Each spring, second-year Master in Public Policy (MPP) students complete the Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE), during which they examine and develop solutions for a pressing issue presented by a client organization. This year, students proposed innovative policy recommendations on topics ranging from instant payment systems in Brazil and India to adapting to flood risk in New York City.
Learn more about some of the students’ projects below.
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Kotomi Odate MPP 2025
Tax Reform Strategy to Reduce Income Inequality in the Philippines | Client: Yuhei Chiba, Asian Development Bank
What sparked the idea for your project? Why was this topic of importance to you?
The idea stemmed from my professional experience working on international tax negotiations and cooperation in Japan’s Ministry of Finance. Given this experience, I was eager to gain hands-on experience in analyzing and designing tax policy within a real-world development context.
The Philippines provided a compelling case, as it faces persistent income inequality despite sustained economic growth. This topic allowed me to combine my policy interests and technical skills to explore how taxation can play a pivotal role in promoting inclusive development.
What policy question(s) were you trying to address?
Initially, I spent a significant part of the work identifying the underlying problems, as emphasized by Lecturer in Public Policy Juan Jiménez in DEV-150Y: Seminar: Political and Economic Development. This diagnostic phase was critical before arriving at the final policy questions.
Ultimately, I sought to address two key policy questions:
How can the Philippine government secure sufficient fiscal space to promote inclusive growth without deepening inequality?
What tax policy and administrative reforms would most effectively improve income distribution while ensuring fiscal sustainability?
These questions guided both the analytical and policy components of the project.
What policy recommendations did you provide to your client?
I recommended a strategy that includes raising the value-added tax (VAT) rate from 12% to 14% and streamlining exemptions to improve both efficiency and equity. I also proposed strengthening tax administration through digitalization, reestablishing compliance risk management systems, and expanding the use of third-party data.
Together, these measures would enhance revenue mobilization, improve administrative efficiency, and create fiscal space for targeted social spending, helping to mitigate regressive effects and reduce income inequality.
“The PAE deepened my understanding of how cross-country insights can inform domestic reforms, and it strengthened my ability to communicate complex policy issues to diverse audiences, from technical experts to policymakers.”
What skills from your MPP experience did you leverage while working on your PAE?
Before entering the MPP Program, I had never used R, which was one of the most useful tools while working on my PAE. Core classes like API-201: Quantitative Analysis and Empirical Methods and API-203M: Empirical Methods II equipped me with statistical analysis skills using R, and API-222: Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics allowed me to apply more advanced analytical techniques using ML models.
On the theoretical side, I drew on lessons from DEV-210: Public Finance in Theory and Practice with Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy Jay Rosengard and DEV-215: Public Finance in International Perspective with Associate Professor of Public Policy Anders Jensen, where I learned a broad range of taxation theories. In addition, DEV-309: Development Policy Strategy with Director of the and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy Ricardo Hausmann was particularly valuable, as it trained me to use diagnostics frameworks to identify the root causes of development constraints in emerging economies.
What did you learn from the PAE experience?
The PAE experience taught me how to integrate quantitative analysis with policy design in a real-world setting. I learned the importance of grounding recommendations in both data and local context, recognizing that technically sound solutions must also be administratively and politically viable. The PAE also deepened my understanding of how cross-country insights can inform domestic reforms, and it strengthened my ability to communicate complex policy issues to diverse audiences, from technical experts to policymakers.
Becca Avigad MPP 2025 and Rita Graham MPP 2025
Abort Mission: Navigating the Battlefield of Abortion Access for Servicewomen Post-Dobbs | Client: Ibis Reproductive Health
What sparked the idea for your project? Why was this topic of importance to you?
We connected in IGA-229: Gender, Sex, and Violence taught by Professor of Public Policy Dara Kay Cohen in Spring 2024, and we were both interested in doing a Policy Analysis Exercise at the intersection of gender and security studies. With Rita’s military background and Becca’s interests in reproductive health, this topic was a natural fit.
What policy question(s) were you trying to address?
We were trying to answer: “What barriers do researchers encounter when engaging with servicewomen seeking abortion services, and how can they more effectively study military abortion access post-Dobbs vs. Jackson?” We had five sub-questions, which looked at the policy environment, knowledge and dissemination, access and structural barriers, information ecosystems, and operational impact.
What policy recommendations did you provide to your client?
Our four recommendations were:
- Launch a dedicated webpage for military-specific abortion access guidance
- Create an independent (non-Department of Defense affiliated) abortion policy training toolkit for commanders
- Research the impact of informal networks and advocate for strong social media protections
- Explore the feasibility of implementing a community health liaison within the Department of Defense structure
“The PAE was an incredible opportunity to delve deeply into a topic that we are both passionate about and to became experts in this niche area.”
What skills from your MPP experience did you leverage while working on your PAE?
Our statistics classes were particularly useful. Rita had taken a course on qualitative and mixed research methods, which was especially helpful with our semi-structured interview methodology. Our policy design classes were also effective at analyzing key themes from our research and creating targeted, client-appropriate recommendations.
What did you learn from the PAE experience?
The PAE was an incredible opportunity to delve deeply into a topic that we are both passionate about and to became experts in this niche area. We were also connected to an incredible ecosystem of other professionals exploring similar themes, which will be very helpful for us going forward. Overall, we enjoyed working together as partners, particularly in such a challenging environment.
Lucas Schmuck MPP 2025
Adaptive Regulation of Artificial Intelligence | Client: Mistral AI
What sparked the idea for your project? Why was this topic of importance to you?
I first heard of the concept of adaptive regulation in Professor Leonie Beyrle’s class on the governance of digital technologies and continued exploring this topic in my research before focusing on it through my PAE. Given the omnipresent discourse on Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance, tradeoffs between regulation and innovation, and the United States’ stance of not regulating—out of fear of slowing down its AI industry—it was an important topic for me.
What policy question(s) were you trying to address?
I was trying to identify adaptive regulatory tools that could be suitable for regulating AI and to update the regulation over time to match the technology’s rapid evolution.
What policy recommendations did you provide to your client?
My three key recommendations were to:
- Advocate for adaptive rather than static ex-ante or static ex-post governance
- Pick one or two of the identified tools and think through implementation details
- Advocate for greater regulatory capacity to craft a well-informed regulation and update it in a timely fashion
“I drew on the analytical toolkit we acquired from the MPP core curriculum, as well as the economic fundamentals driving policy and business, to better understand the point of view of both policymakers regulating AI and of my private sector client.”
What skills from your MPP experience did you leverage while working on your PAE?
I drew on the analytical toolkit we acquired from the MPP core curriculum, as well as the economic fundamentals driving policy and business, to better understand the point of view of both policymakers regulating AI and of my private sector client developing the technology.
From electives at both vlog and other Harvard schools, I drew on in-depth and complementary viewpoints on AI, ranging from philosophy, to tech regulation, to the interplay between information, incentives, and institutions in other complex policy spheres such as climate change.
From my research and teaching positions at vlog, Harvard Law School, and Harvard College, I learned how to synthesize and convey complex information in an accessible manner and to never shy away from asking hard questions.
What did you learn from the PAE experience?
I was able to apply many of the learnings from my experience at vlog—both in and out of the classroom. I embodied the client’s perspective by understanding how policy affects them and trying to identify win-win regulatory outcomes. Lastly, I built a robust relationship with policy practitioners whom I admire and delivered value for their organization through my PAE.
Photos by Natalie Montaner; inline photos courtesy of Rita Graham and Lucas Schmuck
