Department of Public Policy
Sudhanshu Handa, Chair
Professors
Richard N. L. Andrews, Environmental Policy
Maryann P. Feldman, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education and the Commercialization of Academic Research, and the Factors that Promote Technological Change and Economic Growth
Sudhanshu Handa, Human Resource Economics, Poverty, Program Evaluation, Development Economics
Gary T. Henry, Education Policy, Child Policy, Policy and Program Evaluation, Quantitative Research Methods
Krista M. Perreira, Family, Health and Social Policy, Racial and Gender Disparities, Immigration
Associate Professors
Daniel P. Gitterman, American Politics and Public Policy, Social and Health Policy
Assistant Professors
Christine P. Durrance, Public and Applied Microeconomics, Health Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization/Anti-Trust Policy
Pamela Jagger, Environmental and Development Policy, Forests and Livelihoods, Research Design and Methods, Institutions and Governance
Douglas L. Lauen, Education Policy, Organizational Theory, Stratification
Benjamin Mason Meier, Global Health Policy, Justice and Policy
Jeremy Moulton, Public Economics
John C. Scott, Lobbying Organizations, Social Networks, Aging and Retirement Policy
Patricia Sullivan, International Relations, Comparative Politics, U.S. Security Policy
Lecturer
Gail A. Corrado, Educational Policy, Persistent Achievement Gaps between Groups
Professor of the Practice
W. Hodding Carter III, Public Policy and Leadership, the Media, the Emergent South
Adjunct Faculty
Micah Gilmer, Social Innovation
J. Ferrel Guillory, Southern Politics, Media and Public Life
John W. Hardin, American Politics, Public Policy, Policy Analysis
Kathleen Harris, Social Demography, Poverty, Family, Public Policy
James H. Johnson Jr., Interregional Black Migration, Interethnic Minority Conflict in Advanced Industrial Societies, Minority- and Women-Owned Business Development, Workplace Diversity Issues
Arne Kalleberg, Sociology of Work, Organizations and Occupations, Social Stratification, Economy and Society, Research Methods
Douglas E. MacLean, Practical Ethics, Moral and Political Theory, Influence of Values on Personal Decisions and Public Policies
David Podoff, Social Security, Health Care Reform, Federal Budget Policy
Roberto G. Quercia, Housing Finance and Housing Policy
David H. Schanzer, Immigration and Migration, National Security and Defense
Catherine F. Smith, Discourse Theory and Analysis, Public Policy, Democracy Education, Cultural-Historical Rhetoric, Professional Discourse, Digital Composition
Charles Thompson, Educational Leadership, Policy, Research Methods
Professors Emeriti
David D. Dill, Public Policy Analysis, Higher Education Policy, Organization and Management of Academic Institutions
Michael A. Stegman, National Housing Policy, National Urban Policy, Community Capitalism
Doctor of Philosophy
The Department of Public Policy offers the Ph.D. degree to students who wish to increase understanding of public policy problems, contribute new knowledge to the understanding of public policy decision making and institutions and develop and justify proposals for public policy solutions to societal problems. Graduates of the program are prepared to conduct sophisticated policy research that provides useful information to decision makers and to advance the bodies of knowledge both about public policy making in general and about their specific specialization field. Doctoral graduates of the Department of Public Policy hold academic positions in major universities, research positions in policy research organizations, and senior policy staff positions in government agencies and other policy development organizations.
The Ph.D. in public policy combines core foundations in theory, empirical and normative analysis, public policy institutions and processes, and research methods with a field specialization area that is chosen and developed by the student with the approval of an individualized doctoral program committee. The curriculum is designed to help each doctoral student develop and use appropriate analytical approaches to solve problems in public policy fields such as education, health policy, social protection and welfare policy, environmental policy, science, technology and entrepreneurship, and global policy issues.
Admission
Students are admitted to the doctoral program in public policy from diverse backgrounds in both academic preparation and experience, and such diversity is strongly welcomed. In preparation for doctoral study, applicants should have completed preparatory courses in intermediate microeconomics, basic statistics, and quantitative analysis (including calculus); a master’s degree and some public policy-related work experience are desirable. All entering students are also required to take a course in basic quantitative techniques in economics during the August prior to the beginning of their first semester.
