RESEARCH

My research examines the problems facing at-risk youth, with a particular emphasis on assessing various education programs and policies. While my work is clearly situated within the economics of education, my research attempts to address broader questions within labor and public economics, such as the role of incentives in shaping individual behavior and the unintended consequences of public policies. Along with education, I have studied issues and programs within housing, criminal justice and other policy areas.   ​

New Working Papers

Jacob, Brian A.. (2024). “The Lasting Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on K-12 Schooling: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Teacher Survey.” (EdWorkingPaper: 24-1020). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University.

Jacob, Brian A., and Cristina Stanojevich. (2024). “Did COVID-19 Shift the ’Grammar’ of Schooling?” (EdWorkingPaper: 24-1021). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University.

Goldring, Thomas, Jacob, Brian, Kreisman, Daniel and Ricks, Michael (2024). “Loopholes and the Incidence of Public Services: Evidence from Funding Career & Technical Education.” NBER working Paper #32390. 
 
Jacob, Brian and Michael Ricks (2023). “Who Chooses Career Technical Education, and Why? Disentangling Student Preferences from Program Availability.” NBER working paper #31756. (R&R at the Journal of Human Resources)

Peer Reviewed Publications

Jacob, Brian (Forthcoming). “How did the COVID-19 Pandemic Influence School Board Elections.” AERA Open (EdWorkingPaper: 24-906)

Berne, J., Garcia, K.C., Jacob, B., Musaddiq, T., Owusu, S., Shapiro, A. and Weiland, C. (Forthcoming). “Transitional Kindergarten: The New Kid on the Early Learning Block.” Educational Researcher. 

Christian, Alvin, Jacob, Brian and John Singleton (2024). “Assessing School District Decision-Making: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Education Finance and Policy. (NBER working paper #30520) 

Berne, Jordy, Jacob, Brian, Shapiro, Anna and Weiland, Christina (2024). “The Effect of Early Childhood Programs on Third-Grade Outcomes: Evidence from Transitional Kindergarten in Michigan.” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings. 114(May): 480-485.

Trejo, Samuel, Yeomans-Maldanado, Gloria and Brian Jacob (2024). “The Psychosocial Effects of the Flint Water Crisis on School-Age Children.” Science Advances. 10(11). (NBER working paper #29341.) 

Weiland, C., Unterman, R., Dynarski, S., Abenavoli, R., Braga, B., Faria, A.M., Greenberg, E.H., Jacob, B., Lincove, J.A., Manship, K., McCormick, M., Miratix, M., Monarrez, T.E., Morris-Perez, P., Shapiro, A., Valant, J., & Weixler, L. (2024). “Lottery-Based Evaluations of Early Education Programs: Opportunities and Challenges for Building the Next Generation of Evidence.” AERA Open, 10. 

Stacey L. Brockman, Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija, Alyssa Ratledge, Rebekah O’Donoghue, Micah Y. Baum, Brian Jacob (2024). "Forging a Path to College Persistence: An Experimental Evaluation of the Detroit Promise Path Program." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.  

Jacob, Brian, Damon Jones and Benjamin Keys (2024). “The Value of Student Debt Relief and the Role of Administrative Barriers: Evidence from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.” Journal of Labor Economics. 42(S1). 

Baum, Micah and Jacob, Brian (2024). “Racial Differences in Parent Response to COVID Schooling Policies.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. January 16, 2024. 121(3). 

Baron, Jason, Jacob, Brian and Joseph Ryan (2023). “Pretrial Juvenile Detention.” Journal of Public Economics. 217 (104798).

Pilkauskas, Natasha, Jacob, Brian, Rhodes, Elizabeth, Richard, Katherine and Shaefer, Luke (Forthcoming). “The COVID Cash Transfer Study: The Impacts of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on the Wellbeing of Low-Income Families.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 

Hart, C.M.D., Linden, R., Jacob, B.A., & Loeb, S. (2023). “Online Course-Taking and Expansion of Curricular Options in High Schools.” Peabody Journal of Education. 
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Jacob, Brian, Pilkauskas, Natasha, Rhodes, Elizabeth, Richard, Katherine and Shaefer, Luke (2022). “The COVID Cash Transfer Study II: The Impacts of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on the Wellbeing of Low-Income Families.” National Tax Journal. 75(3).
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Denning, Jeffrey T., Jacob, Brian A., Lefgren, Lars, and Christian von Lehn (Forthcoming). “The Return to Hours Worked Within and Across Occupations: Implications for Measuring the Gender Wage Gap.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

Blad, Anthony, Doyle, Joseph, Gross, Max and Brian Jacob (2022). “Economics of Foster Care.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 36(2): 223-46.

