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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

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.

Latest Insights
 

New research from The Shift Project shows the largest single minimum wage increase a state government has ever implemented led to significant gains for workers and minimal unintended effects on staffing, scheduling, and benefits.

 

Generative AI is a groundbreaking technology, but its economic impact depends on the speed and intensity of its adoption. A new paper by Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, and David Deming presents findings from the first nationally representative survey in the U.S. on generative AI use. 

 

A new report from the Roundtable on Racial Disparities in Massachusetts Criminal Courts looks at how residents of four Boston communities conceptualize healthy, safe, and thriving communities and what role they saw for law enforcement in their communities.

Faculty Focus

Desmond Ang

Desmond Ang

Desmond Ang is an applied economist and Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Ang, who received his PhD in economics from the University of California, San Diego, brings an economist’s eye to issues of race, inequality, and justice. His research examines the educational consequences of police violence, the long-run effects of federal oversight under the Voting Rights Act, and the role of media on racial prejudice.

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The Case for Equity
Malcolm Wiener Center and ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø faculty explain how research that addresses questions of equity can benefit everyone—not just a few people.
Questions We Explore
 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Project on Workforce is an interdisciplinary, collaborative project with Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education charting the course for a post-secondary system of the future that creates more and better pathways to economic mobility.

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The Health Inequality Lab is a research group based at the Harvard Kennedy School dedicated to studying the economics of health inequality in the United States and around the world.

Funding Opportunity for PhD Students
The Malcolm Wiener Center's Social Equity and Health Equity (SEHE) stipend supports Harvard PhD students in the social sciences writing dissertations related to social equity or health equity.
Depoliticizing Public Health
From left to right: Sara Bleich, Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, Rochelle Walensky, Asa Hutchinson. Photo credit: Hayley Murks-Abdikadirova.

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 ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Candid & Constructive Conversations series. ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø faculty affiliate and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health professor of public health policy Sara Bleich moderated the discussion.

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