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I’m currently a 5th-year PhD Student at Penn State University, where I’m specializing in the Economics of Education, Experimental Economics, and Development Economics. I will be on the 2025/26 job market.

My work centers around decision-making processes of students, with a focus on pre-college students. Uncovering hidden motivations behind the decisions students make-whether big or small- and finding potential explanations for the puzzling outcomes excites me.

I utilize a range of tools in my research, including theoretical modeling, innovative data collection through experimental methods, machine learning, and structural estimation. I collaborate with local state entities, high schools, and NGOs to ease the data collection and project development.

PhD Candidate, curious about behavioral topics in education and development economics.
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Esma Özer

PhD Candidate, Penn State University