Hemelt, Steven and Jacob, Brian (2020). “How Does an Accountability Program that Targets Achievement Gaps Affect Student Performance.” Education Finance and Policy. 15(1): 45-74.

Dee, Thomas S., Dobbie, Will, Jacob, Brian, and Rockoff, Jonah (2019).  “The Causes and Consequences of Test Score Manipulation: Evidence from the New York State Regents Exam.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 11(3): 382-423.

Cassandra Hart, Dan Berger, Brian Jacob, Susanna Loeb and Michael Hill (2019). “Online Learning, Offline Outcomes: Online Course Taking and High School Performance.” American Education Research Assocation (AERA) Open: 5(1). 

Kim, Soobin, Jacob, Brian, Dynarski, Susan, Frank, Kenneth, Barbara Schneider (2019). “The Impact of the Michigan Merit Curriculum on High School Course-Taking.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.41(2). 

Jacob, B., Rockoff, J, Taylor, E., Lindy, B. and Rosen, R. (2018). “Teacher Applicant Hiring and Teacher Performance: Evidence from DC Public Schools.” Journal of Public Economics. 166 (October): 81-97.

Rachel Baker, Eric Bettinger, Brian Jacob and Ioana Marinescu (2018). “The Effect of Labor Market Information on Community College Students’ Major Choice,” Economics of Education Review. 65(August): 18-30.

Dynarski, Susan, Jacob, Brian and Kreisman, Daniel (2018). “How Important Are Fixed Effects and Time Trends in Estimating Returns to Schooling? Evidence from a Replication of Jacobson, Lalonde and Sullivan, 2005.” Journal of Applied Econometrics. 33(7).

Joseph P. Ryan, Brian A. Jacob, Max Gross, Brian E. Perron, Andrew Moore, Sharlyn Ferguson (2018). “Early Exposure to Child Maltreatment and Educational Outcomes.” Child Maltreatment.

Jacob, Brian A., McCall, Brian and Kevin Stange (2018).  “College as Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?” Journal of Labor Economics. 36(2): 309-348.

Jacob, Brian, Dynarski, Susan, Frank, Kenneth, Barbara Schneider (2017). “Are Expectations Alone Enough? Estimating the Effect of a Mandatory College-Prep Curriculum in Michigan.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 39(2).

Jacob, Brian (2017). “When Evidence is Not Enough: Findings from a Randomized Evaluation of Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI).” Labour Economics. 45: 5-16.

Jacob, Brian and Jesse Rothstein (2016).  “The Measurement of Student Ability in Modern Assessment Systems.”  Journal of Economic Perspectives. 30(3): 85-108.

Jacob, Brian A., Kaputsin, Max and Jens Ludwig (2015).  “The impact of housing assistance on child outcomes: Evidence from a randomized housing lottery."  Quarterly Journal of Economics. 130 (1): 465-506.

Ronfeldt, Matthew, Schwartz, Nathaniel, and Brian Jacob (2014). “Does Pre-Service Preparation Matter? Examining an Old Question in New Ways.”  Teachers College Record. 116(10): 1-46.

Engel, Mimi, Brian A. Jacob and Chris Curran (2014). “New Evidence on Teacher Labor Supply.” American Educational Research Journal. 51(1): 36-72.

Jacob, Brian A. (2013).  “The Effect of Employment Protection on Worker Effort: Evidence from Public Schooling.”  Journal of Labor Economics. 31(4): 727-761.

Jacob, Brian A., Ludwig, Jens and Douglas Miller (2013). “The Effects of Housing and Neighborhood Conditions on Child Mortality.”  Journal of Health Economics. 32(1): 195-206. 

Dee, T.S., Jacob, B.A., and Nathaniel L. Schwartz (2013).  “The Effects of No Child Left Behind on Education Finance and Practice.”  Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 35(2): 252-279. 

Jacob, Robin T. and Brian A. Jacob (2012).  “Pre-notification, Incentives and Survey Modality:  An Experimental Test of Methods to Increase Survey Response Rates of School Principals.” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. 5(4): 401-420.

Dee, T.S. and Jacob, B.A. (2012).  “Rational Ignorance in Education: A Field Experiment in Student Plagiarism.” Journal of Human Resources. 47(2): 397-434.
  
Jacob, Brian A. and Jens Ludwig (2012).  “The Effects of Housing Assistance on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Voucher Lottery.” American Economic Review.  102(1): 272-304.

Duggan, Mark, Hamjalmarrson, Randi and Jacob, Brian (2011).  “The Short-Term and Localized Effect of Gun Shows: Evidence from California and Texas.” Review of Economics and Statistics. 93(3): 786-799.

Dee, Thomas S. and Jacob, Brian A. (2011).  “The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Student Achievement.”  Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.  30(3): 418-446.

