Essays in Education and Labor Economics

This dissertation examines how three distinct features of school systems causally affect students' non-cognitive skills and academic achievement, their long-term labor market outcomes, and housing market valuations. The first chapter analyzes the impact of after-school programs in German secondary schools on adolescents' academic achievement and non-cognitive skills, finding no evidence of impacts on these outcomes. The second chapter studies the effects of school choice opportunities among public primary schools on house prices. It shows that house prices increase where improved local school choice options became available after a reform, highlighting the valuation of education access. The third chapter investigates the long-term labor market effects of exposure to teachers who differ in their ability to improve students' grades and secondary school attainment (so-called teacher value added). Using data from Swedish primary schools in the 1930s and 1940s, it documents substantial variation in teacher value added and shows that higher teacher value added increases students' earnings at age 35--40. Together, the three chapters provide new evidence on how after-school programs, school choice, and teachers shape skill development, later labor market outcomes, and the house market valuation of educational opportunities.