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Kourtney Koebel

University of Toronto, Canada

The vast repository of synthesized knowledge made available through the IZA World of Labor project provides access to credible, straightforward summaries of otherwise very large and technical literatures. By enhancing the diffusion of current academic research, the project directly supports policymakers, researchers, and students all over the world who are seeking to address a wide range of complex social and policy concerns

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

PhD Candidate, University of Toronto, Canada

Research interest

Labor markets, social policy, poverty alleviation strategies, maternal labor supply, human capital development

Website

https://kourtneykoebel.ca/

Past positions

Graduate Course Instructor, Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto (2021–2022)

Qualifications

MA Economics, Queen's University, Canada, 2016; MA Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada, 2017

Selected publications

  • "Public policy in a time of crisis: A framework for evaluating Canada’s COVID-19 income support programs." Canadian Public Policy 47:2 (2021): 316–333 (with D. Pohler, R. Gomez, and A. Mohan).

  • "Labor markets in crisis: The double liability of low-wage work during COVID-19." Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society (Berkeley) 59:4 (2020): 503–531 (with D. Pohler).

  • "Expanding the Canada Workers Benefit to design a guaranteed basic income." Canadian Public Policy 45:3 (2019): 283–309 (with D. Pohler).

  • "The differential impact of universal child benefits on the labour supply of married and single mothers." Canadian Public Policy 42:1 (2016): 49–64 (with T. Schirle).

  • "Gender disparities in the labour market? Examining the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta." The School of Public Policy Publications 14:18 (2021): 1–35 (with J. Baker and L. M. Tedds).

article(s)

  • Is there an optimal school starting age? Updated

    It depends: older children perform better on standardized tests, but evidence of older school starting ages on long-term outcomes is mixed

    Elizabeth DhueyKourtney Koebel, April 2022
    There is a widely held belief that older students, by virtue of being more mature and readier to learn at school entry, may have better academic, employment, and earnings outcomes compared to their younger counterparts. There are understated, albeit important, costs to starting school later, however. Compulsory school-attendance laws may allow these same older pupils to drop out of high school earlier, which could adversely impact their employment; entering the workforce later also has implications for lifetime earnings and remittances to governments. Overall, research suggests that school-age entry policies can improve student achievement in the short term, but the long-term impacts are currently not well-understood.
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