Journal of Policy Analysis and Management最新文献

There is growing concern that some public service providers may be nonprofit in name but not in fact. We consider this issue in the context of nonprofit charter schools, which sometimes subcontract their daily operations to for-profit management organizations. We use unique data from Ohio to study how nonprofit charters’ reliance on for-profit operators affects student achievement and attendance. The results indicate that charter schools with for-profit operators are, on average, at least as effective as nearby traditional public schools with respect to both outcomes, and that the average low-achieving student experiences greater test-score gains in charters with for-profit operators than in traditional public schools. However, charter schools with for-profit operators tend to be less effective than other charters nearby, particularly for students with high test scores and low absence rates. Further analysis comparing the administration and outcomes of charter schools with different types of contracting arrangements suggests that the prioritization of profit may explain their different outcomes. This study offers insights for literatures on charter schools, contracting, and sector boundaries.

When people lose their job, labor market programs help them get back to work. But administrative burdens can hinder enrollment in such programs. We report results from a mixed-method project to increase enrollment in employment services during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we interviewed jobseekers and frontline staff to uncover administrative burdens. Second we worked with staff to co-design a behavioral “nudge” intervention. Finally, in a large field experiment (N = 14,008), we evaluate the impact of this intervention on participation in employment services. We present two main findings. First, reducing administrative burden triples enrollment in the program within the first 30 days. Second, we test two motivational frames—one emphasizing social norms, another using checklist messaging. We find that message framing drives engagement with communications, such as email open rates and website click-throughs. However, framing generates no statistically significant difference in enrollment rates. Our results demonstrate the potential for applied behavioral science to improve implementation of labor market policy. We also contribute to current debates about the effectiveness of nudging to increase take-up of public services.

This paper estimates the effect of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a temporary legalization policy, on the incomes and property ownership of Salvadoran recipients over 20 years. We compare likely undocumented Salvadoran immigrants eligible for TPS to a control group of likely undocumented immigrants ineligible for TPS in an event study design that allows us to observe the policy's effects over 2 decades. We find that earnings, homeownership, and use of a car increased considerably for at least 15 years following the granting of TPS. This suggests that even temporary and limited legal status can have substantial and sustained benefits for recipients.

School districts serving newcomer English Learners (ELs) generally offer short-term intensive English programs designed to teach foundational language skills and guide students’ integration into the U.S. school system. Despite the growing popularity of newcomer programs, however, there is limited rigorous evidence of their efficacy. In this paper, we present evidence on the causal effect of an intensive English program on the academic achievement of newcomer EL students. Access to the program is determined by a test score cutoff which we leverage to employ a regression discontinuity design. On average, students who are eligible for the program in elementary grades experience a boost in their academic achievement for up to 3 years following initial eligibility. Conversely, newcomer EL students who are marginally eligible for intensive English language instruction in middle school grades see a decline in achievement that tends to exacerbate over time.