Research

Published Research

A View from the United States

Authors: Harry Harding

Since early June, Hong Kong has been experiencing one of the most serious political crises in its history, arguably the worst since the Maoist-inspired demonstrations against British colonial rule in 1967. The city has been wracked by near-continuous mass protests, some peaceful, some violent. 

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Working Paper

College Advising at a National Scale: Experimental Evidence from the CollegePoint initiative

Authors: Zach Sullivan, Benjamin Castleman, Eric Bettinger

In recognition of the complexity of the college and financial aid application process, and in response to insufficient access to family or school-based counseling among economically-disadvantaged populations, investments at the local, state, and federal level have expanded students’ access to college and financial aid advising. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies of these programs demonstrate that they can generate substantial improvements in the rate at which low-income students enroll and persist in college.

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Published Research

Oklahoma Wanted $17 Billion To Fight Its Opioid Crisis: What's The Real Cost?

The state's plan — and the basis of that $17 billion ask — was looking at abatement for the next three decades.

That 30-year plan was authored by Christopher Ruhm, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Virginia. He says you can easily get into the billions when you consider the costs of dealing with this epidemic in the long term.

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Working Paper

Nudging at Scale: Experimental Evidence from FAFSA Completion Campaigns

Authors: Kelli A. Bird, Benjamin Castleman, Jeffrey T. Denning, Joshua Goodman, Cait Lamberton, Kelly Ochs Rosinger

Do nudge interventions that have generated positive impacts at a local level maintain efficacy when scaled state or nationwide? What specific mechanisms explain the positive impacts of promising smaller-scale nudges? We investigate, through two randomized controlled trials, the impact of a national and state-level campaign to encourage students to apply for financial aid for college. 

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Working Paper

The Effect of Reduced Student Loan Borrowing on Academic Performance and Default: Evidence from a Loan Counseling Experiment

Authors: Andrew Barr, Kelli Bird, Benjamin Castleman

Student loan borrowing for higher education has emerged as a top policy concern. Policy makers at the institutional, state, and federal levels have pursued a variety of strategies to inform students
about loan origination processes and how much a student has cumulatively borrowed, and to provide students with greater access to loan counseling.

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Published Research

The Right Way to Capture College “Opportunity”: Popular Measures Can Paint the Wrong Picture of Low-Income Student Enrollment

Authors: Caroline Hoxby, Sarah Turner

Higher education may be one of the most important channels through which people can attain improved life outcomes based on their merit rather than family background. If qualified students from lower-income families are underrepresented in higher education, there is potentially a failure not just in equity but in economic efficiency as well.

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Published Research

Charlottesville Works: Harnessing Social Networks to Promote Employment and Fight Poverty

Authors: Bala Mulloth, Stefano Rumi

Ridge Schuyler believed that social networks were a unique and innovative way to fight poverty through sustainable employment opportunities. This case study describes how Ridge scaled up Charlottesville Works locally around a formalized social network model that connects unemployed individuals living under the federal poverty line to promising jobs through word-of-mouth, at little cost. 

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Published Research

iThrive Games: Championing Responsible Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Games

Authors: Bala Mulloth, Susan E. Rivers

This case aims to study the growth, evolution, and social innovation of iThrive Games, a socially minded initiative that aims to create meaningful opportunities using technology for teens to enhance the knowledge, mindsets, and skills they need to thrive through development and across the continuum of mental disorder to wellness. iThrive’s focus has been on creating “meaningful games” that is, games that promote health and well-being of teen players. 

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Published Research

The University of Virginia Pay-for-Success Lab: Jump-Starting University-Based Pay-for-Success Research Labs

Authors: Bala Mulloth, Stefano Rumi

This case study gives an overview of the creation of the Pay-for-Success (PFS) Lab at the University of Virginia (UVA). It promotes discussion of how other university institutions can scale up their own research labs with a limited budget, and also introduces students to the PFS concept and the role university research institutions can play in the social impact process.

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