Bound to Happen: Explanation Bias in Historical Analysis
This paper argues that historical analysis, necessarily written with hindsight, often underestimates the uncertainties of the past. We call this tendency explanation bias.
Research
Managing Value Conflicts in Public Innovation: Ostrich, Chameleon, and Dolphin Strategies
This paper develops a theoretical understanding of the management of value conflicts in public innovation.
Participatory Budgeting: A Powerful Civic Education Tool
In expanding its program that lets residents vote on public spending, New York City is enlivening democracy and engaging the electorate.
Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the single largest institution in America: the Department of Defense. The D.O.D. employs millions of Americans.
Fretting about Modest Risks Is a Mistake
Managers often engage in risk-averse behavior, and economists, decision analysts, and managers treat risk aversion as a preference.
Bringing Market Forces to the Transportation Equation
Protecting providers from competition is the enemy of efficiency and integrated mobility. It's an issue that New York City's congestion pricing will address.
Efficient Division When Preferences are Private: Using the Expected Externality Mechanism
We study the problem of allocating multiple items to two agents whose cardinal preferences are private information.
Soft Power and the Public Diplomacy Revisited
Soft power is the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion or payment.
The Art of Governing Through Questions
Socrates had it right: Dealing with the problems public leaders face requires knowing how and what to ask.
Algorithm Appreciation: People Prefer Algorithmic to Human Judgment
Even though computational algorithms often outperform human judgment, received wisdom suggests that people may be skeptical of relying on them (Dawes, 1979).
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