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Jonathan Smith

@jonisaacsmith.bsky.social

1.2K followers 470 following 26 posts

Education economist and professor @ Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Economics Department | Co-editor Economics of Education Review | https://sites.google.com/site/jonathansmithphd/

Education 66%

Economics 9%

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Reposted by Jonathan Smith, Aaron Sojourner

Lauren Hoehn-Velasco @lhoehnvelasco.bsky.social · 18d

Meet the 2025–2026 job market candidates from GSU Economics! 🎉
@gsueconomics.bsky.social #econsky

👇 Here’s a quick introduction to each candidate.

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 21d

Huge thanks to @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social for arranging my visit.

GSU has an impressive econ department, full of great applied micro folks and the Georgia Policy Lab that supports work directly relevant to improving public policy.

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 21d

What better way to end my trip to Georgia State University, then to run into Chloe Gibbs coming back from giving a talk at Duke!

chloe gibbs @chloergibbs.bsky.social · 21d

When the Boston and South Bend gates are next to each other at ATL… great to see @joshua-goodman.com on his way home from Georgia State on my way home from Duke!

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Lauren Hoehn-Velasco @lhoehnvelasco.bsky.social · Aug 17

Our 2nd annual @gsueconomics.bsky.social PhD Summer Symposium was a success! 🎉 It was great to showcase our GSU Economics JMCs for 2025–26.

Thanks to @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social y.social for co-organizing, and a big thank-you to our endowed chairs for sponsoring this event!

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Jul 30

Sounds about right to me.

Morgan Polikoff @mpolikoff.bsky.social · Jul 30

"[Black] students initially enrolling in a HBCU are 14.6 percentage pts more likely to earn a bachelor's degree and, ... have higher household income and more student loan balances... driven by relatively broad-access HBCUs in lieu of a two-year college or no college." www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes

(August 2025) - Using data from nearly 1.2 million Black SAT takers, we find that students initially enrolling in a historically Black college and university (HBCU) are 14.6 percentage points more lik...

Reposted by Caroline Krafft, Joshua Goodman, Jonathan Smith

Morgan Polikoff @mpolikoff.bsky.social · Jul 30

"[Black] students initially enrolling in a HBCU are 14.6 percentage pts more likely to earn a bachelor's degree and, ... have higher household income and more student loan balances... driven by relatively broad-access HBCUs in lieu of a two-year college or no college." www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes

(August 2025) - Using data from nearly 1.2 million Black SAT takers, we find that students initially enrolling in a historically Black college and university (HBCU) are 14.6 percentage points more lik...

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · Jun 27

Hopkins shows clearly that this is not about wokeness, or antisemitism, or whatever other excuse they may claim. It’s about bringing universities to heel, following the playbook of authoritarians everywhere.

Reposted by Jonathan Smith, Fabrizio Bernardi

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Jun 12

Did you know that your siblings can influence whether you vote?

Well, because of our new working paper you do!

@mike-bloem.bsky.social, @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social, sam imlay

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Jun 12

Deep cut. And better/accurate spelling of Marcia.

David Darmofal @daviddarmofal.bsky.social · Jun 12

Greg voted for Pat Conway over Marcia :)

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

David Darmofal @daviddarmofal.bsky.social · Jun 12

Greg voted for Pat Conway over Marcia :)

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Jun 12

Depends on whether Marsha voted. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha..

Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · Jun 12

So did the Brady brunch always vote or never vote? Need to think about real world implications

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · Jun 12

So did the Brady brunch always vote or never vote? Need to think about real world implications

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Jun 12

The suspense is killing me...I hope it will last.

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Jun 12

We are now!!

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Jun 12

We are now!!

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Jun 10

I'm lucky enough to have Alex as my new-ish colleague! Go @gsueconomics.bsky.social!

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · Jun 10

Super interesting column @equitablegrowth.bsky.social by Alex Bell on how identification by anti-instruments reveals attribute tradeoffs, applied to job quality.

Got to see him present it @upjohninstitute.bsky.social recently. New & interesting.
#EconSky
equitablegrowth.org/the-hidden-t...

The hidden trade-offs of nonwage job amenities for U.S. workers

Research shows that “amenity trade-offs” can account for as much as two-thirds of the gender pay gap.

equitablegrowth.org

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · Jun 10

Super interesting column @equitablegrowth.bsky.social by Alex Bell on how identification by anti-instruments reveals attribute tradeoffs, applied to job quality.

Got to see him present it @upjohninstitute.bsky.social recently. New & interesting.
#EconSky
equitablegrowth.org/the-hidden-t...

The hidden trade-offs of nonwage job amenities for U.S. workers

Research shows that “amenity trade-offs” can account for as much as two-thirds of the gender pay gap.

equitablegrowth.org

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · May 11

This looks familiar and great!

