Colloquium: Essays on Public Policies and Human Capital

ABSTRACT:  This cumulative dissertation studies how early-life public policies shape human capital formation. Exploiting variation induced by public policy reforms in Germany, the papers study how interventions at different stages of childhood affect multiple dimensions of human capital (e.g., non-cognitive skills, educational attainment and health). Overall, the dissertation contributes to a better understanding of the importance of early-life conditions for human capital formation in both the short and the long run.