Savannah Kochinke

Department of Economics

Boston University

Boston, MA

I am a PhD student in Economics at Boston University. My research interests lie in labor economics, with a focus on the teacher labor force, K-12 education outcomes, and earnings inequities.

My current work examines the effects of teacher strikes on the teacher labor market. I hold Special Sworn Status (SSS) security clearance and have experience working with large Census administrative datasets, including the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) data and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) administrative records.

selected research

The Academic Consequences of Teacher Strikes

Savannah Kochinke

2026

Working Paper

Abs PDF Supp

Teacher strikes are increasingly common in the United States, but their effects on students are understudied. Using data from Illinois and temporal variation in school district exposure to strikes, I show that teacher strikes reduce achievement and enrollment rates. Math and ELA achievement fall by 0.074 standard deviations, with larger and more persistent effects for younger students, alongside enrollment declines concentrated in early grades. Effects do not scale with strike duration and I find no post-strike changes in class-sizes or teacher compensation, suggesting changes in the student population may be a key channel driving these changes.
The Effects of Franchising on Workers: Evidence from the United States

Rosemary Batt, Andrew Green, Savannah Kochinke, and 1 more author

2026

Work in Progress
Do Employment Dynamics Explain the Black-White Earnings Gap? Dual Roles of Wage & Separation Gaps

Adrien Bilal, Savannah Kochinke, Johannes F. Schmieder, and 1 more author

2026

Work in Progress. Awarded $75K Russell Sage Foundation Grant (2024)