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management @jpam-dc.bsky.social · Apr 21

Early view from JPAM: "Time to baccalaureate degree in the labor market: Evidence from a field experiment" by Michael Bloem (@mike-bloem.bsky.social) from College Board (@collegeboardpress.bsky.social).
doi.org/10.1002/pam.....

Time to baccalaureate degree in the labor market: Evidence from a field experiment

I study whether the amount of time students take to complete their bachelor's degree affects labor outcomes after graduation using a resume-based field experiment. I randomly assign a time to degree ...

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Georgia State Economics Dept. and Seminar Series @gsueconomics.bsky.social · Apr 5

Congrats to our own Economics faculty member @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social for receiving the 2025 GSU Ignite Faculty Research Partnership Award for his work with Achieve Atlanta !!!

Economist Jonathan Smith Receives Georgia State Ignite Research Award news.gsu.edu/2025/04/04/e...

Economist Jonathan Smith Receives Georgia State Ignite Research Award

The Faculty Research Partnership Award recognizes an individual who, in partnership with an external, non-academic entity, conducts research that makes a significant impact.

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Mar 29

The chilling effect of canceling student visas is likely to go beyond the impacts of “typical” student visa restrictiveness, which my work shows pushes away the best and brightest students from the US. Not smart policy, but we seem to be way beyond that…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Best and brightest? The impact of student visa restrictiveness on who attends college in the US

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, student F-1 visa applicants faced a 27 percent refusal rate that varies by time and region. Recent immigration policies …

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Matt Collin @mattcollin.bsky.social · Mar 28

A new practitioner's guide to staggered difference-in-difference designs

arxiv.org/pdf/2503.13323

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Jen Jennings @jenjennings.bsky.social · Mar 21

"International students increase schools’ funding via tuition payments, which leads to increased in-state enrollment and lower tuition prices."

Link to working paper below

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Thad Domina @t-h-a-d.bsky.social · Mar 19

This is the way. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia

American universities have given the country prosperity and security. The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom endangers all of that.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · Mar 17

Meet Evan Anzoo, a five-year-old boy in South Sudan who died when Elon Musk shut down USAID and the boy lost access to his HIV meds. Musk says no one has died because of the aid shutdown, but that's because he didn't look. RIP, Evan, you deserved better. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Reposted by Michael Harris, Jonathan Smith, Elaine Hill , and 4 more Michael Harris, Jonathan Smith, Elaine Hill, Roddy Theobald, Allison Lombardi, Gary Hollibaugh, Danila Serra

AERA @aeraedresearch.bsky.social · Mar 14

AERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Mar 10

Maybe we can add an asterisk on your name, "*Published, in spite of Josh's comments."

Jonathan Smith @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social · Mar 10

That looks like a good paper, even if it is so five years ago. Thanks to all who offered helpful comments along the way.

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

The JHR @j-humanresources.bsky.social · Mar 10

Access to public four-year colleges boosts earnings and stability. @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social, @joshua-goodman.com, and Michael Hurwitz analyze college access’s long-term effects, showing students gain greater career mobility and security.
doi.org/10.3368/jhr....

article screenshot
The Economic Impact of Access to Public Four-Year Colleges
Jonathan Smith, Joshua Goodman and Michael Hurwitz
Abstract
We estimate the economic impacts of students’ access to an entire sector of U.S. public higher education. Approximately half of Georgia high school graduates who enroll in college do so in the state’s public four-year sector, which requires minimum SAT scores for admission. Regression discontinuity estimates show enrollment in public four-year institutions boosts students’ estimated household income around age 30 by about 17 percent and has even larger impacts for those from low-income high schools. Access to this sector has little clear impact on financial health or student loan balances. For the marginal student, and particularly for those from low-income high schools, enrollment in such institutions has large private returns in the short run and positive returns to state budgets in the long run.

Reposted by Jonathan Smith, Andrew M. Penner

Reposted by Lisa M. Thompson, Donald Tomaskovic‐Devey, Laurie S. Goodman , and 5 more Lisa M. Thompson, Donald Tomaskovic‐Devey, Laurie S. Goodman, Miri Rubin, Jonathan Smith, John Collins, Christine Angelini, Kathy Hall

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · Mar 1

NEW: Senator Marshall (R-KS) RUNS AWAY, fleeing his own town hall after being asked about DOGE firing Veterans. MAKE HIM GO VIRAL.

Reposted by Jonathan Smith

Jeff Denning @jeffdenning.com · Feb 24

How are parents affected by their kid going to college? How are they affected when their kid gets a scholarship or grant?

New working paper with @palaashbhargava.bsky.social @econsandy.bsky.social @odedgurantz.bsky.social and Rob Fairlie

www.nber.org/papers/w33497