Applications for admission in the fall semester must be received no later than the posted deadlines for the following fall semester. However, applications must be received by the December deadline to receive full consideration for Graduate School competitive awards. All prospective students must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and applicants from non-English-speaking countries who do not have a degree from a U.S. institution must also submit results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Factors considered in the application review include the academic transcript, GRE scores, class rank, references, statements of interest, fit with faculty research expertise, and professional experience.
Applicants are encouraged to visit the campus for a personal interview with the faculty and to meet current students in the program.
Degree Requirements
Core courses. Once enrolled, each student completes a set of doctoral-level core courses in applications of economic and institutional theory to public policy issues, as well as research design, appropriate research methods, including econometrics, and a specialization in a particular subject area of public policy. Doctoral students are required to complete 50 hours of course work, including 29 hours in core courses common to all students and 18 hours in a self-defined policy specialization field. Core courses include PLCY 700, 710, 716, 717, 780, 788, 789, 801, 810, 881, and 882. Students who have successfully completed graduate courses elsewhere that approximate these required courses may petition to have up to nine such hours counted toward the Ph.D. in public policy. Courses proposed for transfer must be approved as part of the student’s program within the department, and material from those courses may be included as part of the comprehensive doctoral examinations. Students normally spend approximately two years in full-time course work, and somewhat longer if they enter the program without key prerequisite courses or a master’s degree in a related field. A dissertation is required.
Policy field. Each student designs an individual course of study for a policy field. The 18-credit-hour requirement gives students rigorous training in the theory, methods, and subject matter of policy analysis within a substantive policy field. The specialization area course of study must include both doctoral-level understanding of the subject matter of the policy specialization area and at least three hours of research methods, in addition to the econometrics sequence (881 and 882) and research design course (801) required for the core. Students take no less than nine credit hours of courses related to the theory and subject matter of their policy concentration; up to six hours of specialization area credits may be taken as independent studies. The remaining six hours of required field specialization credits are normally completed as PLCY 994 during dissertation research. The student’s additional research methods course should provide the student with the ability to design and carry out dissertation research and to continue making scholarly contributions in his or her chosen field. Each student is assisted by an individualized program committee in identifying courses, independent readings, and other sources of information to acquire both the substantive knowledge and the quantitative and other analytical skills appropriate for the student’s policy field specialization.
Public Policy Math Camp (PLCY 700). The department requires that incoming Ph.D. students participate in a two-week math camp during the beginning of August prior to their first year of study. This is a three-credit course.
Public Policy Research Seminar (PLCY 810). The department offers a weekly seminar course in which faculty, public policy scholars, government officials, and public policy doctoral students present their research and share their perspectives on policy issues. Each student is expected to enroll in this one-credit seminar for two semesters beginning in the second year.
Graduate Minor
Doctoral and master’s students not enrolled in the Department of Public Policy may elect to minor in public policy. Requirements for the minor include 15 hours of approved course work in public policy analysis for doctoral students, or 12 credits for master’s students, approved by the Department of Public Policy and the student’s major department. (These may not include double-counting of courses required for the student’s major.) Prerequisite courses are intermediate microeconomics and probability and statistics.
Research: Faculty Expertise and Related Units
Students can tap the considerable resources of the UNC community to support a wide range of policy interests. The Department of Public Policy has developed particular strengths in five broad areas of policy research and application:
Education Policy. The department has a strong and highly productive cluster of faculty research expertise in the area of education policy, including evaluation of federal and state policies for K–12 education, pre-kindergarten education, and higher education. In addition, the faculty are interested in questions concerning the returns to education and the impacts of external events on educational achievement and attainment. The State of North Carolina provides an excellent laboratory for studying education policy, and our faculty and students also have opportunities for interaction with UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, and other nearby educational research and policymaking organizations. (Related faculty: Henry, Lauen, Perreira, Handa)
Environmental Policy. Recent faculty and doctoral student research includes particular emphasis on climate change, energy policy, environment and human welfare, and environmental and natural resource management policies in state, national and developing country contexts. The Department of Public Policy cooperates in environmental research and public service activities as well as teaching with the Carolina Population Center, the Curriculum for Environment and Ecology, the UNC Institute for the Environment, the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the Department of City and Regional Planning, the UNC Environmental Finance Center, the Center for Sustainable Enterprise in the Kenan–Flagler Business School, and numerous other academic units with environmental interests. Chapel Hill and the Research Triangle area are one of the premier regions in the world for environmental research and policy, including multiple EPA laboratories, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Institute, and active collaboration with state agencies as well as complementary strengths at Duke University and North Carolina State University (Related faculty: Andrews, Jagger).
Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The department’s faculty includes particular research expertise in the regional clustering of scientific knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship, the commercialization of academic research, and factors that promote technological change and economic growth. The Research Triangle region is itself internationally recognized as a premier example of knowledge-based economic development. The department also works closely with other key units on campus with strength in economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and science and technology policy, including the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise; the departments of City and Regional Planning, Economics, and Sociology; and the schools of Business, Government, Law, and Public Health. Students have ample opportunities to work with economic development and science and technology organizations located in the region, including the Research Triangle Institute, Southern Growth Policies Board, the Rural Economic Development Center, the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology, and others. (Related faculty: Feldman)
Social Protection and Welfare Policy. The department’s faculty includes particular research expertise on U.S. social safety-net policies for low-income families and retirees, needs and outcomes for immigrant youth and their families, and innovative policy incentives such as contingent cash transfer incentives in developing countries. This area of research also includes collaborative activities with the Carolina Population Center, the UNC Center for Community Capitalism, the Institute on Aging, and the Jordan Institute of Family Policy in the School of Social Work. (Related faculty: Gitterman, Handa, Moulton, Perreira, Scott)
Health Policy. Faculty in Public Policy study issues relating to mental health and substance abuse, AIDS, environmental health, health insurance and managed care, and health issues in developing countries, all with a focus on achieving better health outcomes, health as a human right, and on the economic and institutional basis of effective policies. Public Policy faculty and doctoral students also collaborate with considerable expertise and resources in the School of Public Health, the Department of Social Medicine, the Carolina Population Center, the Cecil Sheps Center for Health Services Research, neighboring universities, contract research organizations, and international donor organizations. (Related faculty: Durrance, Gitterman, Handa, Meier, Perreira)
Global Policy Issues. Many of our faculty members study issues whose causes and consequences extend across borders. Because these issues do not respect political boundaries, they can be the source of conflict between countries. At the same time, they are often most effectively addressed by policy responses that require international cooperation. Members of our faculty use rigorous social science methods to examine the effects of foreign policy initiatives, as well as the unique opportunities and challenges that arise in the context of problems that require cooperation among nations and between nations and nongovernmental organizations. Specific areas of expertise include the impact of international economic integration on labor standards, the utility of military force as a foreign policy instrument, the effects of foreign aid on national policies and outcomes, how international law affects public health, and international cooperation to address critical environmental issues. Students interested in global policy issues benefit from opportunities for to connect with the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, the UNC Institute for the Environment, the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense, the UNC Center for Global Initiatives, and the Curriculum in Global Studies. (Related core faculty: Andrews, Gitterman, Handa, Meier, Sullivan).
Financial Assistance
Students who apply by the December 15 deadline, who are admitted will automatically be considered for a range of financial support, including Graduate School fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships. Many awards grant full tuition privileges and medical insurance coverage, substantially increasing their value to the student. Prospective students are encouraged to contact faculty members whose research is in areas of their potential interest and experience.
Resources
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a distinguished tradition in public policy. A charter member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the Department of Public Policy currently has a 12-member core faculty including nationally and internationally recognized expertise in policies for education, environment, health, immigrant populations, innovation and economic development, entrepreneurship, institutional design, and other policy areas. Many combine scholarship with governmental experience and direct engagement in public leadership, and many also hold joint appointments in related academic units. In addition to the Ph.D., the department offers a strong undergraduate major in public policy, a graduate minor for interested students in other academic units, and close cooperation with other policy-related graduate programs at both the master’s and doctoral levels offered by the departments of City and Regional Planning, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Health Policy and Management, the Public Administration program, and the schools of Business, Education, Law, Social Work, and Medicine. Doctoral students in the department may also enroll in classes at Duke University (to which there is a regular free bus service) as well as nearby North Carolina State University without additional cost.
