Second Year Policy Analysis

The second year paper is an integral part of the MPA/ID program. Designed to serve as the students’ final "thesis," the second year paper offers students the opportunity to deploy the skills acquired during the program, integrate their course work, and provide specific policy recommendations in the context of a concrete developmental problem. For many students, it is also an opportunity to extend and deepen the work undertaken during their summer internship.

The second year paper is written in conjunction with the required seminar "PED-250Y: Second Year Policy Analysis Seminar." Students are split into three groups, according to the second-year policy track the students have chosen. A different faculty member runs each concurrent session of the seminar. The seminar provides an environment for thinking about general research issues, obtaining feedback on outlines and drafts, and critiquing fellow students' work. In addition, each student is assigned an individual faculty advisor early in the Fall of their second year. (Students are free to seek their own advisors towards the end of their first year.) The advisor provides guidance on topic selection, relevant literature, and the formulation of a research method.

After defining a topic, students (sometimes working in pairs) familiarize themselves with the relevant literature, gather and organize pertinent data, develop an appropriate methodology, identify and evaluate a course of action, and develop recommendations. The final product is a clear and persuasive paper (maximum 40 pages), which includes an executive summary describing the issues and recommendations. While students are encouraged to work with real-life "clients" (from a variety of sectors, including government, nonprofit and private), this is not a formal requirement. The project has to be of an operational and practical nature; it should not be a pure research paper.

The ideal second-year paper is one that asks a relevant policy question, and draws on the tools of economics, management, and institutional analysis to develop convincing recommendations. Students are free to work on a wide variety of projects in different policy fields. Some projects incorporate highly technical or quantitative techniques; others use organizational or management analysis. Projects that combine technical analysis with institutional/managerial analysis are particularly desirable. All projects, however, must be focused on an actual policy decision or problem. Background or library research is not an adequate project in itself. The topic must be limited enough in scope to be completed during the time frame, yet broad enough to be intellectually challenging for the student and the client (if there is one).

Sample SYPA's

Here are several award-winning SYPA's from the MPA/ID graduating classes of 2008 and 2009. The Harvard Kennedy School Library keeps a hard copy of every SYPA written at HKS.

Oustanding SYPA Award Winners 2009

Is REDD a Game Changer? Assessing the Economic and Institutional Feasibility of Avoided Deforestation in El Chore Forest Reserve, Bolivia
Kate Dillon and Andrés Mitnik

Uncovering Hidden Wealth: Making the Most of Brazil's Sovereign Wealth Fund
Marcos Siqueira 

Oustanding SYPA Award Winners 2008

Financing Transportation Infrastructure Investment in Colombia with Pension Savings
Tristan Hanson

The Mesh Ceiling: Explaining the Barriers to Micro-Enterprise Growth in Ghana
Adrian Mucalov

Honorable Mention SYPA Award Winners 2009

The Impact of Trade on Subjective Well-Being: Lessons and Implications for Chile
Kenzo Asahi

Strategies for Generating Sustainable Rural Development in Ghana through International Tourism
Hannah Bowen

Food Policy and Food Security in India: Achieving Rice Price Stability
Naoko Koyama and Diva Singh

Incentivizing Teachers to Work in Public Schools of Punjab (Pakistan): A Policy Proposal
Rashid Mahmood

Packaging Prosperity: Bundling Agricultural Inputs to Kickstart Africa's Green Revolution
Rob Ness

Transport 2.0: A Feasibility Analysis of Next-Generation Ground Transport in Rwanda
David Shlachter

Enhancing Accountability in Public Service Delivery through Social Audits: A case study of Andhra Pradesh, India
Ritesh Singh and Vinay Vutukuru