This dissertation examines the impact of state educational programs on the economics of education and labor, focusing on the New York State (NYS) STEM Incentive Program and China's tuition-free policy for vocational secondary education (VSE). The first two Chapters analyze the effects of the NYS STEM Incentive Program, an initiative implemented in…

Internships are a vital component of vocational education systems. The aim of this study is to understand whether internship programs at vocational schools are correlated with the long-run wages of students. To analyze this, I conduct three sets of analyses using longitudinal survey data from 2013 to 2014 on more than 12,000 vocational students in…

About 75% of U.S.-trained, non-citizen PhDs in science and engineering work in the U.S. after graduation, and 54% of those who stay take postdoctoral positions. The probability of postdoctoral participation is substantially higher for temporary visa holders than for permanent visa holders because of visa-related restrictions in the U.S. labor…