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The White House lawn on a sunny day.
Feature: Is DOGE Sure It Wants to Fire These People?

Juliette Kayyem examines the negative effects that Elon Musks’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could have on the safety of everyday Americans.

River running through a densely populated area.
Feature: Private Benefits from Public Investment in Climate Resilience

Joseph Aldy finds that governmental construction of levees, which enhance resilience to flood risks amplified by climate change, increases home values by 3-4 percent.

Person sits on a bed holding a check.
Feature: Assessing Government Outreach to Bolster Benefits Take-Up

Elizabeth Linos finds that light-touch interventions significantly, consistently, and cost-effectively increase benefits take-up among low-income households, while higher-touch proactive outreach yields minimal additional take-up.

Black family happily sits on the grass in a park.
Feature: Excess Mortality Rate in U.S. Black Children Since 1950

Soroush Saghafian finds that 5 million excess deaths of Black Americans, including over 500,000 infants, could have been avoided over the past 70 years if their mortality rates were equal to those of White Americans.

Harvard Kennedy School faculty disseminate their research in working publications and papers that contribute to public knowledge and fuel policy innovation. This list features recent faculty publications, including journal articles, books, edited volumes, research papers, and public testimony.

Faculty Publications

A House Divided

Bane, Mary Jo. "A House Divided." American Parishes: Remaking Local Catholicism. Ed. Gary J. Adler, Jr., Tricia C. Bruce, and Brian Starks. Fordham University Press, 2019.

Effects of a Modified Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Two American Cities: Findings from Family Rewards 2.0

Miller, Cynthia, Rhiannon Miller, Nandita Verma, Nadine Dechausay, Edith Yang, Timothy Rudd, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Sylvie Honig. "Effects of a Modified Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Two American Cities: Findings from Family Rewards 2.0." MDRC, September 2016.

Who Will Speak of the Poor?

Bane, Mary Jo. "Who Will Speak of the Poor?" Commonweal 139.6 (March 23, 2012): 10-11.

The Churches, Foreign Policy, and Global Poverty:
New Approaches? New Partnerships?

Bane, Mary Jo. "The Churches, Foreign Policy, and Global Poverty: New Approaches? New Partnerships?" Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland Working Paper, November 2011.

Social Conscience and Politics in the United States of America: Reflections

Bane, Mary Jo. "Social Conscience and Politics in the United States of America: Reflections." International Journal of Public Theology 5.3 (2011): 352-365.

Poverty and Poverty Alleviation Strategies in North America

Bane, Mary Jo, and René Zenteno, eds. Poverty and Poverty Alleviation Strategies in North America. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, 2009.