Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference.

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Some information on the session logistics:

If not stated otherwise, the discussant is the following speaker, with the first speaker being the discussant of the last paper. The last speaker of each session is the session chair. (Exception: invited sessions)

Presenters should speak for no more than 20 minutes, and discussants should limit their remarks to no more than 5 minutes. The remaining time should be reserved for audience questions and the presenter’s responses. We suggest following these guidelines also in the (less common) 3-paper sessions in a 2-hour slot, to allow participants to move between sessions. Discussants are encouraged to avoid summarizing the paper. By focusing on a few questions and comments, the discussants can help start a broader discussion with the audience.

Only registered participants can attend this conference. Further information available on the congress website https://www.iseg.ulisboa.pt/en/event/iipf/ .

Venue address: ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics & Management, R. Francesinhas 21, 1200-675 Lisboa, Portugal

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 17th Sept 2026, 11:39:40am WEST

Session

A07: Education Spending, Gender Gaps, and Peer Effects Location: Room 107 (Francesinhas 1)

Presentation 2

When Money Shouldn’t Matter: The Effect of State Education Spending on Special Education Identification Elizabeth Dhuey1, Tammy Kolbe2 1: University of Toronto, Canada; 2: American Institutes for Research We estimate the causal effect of per-pupil expenditure on special education identification rates in U.S. school districts. While prior work has examined how categorical funding formula design shapes identification decisions, no study has estimated whether overall district resource levels affect identification rates. Using an unbalanced panel of approximately 11,600 districts from 1991 to 2017, we instrument for per-pupil expenditure with the plausibly exogenous timing of court-ordered and legislative school finance reforms. An event-study analysis confirms these reforms increase per-pupil expenditure with no evidence of differential pre-trends. Our preferred IV estimate indicates a $1,000 increase in per-pupil expenditure raises the share of students identified for special education by approximately 1.1 percentage points, or 8 percent relative to the sample mean. Effects are larger in districts with higher proportions of Black residents, college-educated adults, and higher median incomes. These findings suggest resource constraints meaningfully shape local special education identification decisions.