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The CPR Connection Winter 2018

Syracuse UniversityCenter for Policy Research

Maxwell School426 Eggers Hall

Syracuse, NY 13244-1020

Telephone: 315-443-3114

Website:www.maxwell.syr.edu/cpr

DirectorLeonard Lopoo

Associate DirectorPeg Austin

Associate Director John Yinger

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Director’s Corner..................... 2

Grad Bag.................................. 2

Jerry Miner Lecture................ 2

Faculty Focus........................... 3

Camp Econometrics............... 3

Pillars of CPR............................ 4

Staff Stop................................. 5

From the Field......................... 5

Diplomatic Pouch.................... 6

The Lerner Center................... 7

Upcoming Events.................... 7

Volcker Lecture........................... 7

CPR Connection Editors:

Emily Henrich, Laura Walsh, and Katrina Wingle

Maxwell Syracuse University

CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH

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Director’s CornerGreetings from the fourth floor of Eggers Hall. The Fall Semester of the 2017-18 academic year has ended, and I am writing to pass along some of our highlights in CPR over the last few months.

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, in January, CPR launched the Maxwell X Lab. Joe Boskovski joined our staff as the Managing Director of the Lab after a stint at the North American office of the Behavioral Insights Team. At this point, we have a number of projects in the field that are nearing completion. We have partnered with the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion to evaluate their Healthy Monday programs and the School of Education at SU to assist with their SAT prep program for Syracuse City students. We have a number of other projects in the field, including work with the Early Childhood Alliance, the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York, and Beespace, a social innovation group. Please see the Maxwell X Lab website for more details.

We welcomed four new members to the CPR faculty team this year. Professor Colleen Heflin joined the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs from the Truman School at the University of Missouri. Colleen is an expert in social policy, poverty, and child and family policy. Shannon Monnat is the new Lerner Chair of Public Health Promotion and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology. Shannon studies social demography; social determinants of health and health disparities; spatial differences in morbidity and mortality; and inequality and social stratification. Saba Siddiki is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs, and her research foci are policy design, implementation, and compliance; collaborative governance; institutional analysis; sustainability technology and behavior; environmental policy; and food policy. Yulong Wang is an economist who just recently completed his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Yulong specializes in applied econometrics, risk management, and finance.

We had several outstanding CPR guests for our seminar series this fall. Orgul Ozturk (University of South Carolina) presented “When Does It Count? The Timing of Food Stamp Receipt and Educational Performance,” and Dylan Conger (George Washington University) presented “The Effect of Advanced Placement Courses on Student Skill Formation, Interest, and Confidence.” Dr. Gail D’Onofrio (Yale University) gave the 29th Annual Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture titled, “The Opioid Epidemic: A Practice & Policy Perspective,” in October. A video of the event can be found here.

The spring promises to be quite exciting at CPR as well. Raj Chetty, Professor of Economics at Stanford University, will present the Paul Volcker Lecture on March 26, 2018. Susan Dynarksi, Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and Education at the University of Michigan, will give the Jerry Miner Lecture on April 12, 2018. We also have a super line-up for our seminar series. Ingrid Gould Ellen (NYU), Rajeev Darolia (University of Kentucky), and Marianne Bitler (University of California, Irvine) are all on our schedule.

Please check our website regularly for more details on past and future seminars and lectures. You will learn more about the research our faculty and graduate students are producing. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and “like us” on Facebook to receive the most current updates.-Len Lopoo

Grad Bag

The CPR Graduate Student Seminar took place on October 19, 2017 as part of CPR’s Seminar Series. Presenters included Ling Li (ECN), Shulin Shen (ECN), Laura Rodriguez (PAIA), and Boqian Jiang (ECN).

Emily Gutierrez's (PAIA) paper, "Do State Employment Eligibility Verification Laws Affect Job Turnover?," was published in the Contemporary Economic Policy Journal.

David Schwegman's (PAIA) working paper, "Understanding Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples in the United States: Evidence from an Email Correspondence Audit," was published on the CPR website.

Iuliia Shybalkina (PAIA) received the 2017 Larry D. Schroeder Award for Excellence in Ph.D. Research. Iuliia was also recently chosen as a 2018 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Founders' Fellow.

