| Summary: | This dissertation contains two essays on the economics of children's education and health. The first essay, "Public Health Regulation and Mortality: Evidence from Early 20th Century Milk Laws," documents the introduction of regulations in the market for cow's milk in large U.S. cities during the early 20th century and investigates the impacts of these regulations on the mortality of infants and young children. The second essay, "The Effects of Welfare Work Requirements on High School Dropout and Teen Unemployment: TANF as a Conditional Cash Transfer," investigates the impacts of changes in post-1996, state-level welfare program rules on the idleness and school enrollment behaviors of teenagers living in welfare-recipient households. In addition to these essays, I also present a chapter in which I provide detailed information about the data sources used to produce the empirical results in these two main essays. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).
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