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.
Spotlight
Employer-sponsored insurance is often out of reach for service sector workers
New research from the Shift Project finds that, while one may think that the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility provision requires that employers offer ESI or potentially face penalties, various exceptions to the provision limit its reach. This research finds that these exceptions are especially prevalent in the service sector, where many workers with low-wage jobs are concentrated.
State legislation designed to remove the “wealth barrier” for cash bail is working, but not for people of color
New research released as part of a project of the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management reveals that the Criminal Justice Reform Act, enacted seven years ago in Massachusetts, has positively affected pretrial defendants, yet most of those benefitting, according to the study, are white.
Beyond borders: Does firm-level exposure to state and local paid sick leave mandates lead to intra-firm spillovers?
Using new employer–employee linked data from The Shift Project, Daniel Schneider and Kristen Harknett examine the potential for “intra-firm spillovers” and find that multi-state employers often extend paid sick leave benefits to workers in states without mandates. View the full article.
Recent Insights
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.
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. Watch Hanson talk about the China Shock 2.0 in a new video.
Publications, Events, and News
Getting Rid of Bias in Schools
As part of "The Case for Equity" video series, Michela Carlana sheds light on how awareness about one's own personal biases may help mitigate the effects stereotypes can have when working with students.
Questions We Explore
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.
Depoliticizing Public Health
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto (former mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico), Rochelle Walensky (former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director), and Asa Hutchinson (former Governor of Arkansas) discussed how to reach across partisan divides and establish effective public health policies as part of the HKS Candid & Constructive Conversations series. HKS faculty affiliate and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health professor of public health policy Sara Bleich moderated the discussion.