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Sarah Komisarow

Assistant Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Box 90312, Durham, NC 27708
232 Rubenstein Hall, Box 90312, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Sarah Komisarow is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics in the Sanford School of Public Policy, a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Child & Family Policy, and a Faculty Scholar at the Duke University Population Research Institute. She is an applied microeconomist with research interests in the economics of education and K-12 education policy. She graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Public Policy Studies in 2008 and from the University of Chicago with a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Her personal website can be accessed here: https://sites.google.com/site/sarahkomisarow/home

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2016 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Assistant Professor of Economics · 2018 - Present Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy · 2025 - Present Center for Child and Family Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy

In the News


Published December 3, 2024
Research & Innovation Seed Grants Total Nearly $2 Million
Published October 17, 2023
Helping Social Scientists Grow an Idea into a Research Project

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Recent Publications


When does crime respond to punishment?: Evidence from drug-free school zones

Journal Article Journal of Urban Economics · May 1, 2025 Economic theory suggests that crime should respond to punishment severity. However, empirical evidence on this link is ambiguous. We propose one explanation for this discrepancy: Punishments deter crime but only when the probability of detection is moderat ... Full text Cite

SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CARE AND ABSENTEEISM: EVIDENCE FROM TELEMEDICINE

Journal Article Education Finance and Policy · March 1, 2024 The prevalence of school-based health care has increased markedly over the past decade. We study a modern mode of school-based health care, telemedicine, that offers the potential to reach places and populations with historically low access to such care. S ... Full text Cite

CAN COMMUNITY CRIME MONITORING REDUCE STUDENT ABSENTEEISM?

Journal Article Education Finance and Policy · March 1, 2023 In this paper we study the impact on student absenteeism of a large, school-based community crime monitoring program that employed local community members to monitor and report crime on designated city blocks during times when students traveled to and from ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


The Impacts of Guns in High Schools

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Russell Sage Foundation · 2025 - 2027

Hunt-CCFP Research Fellows

Institutional SupportResearch Scientist · Awarded by James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation. · 2020 - 2021

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Education, Training & Certifications


The University of Chicago · 2016 Ph.D.
The University of Chicago · 2012 M.A.
Duke University · 2008 B.A.

External Links


Personal Website