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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

Dynamic Persuasion: Decay and Accumulation of Partisan Media Persuasion

Baum, Matthew A., Adam J. Berinsky, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Joohye Jeong, Zachary Markovich, and Teppei Yamamoto. "Dynamic Persuasion: Decay and Accumulation of Partisan Media Persuasion." March 2025.

Short-term exposure to filter-bubble recommendation systems has limited polarization effects: Naturalistic experiments on YouTube

Liu, Naijia, Xinlan Emily Hu, Yasemin Savas, Matthew A. Baum, Adam J. Berinsky, Allison J.B. Chaney, Christopher Lucas, Rei Mariman, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Andrew M. Guess, Dean Knox, and Brandon M. Stewart. "Short-term exposure to filter-bubble recommendation systems has limited polarization effects: Naturalistic experiments on YouTube." PNAS 122.8 (February 25, 2025): e2318127122.

A Drag on the Ticket? Estimating Top-of-the-Ticket Effects on Down-Ballot Races

DeLuca, Kevin, Daniel J. Moskowitz, and Benjamin Schneer. "A Drag on the Ticket? Estimating Top-of-the-Ticket Effects on Down-Ballot Races." July 19, 2024.

Local Money: Evaluating the Effects of Municipal Campaign Contributions on Housing Policy Outcomes

Gaudette, Jennifer, and Justin de Benedictis-Kessner. "Local Money: Evaluating the Effects of Municipal Campaign Contributions on Housing Policy Outcomes." April 23, 2024.

How the Identity of Substance Users Shapes Public Opinion on Opioid Policy

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin, and Michael Hankinson. "How the Identity of Substance Users Shapes Public Opinion on Opioid Policy." Political Behavior 46.1 (March 2024): 609-629.

The Electoral and Policy Effects of Election Timing in City and County Government

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin. "The Electoral and Policy Effects of Election Timing in City and County Government." December 23, 2023.

Where the Sidewalk Ends: How Participation Contributes to Inequity in Basic Government Service Provision

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin. "Where the Sidewalk Ends: How Participation Contributes to Inequity in Basic Government Service Provision." December 23, 2023.

American local government elections database

de Benedictis-Kessner, Justin, Diana Da In Lee, Yamil R. Velez, and Christopher Warshaw. "American local government elections database." Scientific Data 10 (December 19, 2023).

A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure

Palmer, Maxwell, Benjamin Schneer, and Kevin DeLuca. "A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure." Political Analysis (December 13, 2023): 1-16.

Media Measurement Matters: Estimating the Persuasive Effects of Partisan Media with Survey and Behavioral Data

Wittenberg, Chloe, Matthew A. Baum, Adam J. Berinsky, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, and Teppei Yamamoto. "Media Measurement Matters: Estimating the Persuasive Effects of Partisan Media with Survey and Behavioral Data." The Journal of Politics 85.4 (October 2023): 1275-1290.

Algorithmic recommendations have limited effects on polarization: A naturalistic experiment on YouTube

Liu, Naijia, Matthew A. Baum, Adam J. Berinsky, Allison J.B. Chaney, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Andy Guess, Dean Knox, Christopher Lucas, Rachel Mariman, and Brandon M. Stewart. "Algorithmic recommendations have limited effects on polarization: A naturalistic experiment on YouTube." September 18, 2023.

Driving turnout: the effect of car ownership on electoral participation

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin, and Maxwell Palmer. "Driving turnout: the effect of car ownership on electoral participation." Political Science Research and Methods 11.3 (July 2023): 654-662.

Who Should Make Decisions? Public Perceptions of Democratic Inclusion in Housing Policy

de Benedictis-Kessner, Justin, Katherine Levine Einstein, and Maxwell Palmer. "Who Should Make Decisions? Public Perceptions of Democratic Inclusion in Housing Policy." ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP23-016, June 2023.

American Local Government Elections Database

de Benedictis-Kessner, Justin, Diana Da In Lee, Yamil R. Velez, and Christopher Warshaw. "American Local Government Elections Database." ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP22-013, September 2022 (rev. June 2023).