SAVE THE DATEJerry Miner Lecture

April 12, 2018Guest Speaker, Susan Dynarski

(University of Michigan)

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Faculty FocusTom Dennison's (PAIA) article,"Economic Costs of Obesity,"was published in Obesity Med-icine: Management of Obesityin Women's Health Care.

Madonna Harrington Meyer's(SOC) co-authored article, "Grandparenting in the United States," has been published in Innovation in Aging.

Amy Lutz’s (SOC) co-authored research, “Mismatch and Aca-demic Performance at Amer-ica’s Selective Colleges and Universities,” with Pamela Bennett and Rebecca Wang, was published in Ethnic and Racial Studies.

David Popp’s (PAIA) co-authored paper, “Should We Give Up After Solyndra? Optimal Technology R&D Portfolios under Uncertain-ty," was published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Also, he published, "From Science to Tech-

nology: The Value of Knowledge From Different Energy Re-search Institutions," in Research Policy.

Becky Schewe (SOC) was select-ed as an O’Hanley Faculty Scholar this past September. Her selec-tion was based on outstanding teaching, scholarship, and many other accomplishments, includ-ing success with external grantsupport and service to the insti-tution.

John Yinger (ECN/PAIA) was se-lected as the 2017 Steven D. Gold Award recipient. This award rec-ognizes someone who has made a significant contribution to the field of state and local public fi-nance.

Camp Econometrics XIIISave the Date

New York Camp Econometrics XIII will be held on April 6-8, 2018 at The Gideon Putnam in

Saratoga Springs, NY.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. James G. MacKinnon, Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Econometrics

at Queen’s University.

For more information about Camp Econometrics, contact Katrina Wingle at krwingle@syr.edu / 315-443-9040

or visit our website.

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This section of the newsletter is dedicated to CPR faculty or CPR staff members who have been a part of the Center for over 25 years. In this issue, we feature Johnny Yinger, who has been a faculty member here in Maxwell and a part of the Metropolitan Studies Program (Metro)/Center for Policy Research (CPR) family since 1986. Johnny is a Trustee Professor of Economics & Public Administration and International Affairs, Director of the Education Finance Accountability Program (EFAP), as well as the Associate Director of CPR. Most notably, this year Johnny won the 2017 Steven D. Gold Award at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management's (APPAM) 39th Annual Fall Research Conference. We had the opportunity to delve into the history of Metro/CPR through the eyes of someone who's been here to see it morph into what it is today. We appreciate Johnny giving us this opportunity.

1. What brought you to Syracuse University and CPR?

I was offered a job at Syracuse in 1986. Part of the appeal of this job was that I would sit in the Metropolitan Studies Pro-gram, the precursor to CPR. The combination of an appointment in two departments (Economics and Public Administra-tion) and a seat in an interdisciplinary research center was appealing to me.

2. When you joined what is now CPR, it was called the Metropolitan Studies Program. What haschanged over the years as Metro has evolved into the CPR we know today?

The philosophy of CPR, which is to mix scholars and students from several different disciplines who are all interested in social science research relevant for policy, is the same as the philosophy of Metro. The big difference is that CPR is a larger center with a broader mandate in terms of fields, with much better computers, and with much nicer facilities!

3. Tell us about some of the research you have conducted while in CPR. Are there any projects in par-ticular that stand out in your memory?

My biggest project in Metro/CPR was the 1989 Housing Discrimination Study (HDS). This project began in Metro but con-tinued for many years, including the first years of CPR. HDS was a HUD-funded national study of discrimination in housing using the audit technique. I was the research director for this project. The audits were conducted by the Urban Institute and the subsequent data analysis was conducted in CPR. This project appeared in a dozen journal articles by me, some of them co-authored with Jan Ondrich and a CPR graduate student, Steve Ross or Alex Stricker. HUD funded another national Housing Discrimination Study in 2000. Steve Ross, who by then had joined the economics department faculty at the Uni-versity of Connecticut, was the research director. This project led to three more of my publications, all co-authored with Jan Ondrich and a CPR graduate student, Seok Joon Choi or Bo Zhao. Bo also had a publication of his own using the 2000 HDS data. Another national HDS was conducted in 2012. The data from this study (and from the two previous ones) con-tributed to a 2015 publication by me and another CPR graduate student, Sun Jung Oh. So, HDS has been a 27-year project (1988-2015) that contributed to 17 journal articles by people affiliated with CPR!

