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Economic Report of the President 2016

February 22, 2016

Council of Economic Advisers | Inequality (chapter 1) and early childhood disparities (chapter 4) were a central focus of this year's annual report, drawing extensively on research by many Inequality & Social Policy faculty and alumni. We are particularly partial to p. 182, which cites work by (then) doctoral fellow Sarah Cohodes et. al., "The Effect of Child Health Insurance Access on Schooling." Cohodes (Ph.D. '15) is now an Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University.



Closing the Opportunity Gap Report

March 16, 2016

The Saguaro Seminar—Harvard Kennedy School | In 2015, the Saguaro Seminar, led by Robert D. Putnam, Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, launched the Closing the Opportunity Gap initiative. The initiative convened five working groups of the country’s leading experts in each of five areas: family and parenting, early childhood, K-12 education, community institutions, and “on-ramps” (like community college or apprenticeships).

Patrick Sharkey (Ph.D. '07) of New York University, a contributor to the community working group, co-authored the chapter on "Rebuilding Communities to Help Close the Opportunity Gap."



Turning the Tide: Evidence on State Takeover and District Turnaround from Lawrence, Massachusetts

April 13, 2016

Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston | By Beth E. Schueler (Doctoral candidate in Education), Joshua S. Goodman (Harvard Kennedy School), and David Deming (HGSE). A policy brief based on their research findings, which "provide encouraging evidence that accountability-driven improvement of chronically underperforming districts is possible."



Economic Perspectives on Incarceration and the Criminal Justice System

April 25, 2016

Council of Economic Advisers | The Council of Economic Advisers makes the economic case for criminal justice reform. The report draws on and cites academic research by Inequality & Social Policy affiliates Bruce Western, Amitabh Chandra, David Deming, Roland Fryer, David Hureau (Ph.D. candidate in Sociology & Social Policy), Devah Pager, and Robert J. Sampson.



Aiming Higher Together: Strategizing Better Educational Outcomes for Boys and Young Men of Color

May 10, 2016

Urban Institute | By Ronald F. Ferguson, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. Boys and young men of color remain overrepresented among those who do not excel academically and face home, school, peer-group, and societal disadvantages relative to their white peers. This report proposes strategies to achieve a person-environment fit that can change dynamics and lead to better educational outcomes for these students.



When Mass Shootings Lead to Looser Gun Restrictions

May 12, 2016

Harvard Business School: Working Knowledge | Reviews key findings in the study “The Impact of Mass Shootings on Gun Policy,” co-authored by Michael Luca, Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School, and colleagues Deepak Malhotra and Christopher Poliquin.



Securing Our Financial Future: Recommendations for Retirement Security and Personal Savings

June 9, 2016

Bipartisan Policy Center | Brigitte Madrian, Aetna Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management at HKS and a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings, participated in the public release of Securing our Financial Future, the commission's final report and policy recommendations.
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Why has regional income convergence declined?

August 4, 2016

The Brookings Institution | By Peter Ganong, Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and Daniel Shoag (Ph.D. '11), Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.

For one hundred years, per capita incomes in poorer U.S. states have grown more rapidly than incomes in richer states, narrowing the gap between them.  Over the past three decades, though, the rate of convergence has slowed sharply. It has become more difficult for poorer states to catch up with richer states. In a paper presented at the Municipal Finance Conference, Ganong and Shoag attribute this slowdown in convergence to increasingly tight land use regulations in wealthy areas.



Creating Mobility from Poverty: An Overview of Strategies

August 25, 2016

Urban Institute | By David Ellwood, Mary Bogle, Gregory Acs, Kelley S. Mikelson, and Susan J. Popkin. David Ellwood is the Scott M. Black Professor of Political Economy and Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. This report is part of an evolving body of work informing the U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty, which Ellwood chairs. 



Housing Development Toolkit

September 26, 2016

The White House | The Obama administration issued a policy brief that takes aim at accumulated barriers to housing development, zoning and other land-use regulations that the administration argues are jeopardizing housing affordability, increasing income inequality by reducing access to high-wage labor  markets, and stifling economic growth. The report cites Sociology faculty member Matthew Desmond's Evicted, noting the lasting trauma that extreme rent burdens and housing insecurity can pose for families, and draws extensively on research by Peter Ganong and Daniel Shoag (Ph.D. '11 and HKS faculty), Edward Glaeser (Economics), and Raven (Saks) Malloy (Ph.D. '05), now section chief with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, on the rise and consequences of land-use regulations.

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