{"id":{"repo_id":"penn","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.upenn.edu:20.500.14332/29118"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/penn/oai:repository.upenn.edu:20.500.14332/29118","repository":{"repo_id":"penn","name":"University of Pennsylvania","base_url":"https://repository.upenn.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Essays In Public Economics","abstract":"This dissertation consists of three chapters on topics in public economics. The first chapter examines the labor market for public school teachers in Wisconsin. By stitching together publicly available cross-sectional data to form a 20-year panel of teachers, I am able to replicate and extend the work of Hanushek, Kain and Rivkin who performed a similar analysis in Texas. The main takeaway is that teachers ap- pear to select on wages, but that student characteristics appear more important in predicting teacher churn. In the second chapter, I present short-term analysis of a randomized-controlled trial designed to test the efficacy of active learning methods for teaching intermediate calculus to first-year college students. The results were in- conclusive, suggesting substantial heterogeneity in student preferences and aptitudes for different styles of learning. The final chapter presents the analysis of a large-scale randomized-controlled trial evaluating the potential for messaging-based nudges to elicit increased real estate tax compliance in Philadelphia. Our primary conclusions are that most proposed messaging strategies are indistinguishable from a plainly- worded reminder bill (the exception being consequentialist letters threatening repercussive action absent compliance), but that the saliency per se of a plainly-worded bill can induce late payers to remunerate more quickly.","abstract_html":"This dissertation consists of three chapters on topics in public economics. The first chapter examines the labor market for public school teachers in Wisconsin. By stitching together publicly available cross-sectional data to form a 20-year panel of teachers, I am able to replicate and extend the work of Hanushek, Kain and Rivkin who performed a similar analysis in Texas. The main takeaway is that teachers ap- pear to select on wages, but that student characteristics appear more important in predicting teacher churn. In the second chapter, I present short-term analysis of a randomized-controlled trial designed to test the efficacy of active learning methods for teaching intermediate calculus to first-year college students. The results were in- conclusive, suggesting substantial heterogeneity in student preferences and aptitudes for different styles of learning. The final chapter presents the analysis of a large-scale randomized-controlled trial evaluating the potential for messaging-based nudges to elicit increased real estate tax compliance in Philadelphia. Our primary conclusions are that most proposed messaging strategies are indistinguishable from a plainly- worded reminder bill (the exception being consequentialist letters threatening repercussive action absent compliance), but that the saliency per se of a plainly-worded bill can induce late payers to remunerate more quickly.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chirico, Michael"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Holger Sieg"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017","date_published":"2017","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:46:22Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Michael Chirico"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/29118","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Holger Sieg"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chirico, Michael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2023-05-17T19:24:20.000"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-05-22T17:00:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-08-15T00:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2017"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation/Thesis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Michael Chirico"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/29118"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation consists of three chapters on topics in public economics. The first chapter examines the labor market for public school teachers in Wisconsin. By stitching together publicly available cross-sectional data to form a 20-year panel of teachers, I am able to replicate and extend the work of Hanushek, Kain and Rivkin who performed a similar analysis in Texas. The main takeaway is that teachers ap- pear to select on wages, but that student characteristics appear more important in predicting teacher churn. In the second chapter, I present short-term analysis of a randomized-controlled trial designed to test the efficacy of active learning methods for teaching intermediate calculus to first-year college students. The results were in- conclusive, suggesting substantial heterogeneity in student preferences and aptitudes for different styles of learning. The final chapter presents the analysis of a large-scale randomized-controlled trial evaluating the potential for messaging-based nudges to elicit increased real estate tax compliance in Philadelphia. Our primary conclusions are that most proposed messaging strategies are indistinguishable from a plainly- worded reminder bill (the exception being consequentialist letters threatening repercussive action absent compliance), but that the saliency per se of a plainly-worded bill can induce late payers to remunerate more quickly."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Essays In Public Economics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Holger Sieg"],"dc:creator":["Chirico, Michael"],"dc:date":["2023-05-17T19:24:20.000"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-05-22T17:00:39Z"],"dc:date.available":["2020-08-15T00:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2017"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation consists of three chapters on topics in public economics. The first chapter examines the labor market for public school teachers in Wisconsin. By stitching together publicly available cross-sectional data to form a 20-year panel of teachers, I am able to replicate and extend the work of Hanushek, Kain and Rivkin who performed a similar analysis in Texas. The main takeaway is that teachers ap- pear to select on wages, but that student characteristics appear more important in predicting teacher churn. In the second chapter, I present short-term analysis of a randomized-controlled trial designed to test the efficacy of active learning methods for teaching intermediate calculus to first-year college students. The results were in- conclusive, suggesting substantial heterogeneity in student preferences and aptitudes for different styles of learning. The final chapter presents the analysis of a large-scale randomized-controlled trial evaluating the potential for messaging-based nudges to elicit increased real estate tax compliance in Philadelphia. Our primary conclusions are that most proposed messaging strategies are indistinguishable from a plainly- worded reminder bill (the exception being consequentialist letters threatening repercussive action absent compliance), but that the saliency per se of a plainly-worded bill can induce late payers to remunerate more quickly."],"dc:description.degree":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/29118"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Michael Chirico"],"dc:title":["Essays In Public Economics"],"dc:type":["Dissertation/Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:46:22Z"}