Jacob, Brian A.  (2011). “Do Principals Fire the Worst Teachers?” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 33(4): 403-434.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2011).  “The Impact of NIH Postdoctoral Training Grants on Scientific Productivity."  Research Policy. 40(6): 864-874.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2011).  “The Impact of Research Grant Funding on Scientific Productivity.” Journal of Public Economics 95(9-10): 1168-1177.  

Jacob, Brian and Elias Walsh (2011).  “What’s in a Rating?”  Economics of Education Review.  30(3): 434-448. 

Rockoff, Jonah, Jacob, Brian, Kane, Thomas and Staiger, Douglas (2011).  “Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?”  Education Finance and Policy. 6(1):43-74.

Dee, T.S. and Jacob, Brian A. (2010).  “The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Students, Teachers and Schools.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. (Fall 2010):  149-207. 

Jacob, Brian, Lefgren, Lars and David Sims (2010).  “The Persistence of Teacher-Induced Learning Gains.”  Journal of Human Resources.  45(4): 915-943.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2009).  “The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion.”  American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.  1(3): 33-58.  

Guryan, Jonathan, Jacob, Brian, Klopfer, Eric and Jennifer Groff (2008).  “Using Technology to Explore Social Networks and Mechanisms Underlying Peer Effects in Classrooms.”  Developmental Psychology 44(2): 355-364.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2008).  “Principals as Agents: Subjective Performance Assesssment in Education.” Journal of Labor Economics.  26(1): 101-136.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2007).  “What Do Parents Value in Education?  An Empirical Investigation of Parents’ Revealed Preferences for Teachers.”  Quarterly Journal of Economics.  122(4): 1603-1637. 

Jacob, B., Lefgren, L. and Moretti, E. (2007).  “The Dynamics of Criminal Behavior: Evidence from Weather Shocks.”  Journal of Human Resources. 42(3): 489-527.

Cullen, J., Jacob, B. and Levitt, S. (2006).  “The Effect of School Choice on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Randomized Lotteries.”  Econometrica.  74(5): 1191-1230. 

Jacob, B.  (2005).  “Accountability, Incentives and Behavior:  Evidence from School Reform in Chicago.”  Journal of Public Economics.  89(5-6): 761-796.

Cullen, J., Jacob, B. and Levitt, S.  (2005).  “The Impact of School Choice on Student Outcomes: An Analysis of the Chicago Public Schools.”  Journal of Public Economics. 89(5-6): 729-760.

Jacob, B. (2004).  “Public Housing, Housing Vouchers and Student Achievement: Evidence from Public Housing Demolitions in Chicago.”  American Economic Review.  94(1): 233-258.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2004).  “Remedial Education and Student Achievement: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis.”  Review of Economics and Statistics.  LXXXVI (1): 226-244.  

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2004).  “The Impact of Teacher Training on Student Achievement: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from School Reform Efforts in Chicago.”  Journal of Human Resources. 39(1) : 50-79.

Jacob, B. and Lefgren, L. (2003).  “Are Idle Hands the Devil’s Workshop?  Incapacitation, Concentration and Juvenile Crime.”  American Economic Review.  93(5): 1560-1577.

Jacob, B. and Levitt, S. (2003).  “Rotten Apples: An Investigation of the Prevalence and Predictors of Teacher Cheating.”  Quarterly Journal of Economics. 118(3): 843-877.    

Roderick, M., Jacob, B. and Bryk, A.  (2002).  “The Impact of High-Stakes Testing in Chicago on Student Achievement in the Promotional Gate Grades.”  Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.  24(4): 333-357.

Jacob, B. (2002).  “Where the Boys Aren’t:  Non-Cognitive Skills, Returns to School and the Gender Gap in Higher Education”  Economics of Education Review.  21: 589-598.

Jacob, B. (2001).  “Getting Tough?  The Impact of Mandatory High School Graduation Exams on Student Achievement and Dropout Rates.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 23(2): 99-122.
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Jacob, B. (1995).  "Defining 'Culture' in Multicultural Education: Community, Competition and Cultural Hierarchy at Heritage High."  American Journal of Education 103 (August), 339-76. ​

AFFILIATIONS

Youth Policy Lab, University of Michigan

The University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab was launched in 2016 with a vision for reducing socio-economic disparities through improvements in education and other social policies affecting youth. By developing evidence-based, policy-relevant research in partnership with local and state agencies, practitioners, and policymakers, Dr. Robin Jacob and Dr. Brian Jacob sought to build upon their exemplary careers in social science research by taking research findings out of academic journals and putting them in the hands of decision-makers.

Education Policy Initiative, University of Michigan

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) was launched as a research area within the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. It became a stand-alone research center in 2012 under the leadership of Professors Susan Dynarski and Brian Jacob.