Does paid family leave help mothers return to work after a child is born? Do taxes on soda and other sweetened beverages reduce consumption? Can the federal government use medication data reported by disability insurance applicants to identify and treat people at risk of misusing opioids? And how can policy researchers make their work more relevant and impactful?
In November, On the Evidence sat down with more than a dozen guests during the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference in Denver to discuss some of today’s most pressing public problems and what can be done about them. We will publish edited podcasts as they become available. Here’s what we have so far.
- Do Soda Taxes Work? The Most Comprehensive Study to Date in the U.S. Can Tell Us A Lot about How City Shoppers Respond to Higher Prices, featuring Dave Jones, an associate director in the Health Unit at Mathematica, and Dave Frisvold, an associate professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Iowa.
- Lessons from Anchorage on Running Low-Cost Behavioral Nudge Experiments in Government, featuring Brendan Babb, the chief innovation officer and innovation team director for the municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, and Emily Cardon, head of research for the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) in North America
- Estimating Opioid Use Among Applicants for Disability Insurance with April Wu, a researcher at Mathematica
- How Paid Family Leave Might Help Mothers Return to the Labor Force with Kelly Jones, an assistant professor in the department of economics at American University and a senior research economist at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
- Embracing the Emotional Aspects of Public Policy Research with Matt Stagner, a vice president at Mathematica
- The Case for Engaging Diverse Perspectives in Public Policy Research with Maria Cancian, the dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and Matt Stagner, a vice president at Mathematica
- Policy Labs: Applied Research for State and Local Government with Kristin Klopfenstein, director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab, and Melissa Wavelet, a senior fellow at MDRC and the former director of the Office of Performance and Strategic Outcomes at the Colorado Department of Human Services
- Using Large-Scale Behavioral Nudges to Increase College Enrollment with Jenna Kramer, an associate policy researcher at RAND Corporation, and Kelly Ochs Rosinger, an assistant professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at The Pennsylvania State University
- Policy Research By, About, and For Indigenous Communities with Cheryl Ellenwood, a PhD candidate in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, and Laura Evans, an associate professor at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance
In addition, On the Evidence recorded five live video interviews at APPAM are available on Mathematica’s Facebook page:
- Scaling Nudge Interventions in Post-Secondary Education
Featured guests: Kelly Ochs Rosinger (Penn State) and Jenna Kramer (RAND Corporation) - How the Policy Lab Model Ensures That Policy Research Matters
Featured guests: Melissa Wavelet (MDRC) and Kristin Klopfenstein (University of Denver/Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab) - Using Nudges and Low-Cost Evaluation in City Government
Featured guests: Brendan Babb (Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska) and Emily Cardon (Behavioural Insights Team) - Policy Research By, About, and For Indigenous Communities
Featured guests: Cheryl Ellenwood (University of Arizona) and Laura Evans (University of Washington) - The Potential Impacts of a National Paid Family Leave Law
Featured guest: Jeffrey Hayes (Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
Keep up with the latest episodes by subscribing to the podcast On the Evidence.
