Essays on Charitable Organizations and Public Policy

The dissertation analyzes public policies of subsidization and regulation in three contexts. Chapter 1 develops a dynamic bunching empirical design and uses it to estimate the compliance cost that IRS reporting requirements impose on public charities. Chapter 2 estimates the effects of tax and enforcement provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 on charitable foundations and their donors. Chapter 3 estimates the impact of Pell Grant aid on student attainment and borrowing.