Research

My research interests lie in the field of empirical microeconomics with a focus on the economics of education and health. To estimate the impact of policy reforms in these areas, I use quasi-experimental methods that leverage administrative and survey data. This approach allows me to gain insights into the effects of policy changes in real-world settings, and to identify the causal mechanisms behind these effects.

Working Papers

Spillovers in Fields of Study: Siblings, Cousins, and Neighbors

(with Nadine Ketel, Hessel Oosterbeek, and Bas van der Klaauw), under review, 2024

Abstract

We use admission lotteries for higher education studies in the Netherlands to investigate whether someone's field of study influences the study choices of their younger peers. We find that younger siblings and cousins are strongly affected. Also younger neighbors are affected but to a smaller extent. These findings indicate that a substantial part of the correlations in study choices between family members can be attributed to spillover effects and are not due to shared environments. Our findings concur with those of recent studies based on admission thresholds, which find sibling spillovers on college or college-major choices. This indicates that the results from previous studies can be extrapolated to students away from admission thresholds, and from siblings to cousins and neighbors.

Work in Progress

Doctor Quality and Patients' Health and Labor Outcomes

Pre-PhD Papers

Balancing Study and Work: Heterogeneous Impact of the Bologna Reform on the Labour Market

Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics (2024)

Abstract

The Bologna reform, the largest European education reform, was implemented in Russia in 2011. The reform shortened the duration of some undergraduate programmes by 1 year and compressed their curricula. Using a difference-in-differences design, I find that the reform had no short- or medium-term adverse effects on employment. However, I find that null average effects on wages mask considerable heterogeneity. I find that female students with high relative returns worked less during their studies, invested in their human capital, and secured stable wages. In contrast, male students with low relative returns underinvested in human capital and experienced a decline in wages.

International Collaboration in Higher Education Research: A Gravity Model Approach

Scientometrics (2021)

Abstract

Although geographical distance has become less relevant in co–authorship for monodisciplinary fields such as economics, mathematics, and physics, little is known about international collaboration in multidisciplinary fields such as higher education. This paper studies collaboration patterns in higher education research using the Scopus database with the application of the gravity model. The results show that the intensity of collaboration is negatively associated with geographical distance and positively associated with linguistic commonality but these findings differ significantly between various world regions. European scholars appear to give preference to linguistically proximate partners over geographical neighbours. Although English is the lingua franca in science, language is not a significant factor for the formation of collaboration for North American and Asian researchers. These findings have policy implications for fostering multidisciplinary research in international partnerships.