Working Papers

Peer Influence and College Major Choices in Male-Dominated Fields [job market paper]
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This paper investigates the causal impact of high school peers’ choices on individuals’ college major choices, while also exploring whether the gender of both individuals and their peers plays a mediating role in these effects. Utilizing Chilean data spanning from 2006 to 2019, this study addresses key challenges in the peer effects literature and proposes two distinct approaches. The first approach explores idiosyncratic within-school variations in the proportion of classmates enrolled in male-dominated post-secondary programs. The second approach employs a regression discontinuity design, taking advantage of the unpredictable admission cutoffs within the centralized admission system for Chilean universities. The primary findings indicate that both classroom peers and older high school peers significantly shape students’ choices of college majors in male-dominated fields. Furthermore, the results suggest the greater influence of female peers enrolled in male-dominated areas compared to male peers, particularly in influencing female applicants towards similar majors.

Migration of High School Graduates: How Relevant are the Degree Type and Field of Study? (with Mary Arends-Kuenning, Sandy Dall’erba, William Ridley)
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The distribution of human capital plays a crucial role in shaping job opportunities, income levels, and the overall regional labor force in both the short and long term. This paper utilizes a unique dataset encompassing all Chilean students pursuing higher education from 2011 to 2017 to examine how geography, tertiary institution type, and field of study influence students’ migration decisions. Our findings provide novel insights on the forces that shape the locational and programmatic decisions of students in higher education, and thus, the inter-regional distribution of human capital. Employing a gravity model approach, the findings emphasize that variations in migration patterns are influenced by factors such as the type of institution, field of study, and the regions of origin and destination for students. The estimates reveal disparities in how Vocational degrees attract students from their own regions and neighboring areas compared to universities offering Bachelor’s Degrees. Furthermore, the analysis of different fields of study suggests that Education, Health, and Technology and Engineering tend to attract students from their local communities, although the degree of heterogeneity across fields is less pronounced. The results also indicate an inter-regional polarization in educational resources, with the capital region attracting a disproportionately higher number of students from other regions.

Work in Progress

Quality Certification in Higher Education: A Policy Evaluation from Chile (with Cristhian Molina)

The Effect of Transitory Environmental Factors on Human Capital Formation: Evidence from Chile (with Verónica Vienne, Ron Chan, Jeanne Tschopp, and Martino Pelli)

Assessing the Effect of Commuting on School Performance: Evidence from Chile (with Esteban López and Patricio Aroca)

Publications

Anukriti, Herrera-Almanza, Karra, Valdebenito (2022). Convincing the Mummy-ji: Improving Mother-in-Law Approval of Family Planning in India. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112, 568-72. [link]

Aroca, González, Valdebenito (2017). The heterogeneous level of life quality across Chilean regions. Habitat International 68, 84-98. [link]