Will Dobbie

Harvard Kennedy School


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Peer-Reviewed Publications

Increasing the Demand for Workers with a Criminal Record 

with Zoë Cullen and Mitchell Hoffman

Quarterly Journal of Economics, 138(1): 103-150, 2023.

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Measuring Racial Discrimination in Bail Decisions 

with David Arnold  and Peter Hull

American Economic Review, 112(9): 2992-3038, 2022.

See also: pre-publication version

Measuring Bias in Consumer Lending 

with Andres Liberman, Daniel Paravisini, and Vikram Pathania

Review of Economic Studies, 88(6): 2799-2832, 2021

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Bad Credit, No Problem? Credit and Labor Market Consequences of Bad Credit Reports

with Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Neale Mahoney, and Jae Song

Journal of Finance, 75(5): 2377-2419, 2020.

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Charter Schools and Labor Market Outcomes

with Roland Fryer

Journal of Labor Economics, 38(4): 915-957, 2020

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Targeted Debt Relief and the Origins of Financial Distress: Experimental Evidence from Distressed Credit Card Borrowers 

with Jae Song

American Economic Review, 110(4): 984-1018, 2020. 

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

The Causes and Consequences of Test Score Manipulation: Evidence from the New York Regents Examinations

with Thomas Dee, Brian Jacob, and Jonah Rockoff

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11(3): 382-423, 2019.

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Racial Bias in Bail Decisions 

with David Arnold and Crystal Yang

Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(4): 1885-1932, 2018.

See also:  pre-publication version, online appendix, correction appendix

The Effects of Pre-Trial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges

with Jacob Goldin and Crystal Yang

American Economic Review, 108(2): 201-240, 2018. 

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Consumer Bankruptcy and Financial Health

with Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham and Crystal Yang

Review of Economics and Statistics, 99(5): 853-869, 2017. 

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

The Medium-Term Impacts of High-Achieving Charter Schools

with Roland Fryer

Journal of Political Economy, 123(5): 985-1037, 2015. 

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Debt Relief and Debtor Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Consumer Bankruptcy Protection

with Jae Song

American Economic Review, 105(3): 1272-1311, 2015. 

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

The Impact of Voluntary Youth Service on Future Outcomes: Evidence from Teach For America

with Roland Fryer

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 15(3): 1031-1066, 2015.  

See also:  pre-publication version, online appendix

The Impact of Attending a School with High-Achieving Peers: Evidence from the New York City Exam Schools

with Roland Fryer

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 6(3): 58-75, 2014. 

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Getting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence From New York City

with Roland Fryer

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(4): 28-60, 2013.  

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Information Asymmetries in Consumer Credit Markets: Evidence from Payday Lending 

with Paige Marta Skiba

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(4): 256-258, 2013.  

See also: pre-publication version, online appendix

Are High-Quality Schools Enough to Increase Achievement Among the Poor? Evidence from the Harlem Children's Zone

with Roland Fryer

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(3): 158-187, 2011.  

See also: pre-publication version

Other Publications


Algorithmic Recommendations When the Stakes are High: Evidence from Judicial Elections

with Victoria Angelova and Crystal Yang

American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 114: 633-637, 2024.

The Economic Costs of Pretrial Detention

with Crystal Yang

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2021.

The U.S. Pretrial System: Balancing Individual Rights and Public Interests

with Crystal Yang

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 35(4): 49-70, 2021.

Measuring Racial Discrimination in Algorithms

with David Arnold  and Peter Hull

American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 111: 49-54, 2021


Equal Protection Under Algorithms: A New Statistical and Legal Framework

with Crystal Yang

Michigan Law Review, 119(2): 291-396, 2020.


Proposals for Improving the U.S. Pretrial System

with Crystal Yang

The Hamilton Project, 2019