Faculty Publications

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.

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

Efficacy of Text Messaging in Activating Hard-to-Reach Voters in Rhode Island and Ohio

Sweeney, Latanya, and Josh Visnaw. "Efficacy of Text Messaging in Activating Hard-to-Reach Voters in Rhode Island and Ohio." Technology Science (April 22, 2025).

Auditing large language models for race & gender disparities: Implications for artificial intelligence-based hiring

Gaebler, Johann D., Sharad Goel, Aziz Huq, and Prasanna Tambe. "Auditing large language models for race & gender disparities: Implications for artificial intelligence-based hiring." Behavioral Science & Policy (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.

Asking about Complex Policies

Jessee, Stephen, Neil Malhotra, and Maya Sen. "Asking about Complex Policies." Public Opinion Quarterly (7 February 2025).

Racial Bias in Clinical and Population Health Algorithms: A Critical Review of Current Debates

Coots, Madison, Kristin Linn, Sharad Goel, Amol Navathe, and Ravi Parikh. "Racial Bias in Clinical and Population Health Algorithms: A Critical Review of Current Debates." Annual Review of Public Health (forthcoming).

Guidance for unbiased predictive information for healthcare decision-making and equity (GUIDE): considerations when race may be a prognostic factor

Ladin, Keren, John Cuddeback, O. Kenrik Duru, Sharad Goel, William Harvey, Jinny G. Park, Jessica K. Paulus, Joyce Sackey, Richard Sharp, Ewout Steyerberg, Berk Ustun, David van Klaveren, Saul N. Weingart, and David M. Kent. "Guidance for unbiased predictive information for healthcare decision-making and equity (GUIDE): considerations when race may be a prognostic factor." npj digital medicine 7 (2024): 290.

Guidance for unbiased predictive information for healthcare decision-making and equity (GUIDE): considerations when race may be a prognostic factor

Ladin, Keren, John Cuddeback, O. Kenrik Duru, Sharad Goel, et al. "Guidance for unbiased predictive information for healthcare decision-making and equity (GUIDE): considerations when race may be a prognostic factor." NPJ Digital Medicine 7.290 (2024).

How will advanced AI systems impact democracy?

Summerfield, Christopher, ... Mathias Risse, et al. "How will advanced AI systems impact democracy?" 27 August 2024.

Auditing the Use of Language Models to Guide Hiring Decisions

Gaebler, Johann D., Sharad Goel, Aziz Huq, Prasanna Tambe. "Auditing the Use of Language Models to Guide Hiring Decisions." April 3, 2024.

A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power Sharing Liberalism

Allen, Danielle, Sarah Hubbard, Woojin Lim, Allison Stanger, Shlomit Wagman, Kinney Zalesne. "A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power Sharing Liberalism." Ash Center Occasional Paper Series, January 2024.

The Real Dangers of Generative AI

Weyl, E Glen and Danielle Allen. "The Real Dangers of Generative AI." Journal of Democracy 35.1 (January 2024): 147-162.

Showing high-achieving college applicants past admissions outcomes increases undermatching

Tomkins, Sabina, Joshua Grossman, Lindsay Page, and Sharad Goel. "Showing high-achieving college applicants past admissions outcomes increases undermatching." PNAS 120.45 (October 30, 2023): e2306017120.

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.

Mitigating Included - and Omitted - Variable Bias in Estimates of Disparate Impact

Jung, Jongbin, Sam Corbett-Davies, Johann D. Gaebler, Ravi Shroff, and Sharad Goel. "Mitigating Included - and Omitted - Variable Bias in Estimates of Disparate Impact." .

The Measure and Mismeasure of Fairness

Corbett-Davies, Sam, Johann D. Gaebler, Hamed Nilforoshan, Ravi Shroff, and Sharad Goel. "The Measure and Mismeasure of Fairness." Journal of Machine Learning Research 24 (2023): 1-117.

LegalBench: A Collaboratively Built Benchmark for Measuring Legal Reasoning in Large Language Models

Guha, Neel, Sharad Goel, et al. "LegalBench: A Collaboratively Built Benchmark for Measuring Legal Reasoning in Large Language Models." August 23, 2023.

Designing equitable algorithms

Chohlas-Wood, Alex, Madison Coots, Sharad Goel & Julian Nyarko. "Designing equitable algorithms." nature computational science 3.7 (July 2023): 601-610.

Automated Court Date Reminders Reduce Warrants for Arrest: Evidence from a Text Messaging Experiment

Chohlas-Wood, Alex, Madison Coots, Joe Nudell, Julian Nyarko, Emma Brunskill, Todd Rogers, and Sharad Goel. "Automated Court Date Reminders Reduce Warrants for Arrest: Evidence from a Text Messaging Experiment." .

Political Theory of the Digital Age: Where Artificial Intelligence Might Take Us

Risse, Mathias. Political Theory of the Digital Age: Where Artificial Intelligence Might Take Us. Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Because Data Can't Speak for Itself: A Practical Guide to Telling Persuasive Policy Stories

Chrisinger, David, And Lauren Brodsky. Because Data Can't Speak for Itself: A Practical Guide to Telling Persuasive Policy Stories. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023.

Using General Messages to Persuade on a Politicized Scientific Issue

Green, Jon, James N. Druckman, Matthew A. Baum, David Lazer, Katherine Ognyanova, Matthew Simsonson, Jennifer Lin, Mauricio Santillana, and Roy H. Perlis. "Using General Messages to Persuade on a Politicized Scientific Issue." British Journal of Political Science 1-9 (2022).

Introduction to the Symposium on Ethics and Artificial Intelligence

Risse, Mathias. "Introduction to the Symposium on Ethics and Artificial Intelligence." Moral Philosophy and Politics 9.2 (October 2022): 173–179.

