dc.title: Essays on applied microeconomics and social policy dc.description.abstract: This dissertation consists of three essays on social policy, and the economics of health and education. The first essay studies the effects of targeted school funding on student outcomes, using a lawsuit settlement that allocated additional resources to the lowest-performing schools in Los Angeles as a natural experiment. The second essay examines the mental health costs of heat exposure in Mexico, estimating effects on well-being, emergency department visits, and suicides using nationwide administrative data. The third essay studies the effectiveness and behavioral impacts of an AI-powered mental health care app in a randomized controlled trial among Mexican women experiencing psychological distress.