 

Contributions to Books:

21. "Competition and Student Performance,” in Eva Baker, Barry McGaw, and Penelope Person (editors) the International Encyclopedia of Education, 3rd Edition, and Economics of Education, Dominic Brewer and Patrick McEwen (editors), 2010

Working Papers / Works in Progress

22. "The Long-Term Effects of Rank in Elementary School,” with Elizabeth Dhuey and Justin Smith. October 2025 (in submission)

23. "Gender Differences in University Enrollment and STEM Major: The Role of Tuition Policy in Australia,” with Katherine Cuff and Ana Gamarra Rondinel. September 2025 (in submission)

24. "Tuition Increases and University Behavior: Theory and Evidence on Student Enrollment” with Katherine Cuff and Ana Gamarra Rondinel. August 2025 (in submission)

25. "The Impacts of Unconditional Post-Secondary Education Loans on Employment, Earnings and Family Dynamics” (working title), with Ana Gamarra Rondinel

26. "Effects of Tuition Increases and Income-Contingent Loans on Low Income Student University Registrations,” (working title)

Unpublished Manuscripts

27. "An Investigation of the Impact of Ontario’s Primary School Class Size Reduction on Student Test Scores,” with Michael Baker and Natalie Malak, 2021

Non-Peer-Reviewed Reports/Commentary

28. Report discussion patterns of matriculation for Niagara College, (Olesya Kotlyachkov, Martin Dooley, Abigail Payne, Les Robb), 2011

29. Review of Helping Children Left Behind: State Aid and the Pursuit of Educational Equity, edited by John Yinger, 

National Tax Journal, 58, 843-46, 2005

30. Report discussing school enrollments and the employment of teachers in the London, Ontario School System, prepared for Legate and Associates, 2005

31. Report discussing school enrollments and the employment of teachers in the London, Ontario School System, prepared for Legate and Associates, 2004

32. "State Governance of Higher Education,” with Jack Knott, Institute of Government and Public Affairs Report, University of Illinois, 2001

33. "The Impact of State Governance Structures on Higher Education Resources and Research Activity,” with Jack Knott, 2001