Faculty & Research Published Research Research Education Economics Social Psychology Health Policy Social Entrepreneurship Environmental Policy Ethics Leadership Racial Justice and Equity National Security Advocacy International and Global Affairs Political Science Democracy Domestic Policy & Politics Social Equity International Development Research and Commentary Facet Area of Focus - Research Christopher J. Ruhm Craig Volden Bala Mulloth Eileen Chou Benjamin Castleman Sarah Turner Edgar O. Olsen Sophie Trawalter Benjamin Converse Christine Mahoney Timothy Wilson Adam Leive James H. Wyckoff William Shobe Charles Holt Daniel W. Player Daphna Bassok Harry Harding Jay Shimshack Jeanine Braithwaite John Pepper Richard Bonnie David Leblang John Holbein Leora Friedberg Molly Lipscomb James Savage Sebastian Tello-Trillo Frederick P. Hitz Gabrielle Adams Gerald Warburg Isaac Mbiti Paul S. Martin Raymond C. Scheppach Ruth Gaare Bernheim Andrew S. Pennock Gerald Higginbotham Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi Jennifer Lawless Michele Claibourn Noah Myung Philip Potter Facet People - Research EdPolicyWorks: Center for Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness Center for Effective Lawmaking Global Policy Center National Security Policy Center Facet UVA Partner - Research Published Research Democracy Do constituents know (or care) about the lawmaking effectiveness of their representatives? Authors: Craig Volden Substantial evidence exists that members of the US Congress vary in their lawmaking effectiveness. Less known, however, is whether constituents are sufficiently informed and inclined to hold their representatives accountable, based on their effectiveness. Learn more Published Research Racial Justice and Equity When an Irresistible Prejudice Meets Immovable Politics: Black Legal Gun Ownership Undermines Racially Resentful White Americans’ Gun Rights Advocacy Authors: Gerald Higginbotham, David O. Sears, Lauren Goldstein Historical evidence suggests that White Americans’ support for gun rights (i.e., opposition to gun control) is challenged by Black Americans exercising their legal rights to guns (e.g., The Black Panther Party and the Mulford Act of 1967). This study examined two empirical questions. In both studies, racially resentful White Americans expressed less support for a gun right (i.e., concealed-carry) when informed that Black (vs. White) Americans showed greater utilization of the gun right. Overall, these results support that Black legal gun ownership can reduce opposition to gun control among gun rights’ most entrenched advocates. Learn more Published Research Education Hard-to-staff centers: Exploring center-level variation in the persistence of child care teacher turnover Authors: Daphna Bassok, Justin B. Doromal, Laura Bellows, Anna J. Markowitz High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative implications for young children's learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual teacher level, but less is known about turnover at the center level––specifically, how turnover varies across child care centers or whether staffing challenges persist year after year for some centers. This study tracks annual turnover rates for all publicly funded child care centers that were continuously operating in Louisiana from the 2015-16 to 2018-19 school years. Learn more Published Research Social Psychology Once bitten, twice shy: The negative spillover effect of seeing betrayal of trust. Authors: Eileen Chou, Noah Myung, Dennis Y. Hsu Our research demonstrates that people who had perceived a recent betrayal were significantly less likely to trust a new entity that shared nominal group membership with the previous trust transgressor. By systematically investigating whether, why, and to what extent betrayal spillover can subsequently contaminate trust development, we present a robust account of the downstream economic and behavioral consequences of observing others who have been betrayed by a similar entity, particularly in the context of charitable organizations. Learn more Published Research International and Global Affairs Labor Market Policy as Immigration Control: The Case of Temporary Protected Status Authors: David Leblang, Benjamin Helms Controlling immigration has become a central political goal in advanced democracies. Politicians across the world have experimented with a range of policies such as foreign aid in the hopes that aid will spur development in migrant origin countries and decrease the demand for emigration. We argue that internal policy tools are more effective, in particular, the use of policies that allow temporary migrants short-term access to host country labor markets. Learn more Published Research Democracy Political Science Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Authors: John Holbein, Cecilia Hyunjung Mo , Elizabeth Mitchell Elder Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States. Learn more Published Research Leadership Unpacking the Black box: How inter- and intra-team forces motivate team rationality Authors: Eileen Chou, Kathy W. Phillips How can we ensure that teams can fulfill their full cognitive potential? This paper explores how team members can be motivated so that, collectively, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Learn more Working Paper Education Waivers for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Who Would Benefit from Takeup? Authors: Sarah Turner, Diego A. Briones, Nathaniel Ruby This research identifies more than $100 billion in loan forgiveness available to as many as 3.5 million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver program. Potential beneficiaries of this initiative are disproportionately employed in occupations like teaching and health care. However, the distribution of potential benefits of the PSLF waiver depends critically on the extent to which those with high income or advanced degrees are differentially likely to take-up benefits conditional on eligibility. Learn more Published Research Health Policy Social Psychology Estimated Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Clinically Significant Anxiety and Depression Among US Adults During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic Authors: Christopher J. Ruhm, Ronald C. Kessler, Victor Puac-Polanco How much did clinically significant anxiety and depression increase among US adults during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this survey study of more than 1.4 million respondents in the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, responses to a screening question calibrated to a 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire score of 6 or greater suggested that aggregate prevalence of clinically significant anxiety and depression increased only modestly overall among US adults in 2020 compared with 2017 to 2019. Learn more Published Research Political Science The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success Authors: Craig Volden, Sarah Treul, Alan E. Wiseman, Danielle M. Thomsen Effective lawmakers are the workhorses of the US Congress, yet we know little about the electoral payoffs of their efforts. Are effective lawmakers better at warding off challengers in the next election? Do they win at a greater rate? Learn more Published Research Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics 400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States Authors: John Holbein, Michael Barber This paper documents the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded. Learn more Working Paper Education International Development Can Education Be Standardized? Evidence from Kenya Authors: Isaac Mbiti, Guthrie Gray-Lobe, Anthony Keats, Michael Kremer, Owen W. Ozier Isaac Mbiti and co-authors examine the impact of enrolling in schools that employ a highly-standardized approach to education, using random variation from a large nationwide scholarship program. Learn more Pagination Current page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Next page Next ›