Can Inclusionary Zoning Be an Effective Housing Policy in Greater Boston? Evidence from Lynn and Revere

Mock, Rozalyn, Megan Willis-Jackson, Bobby Wang, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Linda Bilmes, and Brian Iammartino. "Can Inclusionary Zoning Be an Effective Housing Policy in Greater Boston? Evidence from Lynn and Revere." ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP23-006, January 2023.

Democratic mayors have no effect on crime, but do reduce the Black share of arrests for petty crimes

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin, Matthew Harvey, Daniel Jones, and Christopher Warshaw. "Democratic mayors have no effect on crime, but do reduce the Black share of arrests for petty crimes." January 23, 2023.

How the Identity of Substance Users Shapes Public Opinion on Opioid Policy

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin and Michael Hankinson. "How the Identity of Substance Users Shapes Public Opinion on Opioid Policy." Political Behavior (2022).

Challenges of effective governance for sustainable development at subnational government levels: introduction to this thematic issue of Public Sector Economics

Aiyar, Yamini, Rolf Alter, and Linda J. Bilmes. "Challenges of effective governance for sustainable development at subnational government levels: introduction to this thematic issue of Public Sector Economics." Public Sector Economics Journal (December 2022): 456-458.

How Self-Interest and Symbolic Politics Shape the Effectiveness of Compensation for Nearby Housing Development

Hankinson, Michael and Justin de Benedictis Kessner. "How Self-Interest and Symbolic Politics Shape the Effectiveness of Compensation for Nearby Housing Development." November 18, 2022.

Media Measurement Matters: Estimating the Persuasive Effects of Partisan Media with Survey and Behavioral Data

Wittenberg, Chloe, Matthew A. Baum, Adam J. Berinsky, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, and Teppei Yamamoto. "Media Measurement Matters: Estimating the Persuasive Effects of Partisan Media with Survey and Behavioral Data." September 26, 2022.

How Partisanship in Cities Influences Housing Policy

de Benedictis Kessner, Justin, Daniel Jones, and Christopher Warshaw. "How Partisanship in Cities Influences Housing Policy." ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP21-035, August 2022.

A multisource database tracking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the communities of Boston, MA, USA

Ristea, Alina, Riley Tucker, Shunan You, Mehrnaz Amiri, Nicholas Beauchamp, Edgar Castro, Qiliang Chen, Alexandra Ciomek, Bidisha Das, Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Sage Gibbons, Forrest Hangen, Barrett Montgomery, Petros Papadopoulos, Cordula Robinson, Saina Sheini, Michael Shields, Xin Shu, Michael Wood, Babak Heydari, and Dan O’Brien. "A multisource database tracking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the communities of Boston, MA, USA." Scientific Data 9.1 (June 20, 2022): 330.

Police Violence Reduces Civilian Cooperation and Engagement with Law Enforcement

Ang, Desmond, Panka Bencsik, Jesse Bruhn, and Ellora Derenoncourt. "Police Violence Reduces Civilian Cooperation and Engagement with Law Enforcement." ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP21-022, September 2021.

The Effects of Police Violence on Inner-City Students

Ang, Desmond. "The Effects of Police Violence on Inner-City Students." Quarterly Journal of Economics 136.1 (February 2021): 115-168.

Civic Responses to Police Violence

Ang, Desmond, and Jonathan Tebes. "Civic Responses to Police Violence." ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP20-033, October 2020.

Fundamentals of Regulatory Design

Sparrow, Malcolm K. Fundamentals of Regulatory Design, Paperback & Kindle. Kindle Direct Publishing, 2020.

Do 40-Year-Old Facts Still Matter? Long-Run Effects of Federal Oversight under the Voting Rights Act

Ang, Desmond. "Do 40-Year-Old Facts Still Matter? Long-Run Effects of Federal Oversight under the Voting Rights Act." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 11.3 (July 2019): 1-53.