Kejda Llana

Mission & History

Doctoral Candidate, Public Policy and Administration
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration

91原创

Biography

Kejda Llana is a doctoral candidate (public policy and administration) in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the 91原创听(expected May 2026). She also currently serves as a research intern with the Federal Reserve听Bank of Philadelphia鈥檚 Consumer Finance Institute (CFI). Her research interests are in the fields听of Consumer Finance, Housing Policy, Education Policy, and Health Policy. Her work focuses on applied microeconomics, combining causal inference, large administrative and public datasets, and spatial analysis (GIS) to produce policy-relevant findings.

Kejda's job market paper, 鈥淏uilding Futures: The Impact of Affordable Housing on Student Achievement,鈥� examines the effects of affordable housing 鈥� specifically, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program 鈥� on student educational outcomes.听Using administrative听data linking millions of student-year observations with geocoded LIHTC developments听(2011鈥�2024), she utilizes a staggered difference-in-differences method to provide causal evidence听on how proximity to subsidized housing influences student attendance and achievement.听Findings suggest modest, but persistent effects that accumulate over time.

Her broader research agenda explores consumer finance, food insecurity, and health-related听research questions. Kejda has developed machine learning tools to predict food insufficiency using听retail sales data, analyzed medical debt collections following hospital mergers, and examined the听impact of Medicaid coverage expansions on the uptake of GLP-1 medications. She has presented her work at several national conferences, such as the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) and the Southern Economic Association (SEA).