Conference showcasing latest in public policy runs from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9.
November 07, 2019

Leading scholars from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy will be among those convening in Denver, Colorado, to discuss current and emerging public policy issues at the 41st annual Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) fall research conference from November 7 to November 9. The conference is titled “Rising to the Challenge: Engaging Diverse Perspectives on Issues and Evidence.” 

Eleven faculty, administrators, and PhD students will represent Harris’ evidence-based, data-driven approach as chairs, presenters, speakers, moderators, and organizers. The conference aims to connect scholars and practitioners across methodologies, disciplines, and perspectives. 

Harris’ featured faculty sessions include:  

  • Research Professor Robert Kaestner will chair two panels examining the health outcomes of soda taxes and questions surrounding Medicaid and Medicare, respectively. He will also moderate “Health Insurance Effects on Labor Supply, Retirement, and Marriage” and present a paper entitled Effects of the Minimum Wage on Infant Health.
  • Professor Ariel Kalil, who directs the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy and co-directs the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab, will present The Mpact Initiative: Using Behavioral Tools to Improve Children’s Early Math Skills at the session “Randomized Field Trials Testing the Power of Information to Improve Educational Outcomes.”
  • Jens Ludwig, the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at Harris, Crime Lab Director, and Education Lab Co-Director, will speak at the pre-conference workshop “Deploying Machine Learning Tools for Public Policy Impact” and at a super session he organized entitled “Machine Learning and Public Policy.” 
  • Bruce D. Meyer, the McCormick Foundation Professor at Harris, will present Poverty in the U.S. Using the Comprehensive Income Dataset at the session entitled “Poverty Measurement: Methods for Incorporating Benefits.” 

Several Harris Ph.D. students will present their research, including: 

  • Mariella Gonzales, Monetary Incentives to Vote: Evidence from a Nationwide Policy; 
  • Justin E. Holz, Network Effects in Public Use of Force;
  • Mariana Laverde, Racial Differences in Public School Assignments: The Case of Boston;
  • Seunghoon Lee, The Effect of Downstream Tax on Upstream Externality: Evidence from Food Waste Pricing; 
  • Miguel Morales-Mosquera, The Economic Value of Crime Control: A Large Investment on Police Infrastructure in Colombia; and
  • Wendy Wong, Designing Optimal Audits By the Government: The Temporary Effect of Audits of India’s Welfare Program.

In addition, Julia Quinn, associate director at the Crime Lab and Education Lab, will be participating in a roundtable discussion, “Designed for Impact: How the Policy Lab Model Ensures Research that Matters.”

Harris will host a reception on Friday, November 8 from 6:30-8:00 p.m., featuring remarks from former dean and Harris Professor Colm O'Muircheartaigh.  The reception will be held in Plaza Court 3 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown, the conference venue.  

Conference attendees are encouraged to stop by Booth 300 to learn more about Harris research, programs and impact.