Dr. Eric Brunner, Professor & MPA & MPP Program Director, Department of Public Policy, University of Connecticut
Seminar Title: “School District Revenue Shocks, Resource Allocations, and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Universe of U.S. Wind Energy Installations”
Abstract: We use data on the timing and location of the universe of wind energy installations in the U.S. from 1995 through 2016 to examine the impacts of wind energy installation on school district revenues, expenditures, resource allocations, and student achievement. We find that wind energy installation led to large, exogenous increases in local revenues to school districts, with only minimal offsetting reductions in state-aid. Per-pupil expenditures increased accordingly, with the majority of the revenues spent on capital outlays, causing dramatic increases in capital expenditures, but only modest increases in current expenditures and modest declines in pupil teacher ratios. We find fairly precisely estimated zero impacts of wind energy installation on school district average test scores through several years after wind energy installation, suggesting that the capital investments on which these districts spent most of the marginal dollar, while perhaps having other benefits to students, had little or no detectable impact on their achievement.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
2:30pm-3:30pm
Location: White 209
View the full Fall 2019 ARE Seminar Schedule
For more information, contact: Tatiana Andreyeva at tatiana.andreyeva@uconn.edu