Why does social policy matter?
Through data-driven research, hands-on training, and collaborative public engagement, the Malcolm Wiener Center advances policy initiatives that empower people to solve the most urgent social challenges and questions of our times.
Recent Insights
Formerly Systems-Involved Young Workers
Research from the Shift Project shows that many formerly systems involved young workers face job hostility, instability, and toxic working environments that jeopardize their mental health and economic stability.
The Distribution of Authorship in Economics Journals
Dani Rodrik and his co-authors evaluate authorship distribution trends in economics journals around the world since 1980, finding imbalances: Articles by authors in developing countries are far less likely to be published in top journals.
Implementing the IKEA Self-Scheduling Intervention
The IKEA-Shift Project collaboration was born of a mutual interest in improving scheduling conditions for hourly workers. IKEA has been working to advance a self-scheduling framework granting hourly workers more autonomy.
Faculty Focus
Luis Armona
Luis Armona is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He graduated from Stanford University in 2022 with a Ph.D. in Economics. In the past, he has worked at Chegg and Microsoft Research and served as a research advisor at Meta. Before graduate school, he worked as an RA at the New York Federal Reserve. For the 2022-23 academic year, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the NBER. His research interests lie in industrial organization, with applications to college behavior in post-secondary education, firearms markets, and how machine learning methods can be used to enhance existing economic models.
The Latest
China Shock 2.0 and the end of U.S. technological dominance
Professor Gordon Hanson and collaborators wrote about a phenomenon they called the China Shock, which saw traditional U.S. manufacturing communities struggle in the early aughts as a result of China’s growing trade power. Now, they warn that China Shock 2.0 is on the way
Getting rid of bias in schools
Recent research published in the American Economic Review by Harvard Kennedy School professors Michela Carlana and Eliana La Ferrara, and Bocconi University professor Paolo Pinotti, sheds light on how awareness about one's own personal biases may help to mitigate the effects these stereotypes have when working with students.
What’s missing from Healey’s court picks
Program in Criminal Justice
Not Enough Workers for the Job
Daniel Schneider
Questions We Explore
Why are societies unequal?
From opportunity gaps in education, to racial and gender disparities in employment, our interdisciplinary research explores the social and economic causes and effects of inequality and how sound policy can improve access for all.
What impacts economic mobility?
Our research applies rigorous scholarship and insight to questions around labor markets and employment, creating pathways to economic mobility in the workforce and in society.
How do we build a more just society?
Reforming the criminal legal system aims to balance objectives of fairness, justice, and public safety. Our evidence-based research advances policy solutions that can break barriers and lead to systemic change.
Is healthcare a right or a privilege?
Drastic inequalities in healthcare access and outcomes require us to confront this stark question. We bring expertise and data-driven inquiry to the goals of improving access and reducing disparities in the healthcare system.
The Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management
The Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management draws from rigorous research as well as insights from practitioners and people from impacted communities to inform the development of fairer and more just criminal legal system policies, practices, and procedures.
The Stone Program
The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Program in Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Social Policy unites faculty, students, and researchers from across Harvard University and beyond to address the causes and consequences of wealth inequalities in different populations around the world.
Reimagining the Economy
The Reimagining the Economy project explores local labor market, industrial, and development policies, combined with practitioner insights, to produce multidisciplinary scholarship to reshape narratives about how we achieve inclusive prosperity.
Shift Project
The Shift Project, a joint project at Harvard Kennedy School and UCSF, examines the nature and consequences of precarious employment in the service sector with a focus on how policymakers and firms can improve job quality.
Announcements
Desmond Ang, Associate Professor of Public Policy at HKS, is awarded 2026 Sloan Research Fellowship
Ang joins a cohort of 126 early-career scholars and a fellowship lineage that includes 59 Nobel laureates. The fellowship recognizes researchers whose creativity and accomplishments position them as the next generation of scientific leaders.
Daniel Schneider appointed Associate Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
Schneider, Co-Director of The Shift Project and Professor of Social Policy, has been appointed Associate Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. The initiative is administered by the Chan School of Public Health.
Economics for Inclusive Prosperity launches new podcast
The inaugural episode of the Economics for Inclusive Prosperity Podcast features Reimagining the Economy Faculty Co-Director Dani Rodrik, and Suresh Naidu, a professor of economics and international and public affairs at Columbia University.