Every year, graduating Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI) students spend a full academic year writing individual theses on a broad range of policy relevant topics. To highlight exceptional student work, the Georgetown Public Policy Review (GPPReview) is excited to announce that we published the first annual Georgetown Public Policy Review Graduate Thesis Edition in 2012.
GPPReview is proud to be able to share the interesting and important findings of GPPI’s students and recognize the extraordinary empirical research efforts made by graduating students over the course of their final two semesters at GPPI.
If you are a recent GPPI graduate student interested in submitting your thesis for the Graduate Thesis Edition or learning about the selection process, please email graduatethesis@gppreview.com.
To learn more about the remarkable effort GPPI students undertake to write their thesis or visit the electronic thesis archives, please visit the GPPI MPP thesis website.
The First Annual Graduate Thesis Edition
With this volume, the staff of the Georgetown Public Policy Review takes an unprecedented step in publishing the inaugural Graduate Thesis Edition. We do so in order to showcase the phenomenal work of recent Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI) alumni, who each completed a quantitative thesis in partial fulfillment of the Master of Public Policy degree at Georgetown University.
Each year, the powerful combination of GPPI’s challenging coursework, dedicated faculty advisors, and student talent produces outstanding original research in the form of a thesis. The Graduate Thesis Edition is reserved for those theses that showcase superior policy analysis and particularly thoughtful writing.
This volume begins with the work of David P. Cooper, who explores intergenerational mobility and the persistence of economic status in the United States. With the use of ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression models, Cooper concludes that socioeconomic mobility in the US is even lower than was previously thought and suggests a variety of policies to promote the American dream.
Providing an international perspective, we present author Kate Anderson Simons’ complex research on armed conflict and early childhood outcomes in Ethiopia and Perú. Simons employs OLS regression techniques to find that children exposed to conflict may suffer from language disadvantages that have lifelong ramifications.
Shifting back to the US, R. Brent Wisner provides an interesting legal-based analysis on the politics of enforcement, specifically how the Department of Justice (DOJ) enforces the Federal Civil False Claims Act (FCA). Wisner specifies an OLS regression to find support for two policy recommendations aimed at reducing the effect of politics on enforcement.
Turning to education policy, Emilie C. Saleh examines the achievement gap between immigrant and native students in the US. Using OLS regression techniques that reveal a persistent achievement gap between immigrant and native student groups, Saleh argues that ignoring this gap may have important effects on the integration of immigrants and, in turn, US economic growth.
A final international study by Yasmein Asi investigates the impact of bed net ownership and use on malaria prevention for Liberian Children. Asi uses a logistic regression to find that insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) use reduces the risk of malaria for Liberian children under the age of five, but that the effect is weaker for mere ITN ownership. Asi concludes with detailed policy recommendations for bolstering ITN use.
Finally, our staff had the privilege of sitting down with economist Donald Marron, Director of the Tax Policy Center and former acting Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Among other insights, Professor Marron, who taught at GPPI until last year, shares his thoughts on why a strategy of short-term stimulus and long-term austerity may be best, but politically difficult to accomplish. Marron’s ability to communicate complex economic concepts with eloquence is refreshing.
In sum, each author not only contributes to his or her research field, but also opens valuable avenues for future study. We cannot thank authors Cooper, Simons, Wisner, Saleh, and Asi enough for working with us throughout the publication process for this inaugural issue. It is our hope that this particular volume sets a precedent for publishing valuable student theses for years to come.
Would you like to order a print copy? Email executivefinance@gppreview.com for details. Copies are $20 for non-students and $5 for students.