Published Research Democracy Do constituents know (or care) about the lawmaking effectiveness of their representatives? Authors: Craig Volden Substantial evidence exists that members of the US Congress vary in their lawmaking effectiveness. Less known, however, is whether constituents are sufficiently informed and inclined to hold their representatives accountable, based on their effectiveness. Learn more
Published Research Racial Justice and Equity When an Irresistible Prejudice Meets Immovable Politics: Black Legal Gun Ownership Undermines Racially Resentful White Americans’ Gun Rights Advocacy Authors: Gerald Higginbotham, David O. Sears, Lauren Goldstein Historical evidence suggests that White Americans’ support for gun rights (i.e., opposition to gun control) is challenged by Black Americans exercising their legal rights to guns (e.g., The Black Panther Party and the Mulford Act of 1967). This study examined two empirical questions. In both studies, racially resentful White Americans expressed less support for a gun right (i.e., concealed-carry) when informed that Black (vs. White) Americans showed greater utilization of the gun right. Overall, these results support that Black legal gun ownership can reduce opposition to gun control among gun rights’ most entrenched advocates. Learn more
Published Research Education Hard-to-staff centers: Exploring center-level variation in the persistence of child care teacher turnover Authors: Daphna Bassok, Justin B. Doromal, Laura Bellows, Anna J. Markowitz High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative implications for young children's learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual teacher level, but less is known about turnover at the center level––specifically, how turnover varies across child care centers or whether staffing challenges persist year after year for some centers. This study tracks annual turnover rates for all publicly funded child care centers that were continuously operating in Louisiana from the 2015-16 to 2018-19 school years. Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology Once bitten, twice shy: The negative spillover effect of seeing betrayal of trust. Authors: Eileen Chou, Noah Myung, Dennis Y. Hsu Our research demonstrates that people who had perceived a recent betrayal were significantly less likely to trust a new entity that shared nominal group membership with the previous trust transgressor. By systematically investigating whether, why, and to what extent betrayal spillover can subsequently contaminate trust development, we present a robust account of the downstream economic and behavioral consequences of observing others who have been betrayed by a similar entity, particularly in the context of charitable organizations. Learn more
Published Research International and Global Affairs Labor Market Policy as Immigration Control: The Case of Temporary Protected Status Authors: David Leblang, Benjamin Helms Controlling immigration has become a central political goal in advanced democracies. Politicians across the world have experimented with a range of policies such as foreign aid in the hopes that aid will spur development in migrant origin countries and decrease the demand for emigration. We argue that internal policy tools are more effective, in particular, the use of policies that allow temporary migrants short-term access to host country labor markets. Learn more
Published Research Democracy Political Science Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Authors: John Holbein, Cecilia Hyunjung Mo , Elizabeth Mitchell Elder Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States. Learn more
Published Research Leadership Unpacking the Black box: How inter- and intra-team forces motivate team rationality Authors: Eileen Chou, Kathy W. Phillips How can we ensure that teams can fulfill their full cognitive potential? This paper explores how team members can be motivated so that, collectively, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Learn more
Working Paper Education Waivers for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Who Would Benefit from Takeup? Authors: Sarah Turner, Diego A. Briones, Nathaniel Ruby This research identifies more than $100 billion in loan forgiveness available to as many as 3.5 million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver program. Potential beneficiaries of this initiative are disproportionately employed in occupations like teaching and health care. However, the distribution of potential benefits of the PSLF waiver depends critically on the extent to which those with high income or advanced degrees are differentially likely to take-up benefits conditional on eligibility. Learn more
Published Research Health Policy Social Psychology Estimated Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Clinically Significant Anxiety and Depression Among US Adults During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic Authors: Christopher J. Ruhm, Ronald C. Kessler, Victor Puac-Polanco How much did clinically significant anxiety and depression increase among US adults during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this survey study of more than 1.4 million respondents in the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, responses to a screening question calibrated to a 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire score of 6 or greater suggested that aggregate prevalence of clinically significant anxiety and depression increased only modestly overall among US adults in 2020 compared with 2017 to 2019. Learn more
Published Research Political Science The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success Authors: Craig Volden, Sarah Treul, Alan E. Wiseman, Danielle M. Thomsen Effective lawmakers are the workhorses of the US Congress, yet we know little about the electoral payoffs of their efforts. Are effective lawmakers better at warding off challengers in the next election? Do they win at a greater rate? Learn more
Published Research Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics 400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States Authors: John Holbein, Michael Barber This paper documents the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded. Learn more
Working Paper Education International Development Can Education Be Standardized? Evidence from Kenya Authors: Isaac Mbiti, Guthrie Gray-Lobe, Anthony Keats, Michael Kremer, Owen W. Ozier Isaac Mbiti and co-authors examine the impact of enrolling in schools that employ a highly-standardized approach to education, using random variation from a large nationwide scholarship program. Learn more