Visiting Scholars
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hosts visiting public policy scholars and postdoctoral research fellows from around the world and exchanges students and faculty with several universities in Europe and Asia.
Research Centers and Institutes
A wide range of University of North Carolina research centers and institutes, many of which conduct nationally and internationally distinguished policy-related research, also extend research opportunities. Examples include:
The Carolina Institute for Public Policy
Established in 2007, the Carolina Institute for Public Policy facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations on policy-relevant research among faculty and graduate students from multiple academic units, promotes opportunities for faculty and students to interact with policymakers and other public leaders on public policy questions, and serves as a broker for public policy research opportunities at the state, regional, national, and international levels. The institute is located and staffed jointly with the department.
The Institute for the Environment
Organizes and supports interdisciplinary environmental science and decision making research across and beyond the campus on global, national, and North Carolina environmental problems.
Carolina Population Center
Conducts internationally distinguished research to benefit world populations, train the next generation of population scholars, build skills, capacity, and improved methodologies, and disseminate data and findings to population professionals, policymakers, and the public.
Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
Conducts interdisciplinary research to improve the health of individuals, families, and populations by understanding the problems, issues, and alternatives in the design and delivery of health care services.
Center for Urban and Regional Studies
Conducts research on urban issues and processes of urbanization, such as new community development, housing market dynamics, and national home ownership policies, models of urban growth, residential preferences, coastal zone management, and planning for natural hazards.
Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise
Conducts research and technical assistance on projects to help businesses turn obstacles into opportunities and to help countries and communities identify their competitive strengths and develop innovative strategies and partnerships to achieve their goals.
Center for Community Capitalism
Conducts research to help reduce poverty and inequality by creating more effective strategies to reintegrate America’s disadvantaged communities and their residents into the market economy.
Carolina Center for Competitive Economies
Conducts applied research and policy analysis to help address problems of economic competitiveness, primarily within the state of North Carolina. C3E is a pan-University activity and is housed in the Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise.
Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science (IRSS)
The oldest institute in the United States for the cooperative study of problems in the general field of social sciences; maintains extensive survey and census archives and assists in design and analysis of social research.
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
Pursues research to create new knowledge to enhance the lives of children and their families.
Highway Safety Research Center
Conducts research on prevention of collisions and injuries for state and local highway safety agencies.
Institute for Transportation Research and Education
Provides highway and transportation engineering research and technology transfer to local, state, and federal government agencies.
Jordan Institute for Families
Created in 1996 in the School of Social Work, the Jordan Institute promotes research and development efforts to improve the quality of services delivered to communities across the state and nation. It maintains four basic missions: 1) to facilitate faculty research, 2) to provide opportunities for students to work on research and development projects in the areas of human services, 3) to build professional relationships with research laboratories and centers across the campus, and 4) to serve as a resource to human service departments and programs in North Carolina.
School of Government
Provides teaching, research, and consultation to North Carolina state and local government officials.
Water Resources Research Institute
Formulates research programs responsive to state water resource problems. Provides local, state, and federal agencies with research to make better decisions in managing water resources.
For more information, contact Admissions, Department of Public Policy, CB #3435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3435. Telephone: (919) 962-1600. E-mail: mbudihar@email.unc.edu. Web site: publicpolicy.unc.edu.
Courses for Graduate and Advanced Undergraduate Students
PLCY
410 Microeconomic Foundations of Public Policy (3). Prerequisite, ECON 101. This course allows students to enhance their working knowledge of microeconomic theory, explore microeconomic theory as a methodology to solve policy problems, understand market failures and the role of collective action in markets, apply economic models to a variety of policy situations, and evaluate and critique economic analyses.
