Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia

Learning What Works

in health care

More than half the medical treatments that Americans receive lack evidence of their effectiveness. When the government attempts to learn what treatments work best, critics complain about "rationing." How can we implement evidence-based medicine in a way that physicians and patients can embrace?

"The widespread use of expensive medical services of unclear benefit is one reason why the U.S. spends 18 percent of GDP on health care—double the average of other rich democracies—yet it has fewer doctors per capita and lags behind many other nations on population health indicators "

economic approach to

environmentalism

How is climate change like a noisy dorm? Environmental problems arise from broken ownership and control of important resources. If we can design solutions that mimic markets, we can lower the cost of protecting the planet by making it profitable to be green.

Motivate and integrate individuals toward

a common goal

Leaders have to provide structures to direct behavior while establishing conditions that prompt people to find the process rewarding. How can leaders simultaneously motivate and regulate? What are the organizational, social, and psychological forces that regulate individual and group behavior?

When problems don't

respect borders

In an increasingly globalized world, in which more than 30 million people have been displaced by violent conflict, many public policy problems can no longer be solved within the confines of a single country. How do governments and civil society coordinate their efforts without adding to the chaos?

"With no votes, no money, and almost no power, how can international advocates get the plight of people on the frontlines into the headlines? That’s what my students are ultimately charged with answering."

Measuring

social impact

Policymakers and practitioners operate under constraints. How do we evaluate programs and policies to provide the strongest evidence for making decisions? In particular, how can social science research inform policy approaches to addressing early childhood disadvantage?

"Doing rigorous policy analysis—evaluating programs and policies well—is the critical foundation in deciding which interventions and social programs are worth the investment"

Achieving goals in a

social world

We choose, initiate, and pursue goals in a social world. How and when do social relationships facilitate, or hinder, our pursuit of important goals? And how do cooperation and competition affect these relationships?

"Social psychology is at the core of the Batten School approach. It drives us to ask scientifically rigorous questions about decision making, leadership, motivation, and organizational dynamics."

Reducing disparity in a

"POST-RACIAL" AGE

How can we reduce racial disparities when so many Americans profess not to notice or even see race? Understanding people’s concerns about appearing prejudiced and their fears about social status can help us find new ways to combat racial inequalities.

"To improve the life outcomes of stigmatized group members, we also must understand how people thrive in diverse environments."

Producing

Good Health

Good health does not just happen. It is "produced" by a combination of genetics, lifestyle and medical care. A major challenge for the United States, and other countries, is to choose policies that promote good health while maintaining freedom of choice and financial viability of government budgets and the health care system.

"Economic concepts central to the formulation of effective public policies include a fundamental understanding of responses to incentives, opportunity costs, and the pervasiveness of tradeoffs."

A new model

of policy reform

Why are some members of Congress more effective lawmakers than others? How important is political party affiliation? A new model argues that ideology, not affiliation, drives compromise or gridlock

"Within American federalism, states and localities can serve as policy laboratories, but we don’t really know exactly how it works. How does policy spread or diffuse from one state to the next? There’s a lot of learning going on"

Preserving access to and affordability of

higher education

As state support for public higher education declines, tuitions increase more rapidly than family incomes and affordability is threatened for many families and students. How do we preserve access, maintain quality, and keep costs under control?

"Higher education, normally a very stable part of the economy, appears to be at a tipping point where the traditional business model is becoming unsustainable. How we reshape the financing of this vital social enterprise will be a key challenge facing society in this decade."