Measuring racial and ethnic disparities in traffic enforcement with large-scale telematics data

Cai, William, Johann Gaebler, Justin Kaashoek, Lisa Pinals, Samuel Madden, and Sharad Goel. "Measuring racial and ethnic disparities in traffic enforcement with large-scale telematics data." PNAS Nexus 1.4 (September 2022).

Building Mass Support for Global Pandemic Recovery Efforts in the United States

Nair, Gautam and Kyle Peyton. "Building Mass Support for Global Pandemic Recovery Efforts in the United States." PNAS Nexus 1.4 (September 2022): 1-9.

Sensitive Questions, Spillover Effects, and Asking about Citizenship on the US Census

Baum, Matthew A., Bryce J. Dietrich, and Rebecca Goldstein, and Maya Sen. "Sensitive Questions, Spillover Effects, and Asking about Citizenship on the US Census." The Journal of Politics 84.3 (July 2022): 1869-1873.

Adaptive Sampling Strategies to Construct Equitable Training Datasets

Cai, William, Ro Encarnacion, Bobbie Chern, Sam Corbett-Davies, Miranda Bogen, Stevie Bergman, and Sharad Goel. "Adaptive Sampling Strategies to Construct Equitable Training Datasets." FAccT '22: 2022 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (June 2022): 1467-1478.

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.

Identifying and Measuring Excessive and Discriminatory Policing

Chohlas-Wood, Alex, Marissa Gerchick, Sharad Goel, Aziz Z. Huq, Amy Shoemaker, Ravi Shroff, and Keniel Yao. "Identifying and Measuring Excessive and Discriminatory Policing." University of Chicago Law Review 89.2 (March 2022): 441-475.

Learning to be Fair: A Consequentialist Approach to Equitable Decision-Making

Chohlas-Wood, Alex, Madison Coots, Henry Zhu, Emma Brunskill, and Sharad Goel. "Learning to be Fair: A Consequentialist Approach to Equitable Decision-Making." February 2022.

The 2021 Digital Services Convening

Eaves, David and Sechi Kailasa. "The 2021 Digital Services Convening." Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, January 2022.

Probability Paths and the Structure of Predictions over Time

Lin, Zhiyuan Jerry, Hao Sheng, Sharad Goel. "Probability Paths and the Structure of Predictions over Time." Advances in Neural Information Processing System 34 (2021): 15098-15110.

Breaking Taboos in Fair Machine Learning: An Experimental Study

Nyarko, Julian, Sharad Goel, and Roseanna Sommers. "Breaking Taboos in Fair Machine Learning: An Experimental Study." EAAMO '21: Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization. Association for Computing Machinery, 2021.

Artificial Intelligence and the Past, Present, and Future of Democracy

Risse, Mathias. "Artificial Intelligence and the Past, Present, and Future of Democracy." Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the United States, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, 7/28/2021.

Bandit algorithms to personalize educational chatbots

Cai, William, Josh Grossman, Zhiyuan Jerry Lin, Hao Sheng, Johnny Tian-Zheng Wei, Joseph Jay Williams, and Sharad Goel. "Bandit algorithms to personalize educational chatbots." Machine Learning 110 (May 2021): 2389-2418.

The accuracy, equity, and jurisprudence of criminal risk assessment

Goel, Sharad, Ravi Shroff, Jennifer Skeem, and Christopher Slobogin. "The accuracy, equity, and jurisprudence of criminal risk assessment." Research handbook on Big Data Law. Ed. Roland Vogl. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021, 9-28.

Data as Collectively Generated Patterns: Making Sense of Data Ownership

Risse, Mathias. "Data as Collectively Generated Patterns: Making Sense of Data Ownership." Carr Center Discussion Paper Series, April 2021.

Beyond Porn and Discreditation: Epistemic Promises and Perils of Deepfake Technology in Digital Lifeworlds

Kerner, Catherine and Mathias Risse. "Beyond Porn and Discreditation: Epistemic Promises and Perils of Deepfake Technology in Digital Lifeworlds." Moral Philosophy and Politics 8.1 (2021): 81-108.

Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the United States: Privacy, Personal Data, and Surveillance

Shattuck, John, and Mathias Risse. "Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the United States: Privacy, Personal Data, and Surveillance." Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, February 26, 2021.

The Hidden Face of Rights: Toward a Politics of Responsibilities

Sikkink, Kathryn. The Hidden Face of Rights: Toward a Politics of Responsibilities. Yale University Press, 2020.

Privacy Risks of Sharing Data from Environmental Health Studies

Boronow, Katherine E., Laura J. Perovich, Latanya Sweeney, Ji Su Yoo, Ruthann A. Rudel, Phil Brown, and Julia Green Brody. "Privacy Risks of Sharing Data from Environmental Health Studies." Environmental Health Perspectives 128.1 (January 2020).

A Taxonomy of Health Information Initiatives to Engage Patients: Objectives, Design Characteristics and Patient Activation

Fung, Archon. "A Taxonomy of Health Information Initiatives to Engage Patients: Objectives, Design Characteristics and Patient Activation." New England Journal of Medicine: Catalyst (August 21, 2019).

Big Tech and Democracy: The Critical Role of Congress

Belei, Bogdan, Toni Bush, Maeve Campbell, Ash Carter, Lucy Chase, Mignon Clyburn, Bennett Craig, Daniel Gastfriend, Dipayan Ghosh, Gene Kimmelman, Heidi Legg, Laura Manley, Nicco Mele, Hong Qu, Amy Robinson, Philip Verveer, and Tom Wheeler. "Big Tech and Democracy: The Critical Role of Congress." April 2019.

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