420 Taxation and Public Policy (3). This course examines United States tax policy in terms of the historical and institutional development of tax systems; theories of consent; the use of tax-based instruments such as tax credits and subsidies for social policy; and outcomes associated with taxation, particularly from racial and gendered perspectives.
425 Risks, Shocks, and the Safety Net (3). Many risks and shocks can make individuals and families vulnerable to economic hardship. This course examines America’s social policy regime through a wide-ranging investigation of the origins, development, and future of critical features of our social safety net. We pay particular attention to challenges emerging in the era of globalization.
430 Analysis of National Security Policy (3). Course explores contemporary threats to national security, approaches to national security strategy, policy instruments, the role of military force, and the policymaking process.
455 9/11 and Its Aftermath (PWAD 455) (3). Examines the nature of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism and strategies for addressing it, including analysis of post-9/11 changes to United States national security strategy, law enforcement and intelligence, and homeland security.
460 Quantitative Analysis for Public Policy (3). Prerequisite, STOR 155. Application of statistical techniques, including regression analysis, in public policy program evaluation; research design; and data collection and management.
470 Business, Competition, and Public Policy (3). This course focuses on competition policy in the United States using relevant Supreme Court decisions as well as economic and policy-related motivation for specific business behavior.
475 Political Economy of Food (3). This course examines the political and economic dimensions of the food we eat, how it’s produced, who eats what, and the related social and environmental issues, both domestic and international, affecting the production, pricing, trade, distribution, and consumption of food.
480 Environmental Decision Making (ENST 480) (3). Introduces factors shaping environmental decision making by individuals, businesses, governments, advocacy groups, and international institutions. Explores public policy incentives and action strategies for influencing them.
485 Poverty, Health, and Human Development in Low-Income Countries (3). Prerequisite, ECON 101. This course provides an understanding of how poverty is defined, the consequences of poverty, and policies to reduce poverty. It explores the determinants of human development outcomes from an interdisciplinary perspective (with a heavy economics focus).
490 Special Topics in Public Policy (3). Special topics in public policy for undergraduate and graduate students.
496 Independent Study/Reading in Public Policy (1–6). Permission of the instructor. Independent reading in public policy.
499 Selected Topics in Public Policy (3). Selected topics in public policy.
520 Environment and Development (ENST 520, INTS 520) (3). Reviews environmental problems in developing countries. Analyzes proposed solutions, such as legal remedies, market instruments, corporate voluntary approaches, international agreements, and development policies. Discusses the link between trade and environment, environmental cases from the WTO, and sustainable development.
527 Principles of Public Finance for Public Policy (3). Prerequisite, ECON 310 or 410, or PLCY 410 or 788. This course provides a foundation in public finance theory and applications. Students learn to analyze taxation policies and expenditures on income redistribution, programs for the poor (e.g., TANF), and social insurance programs (e.g., Social Security).
530 Educational Problems and Policy Solutions (3). Reviews current debates and policy solutions in education. Topics analyzed through three of the most commonly used evaluative criteria: equity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Topics: equality of educational opportunity, racial segregation, the black-white test score gap, school choice, and the use of incentives to promote increased performance. Lecture, case studies, discussion.
565 Global Health Policy (3). Coursework will focus on public policy approaches to global health, employing interdisciplinary methodologies to understand selected public health policies, programs, and interventions. For students who have a basic understanding of public health.
570 Health and Human Rights (3). Course focuses on rights-based approaches to health, applying a human rights perspective to selected public health policies, programs, and interventions. Students will apply a formalistic human rights framework to critical public health issues, exploring human rights as both a safeguard against harm and a catalyst for health promotion.
575 Science and Public Policy: The Social, Economic, and Political Context of Science (3). Introduction to analysis of science policy. Course explores how events transformed science’s role in American life and how science relates to industry and economic development. Topics include the mechanisms of allocating scientific resources, the commercialization of academic discoveries, regulating emerging technology, and achieving consensus on controversial scientific issues.
580 Implementing Change: Barriers and Opportunities in Policy, Government, and the Nonprofit Sector (3). An introduction to some of the sectors social change work occurs within: education, healthcare, local policy, philanthropy and nonprofit direct service. Students will learn the fundamental systems of governance and accountability that guide them, and the opportunities or barriers that motivate and de-motivate people working within them.