4. What is your favorite story or memory from your time in Metro/CPR?

My favorite memories from my years at CPR are the times I spent working on projects with my colleagues and students. I remember productive conversations with Jan and Steve about measur-ing discrimination and testing hypotheses about its causes. I remem-ber numerous conversations with graduate students about their dis-sertations. Most of all, I remember countless conversations with Bill Duncombe about our joint work on education finance—productive conversations often enhanced by a good pun.

5. Is there any advice you would give to a new faculty mem-ber or graduate student who is joining CPR?

CPR is an amazingly rich intellectual environment. Take advantage of it.

Pillars of CPRfeaturing Johnny Yinger

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Staff Stop We said goodbye to Mary Santy this summer when she retired after 23 years in the Center. Mary is en-joying her time traveling with her husband for leisure and frequently visits her children and grandchildren.

In August, we welcomed a new CPR staff member, Emily Henrich. Emily took over Laura’s position of administrative assistant, front desk coordinator, andsocial media correspondent. She came to the Center from Buffalo where she worked in development atthe Buffalo Museum of Science.

Emily grew up in Buffalo, NY, but recently moved to Syra-cuse and bought a house with her fiancé, Alex. They also adopted a golden retriever puppy in October namedLeevie. They will be getting married on January 13, 2018in downtown Buffalo and plan to honeymoon overseasin the summer.

Emily has helped to coordinate and execute events and programs for non-profit organizations and enjoys volunteering her time. Since she is new to the area, she is hoping to get more involved in the Syracuse com-munity and learn the ins and outs of the region. She enjoys traveling to historic places, museums, and theaters, and has spent much of her spare time enjoying, working, or volunteering for cultural organiza-tionsd.

With her background in history and museology, Em-ily is very enthusiastic about working at such an historic and iconic university. She is excited to have had the opportunity to join CPR, and to grow and learn more about the Center and SU with thehelp of the wonderful staff, faculty, graduatestudents, and alumni.

From the FieldJudson Murchie (Ph.D., PAIA), recent-ly moved to the Midwest with his fam-ily and joined the Housing Policy and Homeownership Growth Strategies team at Wells Fargo. Jud is thrilled to have landed an opportunity that unites his passion for housing, significant work

experience, and the research training he received during his time in Syracuse.

Kelly Stevens (Ph.D., PAIA) is working at the University of Central Florida in the School of Public Administration, and is a member of an interdisciplinary research cluster, titled Resilient Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES). Kel-ly teaches courses on intergovernmental

administration and economics for public policy. Her current research focuses on renewable policies and technology in-novation, as well as power outages and solar photovoltaic adoption.

Since graduating, Nuno Mota (Ph.D., ECN), has been working in the Econom-ics and Strategic Research group at Fan-nie Mae where he carries out research on housing affordability with a focus on rural housing and senior access to home equity issues. Nuno’s recent research pa-

per, “Home Equity Conversion Mortgages: The Secondary Market Investor Experience,” is a review of Fannie Mae's past experience as an investor in the Home Equity Conver-sion Mortgage, HUD’s reverse mortgage product.

Let’s Keep in Touch!  Did you get a new job? Have you moved? Did you gain a new

family member? We want to know about it!

If you know someone who would like to be added to our mailing list, if you have updated contact information, or if you'd like to tell us about your most recent endeavors, please

email Emily Henrich: erhenric@maxwell.syr.edu

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/CPR_Alumni/

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Diplomatic Pouch CPR Assistant Professor of Sociology, Becky Schewe, traveled to New Zealand this fall to conduct research.

