Essays on Public, Health, and Labor Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays examining critical issues in public, health, and labor economics, each leveraging rigorous empirical approaches to inform important policy debates. The first essay analyzes the 2021 expansion of the Child Tax Credit using both a Regression Discontinuity Design and a Difference-in-Differences framework with Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Results show households allocated most of the advanced payments to essentials, spending $0.82 of every dollar received, primarily on food ($0.27) and housing ($0.31). However, spending patterns were not significantly different from those associated with Economic Impact Payments, suggesting that while the expanded Child Tax Credit improved household well-being, its framing as a child-specific benefit did not notably influence spending behavior. The second essay investigates the impact of "Ban the Box" policies on criminal recidivism rates in Florida. Employing a detailed administrative dataset of former prisoners coupled with employment data, the study reveals that these policies significantly affect recidivism, although outcomes vary by demographic group. While intended to reduce employment barriers and subsequent crime, "Ban the Box" policies inadvertently increase statistical discrimination in hiring, underscoring the complexity of designing effective criminal justice reforms that balance equity and efficiency. The third essay explores how cigarette excise taxes affect household budget allocation among smokers. Utilizing both a randomized survey experiment and a quasi-experimental analysis of the Consumer Expenditure Survey, findings indicate smokers adjust by altering shopping behaviors and substituting other tobacco products. Notably, increased cigarette taxes lead to significant budget reductions in discretionary and non-discretionary expenditures, highlighting the regressive impact of cigarette taxes, particularly among lower-income smokers. Collectively, these essays provide nuanced insights into how policy mechanisms shape individual and household economic behaviors, with significant implications for policymakers aiming to enhance social welfare through targeted fiscal and labor-market interventions.