585 American Environmental Policy (ENST 585, ENVR 585, PLAN 585) (3). See ENVR 585 for description.
590 Special Topics in Public Policy (3). Special topics for undergraduate and graduate students.
596 Independent Study/Reading in Public Policy (1–6). Permission of the instructor. Independent reading in public policy.
599 Selected Topics in Public Policy (3). Selected topics in public policy.
650 Robertson Scholars Capstone (1). The central focus of the capstone course will be that the scholars will learn from and about each other.
681 Research Design for Public Policy (3). Pre- or corequisite, PLCY 460. Students will explore the scientific method as applied to policy research. They will formulate testable policy research questions, become familiar with methods for conducting policy research, and learn to think critically about causal inference.
686 Policy Instruments for Environmental Management (ENST 686, ENVR 686, PLAN 686) (3). Prerequisite, ECON 410 or PLAN 710. Design of public policy instruments as incentives for sustainable management of environmental resources and ecosystems, and comparison of the effects and effectiveness of alternative policies.
690 Special Topics in Public Policy (3). Special topics for graduate or undergraduate students.
691H Honors Research Design for Public Policy (3). Pre- or corequisite, PLCY 460. In preparing their honors theses, students will formulate a testable policy research question, design a study to answer this research question, and learn to think critically about causal inference.
692H Honors in Public Policy (3). Prerequisites, PLCY 460 and 691H. For senior public policy majors. Directed research for the honors thesis. Students may only receive credit for one semester of this course. An application for enrollment must be completed by the student and approved by the director of the public policy honors program.
696 Independent Study/Reading in Public Policy (1–6). Permission of the instructor. Independent reading in public policy.
698 Practicum in Public Policy (3). Prerequisites, PLCY 460, and 681 or 691H. For senior public policy majors or minors. The course involves an in-depth analysis of a public policy problem. Students work in teams to prepare a policy analysis of a current federal, state, or local issue.
699 Selected Topics in Public Policy (3). Selected topics in public policy.
Courses for Graduate Students
PLCY
700 Mathematical Preparation for Public Policy and Economics (3). An intensive preparation course in mathematical and statistical analysis for public policy and economics. Reviews and introduces topics in linear algebra, calculus, optimization and mathematical statistics, and prepares students for PLCY 788 and PLCY 789. Also serves as a prerequisite for HPM 881, which satisfies one methods requirement in the Ph.D. program.
701 American Political Institutions (POLI 701) (3). See POLI 701 for description.
710 Public Policy Analysis (3). The roles of expertise in policy discourse, the place of values in policy analysis, summarizing preferences, benefits and costs, policy models, policy expertise, and democratic political systems.
716 New Institutionalism: Politics, Institutions and Public policy (POLI 716) (3). Examines leading theoretical approaches to study institutions and public policy. Draws on "new institutionalism" scholarship from political science, economics, and sociology to analyze public policy in historical and comparative perspectives. Emphasis on applying these theoretical insights to substantive public policy issues.
717 Political Institutions: Macro-Level Processes, Nesting, and Institutional Dynamics (3). This course analyzes the politics of public policy with an emphasis on the role of political institutions. The course combines theory, empirical research, methodological approaches to institutions, and case studies in substantive areas of policy with a global dimension. This is a required core course for the Public Policy Ph.D.
761 Community Development Venture (MBA 850) (0.5–21). See MBA 850 for description.
768 Seminar in Community Capitalism (PLAN 768) (3). Limited to graduate students. Reflects the convergence of business and community development interests. Seminar explores theory and applications in inner city business and capital markets, development finance and urban policies. Requires major research project.
775 Science and Public Policy: The Social, Economic, and Political Context of Science (3). Explores transformations in the role of science in America and how science relates to industry and economic development. Topics include mechanisms (and politics) of allocating scientific resources, commercialization of academic discoveries, evolving university-industry relationships, regulation of emerging technology, decision making and scientific uncertainty, and building consensus about controversial scientific issues.