"New Zealand has a representa-tive parliamentary democracy and

a largely deregulated economy. The country is very geologically active and prone to earthquakes since it straddles the divide be-tween the Pacific and Australian plates. This is what gives New Zealand its dramatic landscapes. New Zealand is also home to a diverse set of birds since it has no native land mammals. It is a largely rural nation and agriculture comprises approximately two-thirds of the nation’s export revenue.

"At most New Zealand workplaces, everyone takes a break for morning teatime at 10:30 a.m. At the Center for Sustainability, as with most workplaces, everyone, from the director to undergraduate assistants, joins together for coffee, tea, and social time for about thirty min-utes each morning. At the Center for Sustain-ability, we used that time to do the trivia quiz from the Otago Daily Times, which they have done every day since the Center was founded twelve years ago!"

"I was a visiting researcher at the Center for Sustainability at the University of Otago in New Zealand. I conducted my dissertation research there nearly ten years ago and re-turned to gather new data, meet with collaborators, and present my current research to both university researchers and policy officials at the Ministry for Primary Industries. New Zealand has recently instituted a special set of policy initiatives to address the threat of antibiotic resistance, and I was presenting my research on how to reduce antibiotic use on dairy farms. My research finds that labor issues such as providing adequate training and incentives may be as important to reducing antibiotic use as traditional veterinary management priorities.

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Interested in what you read? Want to learn more about our staff, faculty, and graduate student's travels and research? Then follow us on social media!

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The Lerner CenterShannon Monnat, Ph.D. joined the Lern-er Center as the new Lerner Chair of Pub-lic Health Promotion. Shannon received her Ph.D. in Sociology at the State Uni-versity of New York at Albany in 2008. Prior to her appointment at Syracuse University, she was a faculty member at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Penn State University. Dr. Monnat’s re-search examines the correlations and consequences of social disadvantage, particularly at the intersections of place, public policy, and health. Her current research focuses on spatial differences in opioid misuse and mortality and other diseases and deaths of despair. In another line of research, she examines associations between various social and pub-lic health policies and health behaviors as well as health care access.

The Lerner Center and newly formed Maxwell X Lab have collabo-rated to evaluate the Healthy Monday Syracuse campaigns. During the summer, we worked with the X Lab to evaluate how messages and prompts encouraged initiation of physical activity among resi-dents in Syracuse's Eastwood neighborhood using one of our local Monday Mile routes in Sunnycrest Park. Currently, we are working with the X Lab to identify how prompts in a campus café influence customers to choose healthier food options. These insights help us to better understand how social marketing influences behaviors and how the Monday Campaigns can be replicated in other settings.

Upcoming Events in CPRMarch 8- CPR Seminar Series featuring

Ingrid Gould Ellen (NYU Wagner)

March 26- Paul Volker Lecture in

Behavioral Economics, Raj Chetty

(Stanford University)

March 27- Paul Volker Symposium in

Behavior Economics

March 29- Econometrics Methods

Workshop, William Horrace

April 5- CPR Seminar Series featuring

Rajeev Darolia (University of Kentucky)

April 6-8- Camp Econometrics

April 12- Jerry Miner Lecture featuring

Susan Dynarski (University of

Michigan)

April 19- CPR Seminar Series featuring

Marianne Bitler (UC Davis)

Save the DatePaul Volcker Lecture in Behavioral Economics

Raj Chetty will deliver the Fourth Annual Paul Volcker Lecture in Behavioral Economics on Monday, March 26, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. in the Goldstein Auditorium.

Dr. Chetty is a Professor of Economics at Stanford University. Chetty's research combines empirical evidence and economic theory to help design more effective government poli-cies. His work on tax policy, unemployment insurance, and education has been widely cited in media outlets and Congressional testimony. His current research focuses on equality of opportunity: how can we give children from disadvantaged backgrounds better chances of succeeding?

Chetty is a recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and the John Bates Clark medal, given by the American Economic Association to the best American economist under age 40. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2003 at the age of 23 and was a professor at UC-Berkeley until 2009, when he returned to Harvard as one of the youngest tenured

professors in Harvard's history. Chetty moved to the Department of Economics at Stanford in 2015.

For more information about the 2018 Volcker Lecture, contact Katrina Wingle at krwingle@syr.edu, 315-443-9040, or visit our website.