780 Normative Dimensions of Policy Analysis and Research: Theories, Methods, and Ethical Foundations (3). Ethical considerations are integrated with formal analytical approaches in policy advising. Topics include criteria for policy choice, user participation, and analysts’ obligations in political situations. First semester: noneconomic techniques.
785 Public Investment Theory and Techniques (ENVR 785, PLAN 785) (3). See PLAN 785 for description.
787 Ethics and Formal Analytic Techniques II (3). Ethical considerations are integrated with formal analytical approaches in policy advising. Topics include criteria for policy choice, user participation and analysts’ obligations in political situations. Second semester: mainly cost-benefit analysis.
788 Advanced Economic Analysis for Public Policy I (PLAN 788) (3). Economic theory applied to policy issues. Policy issues analyzed require microeconomic theory, including theory of utility and demand, organization and operation of product and factor markets, production theory, regulation, and welfare economics.
789 Advanced Economic Analysis for Public Policy II (PLAN 789) (3). Prerequisite, PLCY 788. Additional public policy issues addressed to study further applications of economic theory. Issues require knowledge of risk and uncertainty, fiscal and monetary theory, and macro income determination.
799 Selected Topics in Public Policy (3).
801 Design of Policy-Oriented Research (PLAN 801) (3). See PLAN 801 for description.
802 Advanced Seminar in Research Design: Data, Methods, and Evaluation (PLAN 802) (3). Three main objectives: to deepen students’ understanding of important issues and topics in the design of empirical research, to further develop students’ ability to critically evaluate research designs and policy-related products and to aid in developing a research paper, dissertation, or other product.
805 Public Policy Workshop (1–3). For graduate students in public policy analysis who are undertaking team projects under faculty supervision. Projects vary from year to year. All will relate to public policy and will involve interaction with real clients. The intent is to provide students with an opportunity to apply theory and techniques of policy analysis in actual problem situations.
810 Public Policy Seminar (1). Weekly forum for public policy scholars and officials to discuss the relationships between policy research and policy outcomes. Presentations by invited speakers and doctoral students.
820 American Welfare State (3). This course will examine the American welfare state through a wide-ranging investigation of the origins, development, and future of the most critical features of U.S. politics, social policy, and law.
830 Seminar in Education Policy I (3). Covers economic and sociological theories on the determinants of learning and the demand for schooling. Topics include stratification, school effects, schooling process and socialization, family, peer, and contextual effects, and the education production function.
831 Seminar in Education Policy II (3). Explores educational policy problems and the evidence and methods used to assess such problems. Topics include racial social gap, school choice, educational accountability, assessment, standard setting, teacher effects, resource allocation, and early childhood education.
882 Advanced Panel Data Methodology for Public Policy (3). Students will apply models and statistical techniques to original PLCY research; understand major techniques used to estimate causal relationships in quasi-experimental designs, including panel data and simultaneous equations models; and gain intuition and skills about the art of econometrics, including techniques for using complex survey data and handling missing data.
892 Ph.D. Seminar in Environmental Management and Policy (ENVR 892, PLAN 892) (3). Doctoral standing required. Permission of the instructor. Ph.D. seminar on theory, methods, and current research and literature in environmental management and policy. One to two seminar hours per week.
895 Topics in Poverty and Human Resources (3). Topics covered include poverty, welfare, and human resources from an economic perspective. For students wanting to specialize in social and behavioral approaches to the study of population and demographic phenomena.
901 Independent Study (1–21). This course allows graduate students in public policy analysis to receive credit for work on individual projects, designed in conjunction with a faculty supervisor. It is intended for students who are interested in pursuing academic topics not covered in scheduled courses.
910 The Use of Research in the Policy Process (3). Systematically examines use and abuse of policy-relevant research in policy process. Connects design and execution of policy research with participants in policy process. Policy cases are emphasized.
955 Seminar in Economic Development and Science and Technology Policy (3). Doctoral standing required. Permission of the instructor. Explores current issues in economic development and science and technology policy through a series of scholarly presentations and student research projects.
994 Doctoral Dissertation (3–9).