PhD Dissertation Award

About the Award for Best Dissertation in Public Policy and Management

The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) seeks to recognize emergent scholars in the field by presenting an award for the best PhD dissertation in public policy and management. 

For the 2024 nominations, any dissertation that has been completed in the academic years 2022 - 2023 or 2023 - 2024, and granted a degree in that period, is eligible for consideration. No dissertation that has been completed prior to May 1, 2022 will be accepted and previously submitted dissertations will not be considered. Dissertations from any discipline are acceptable as long as they deal substantively with public policy issues and are nominated by a faculty member from an APPAM institutional member university. The faculty member does not need to be the major adviser or supervisor of the student’s dissertation, but can nominate the dissertation based on the belief that it makes a strong contribution to policy analysis.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Prior Winners

2022-2023

Neil Cholli, University of Chicago
Essays on Social Policy Reforms and Human Capital

Honorable Mentions
Andrew King, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Opening the Halls of Power: Implementing a Community Organizing Approach to Parent Engagement in New York City's Community Schools

Paula Clasing, University of Michigan
The Promise of Free Tuition: The Case of Chile

2021 - 2022

Katharine Nelson, Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP)
FHA and the Dual Mortgage Delivery System in Philadelphia

Honorable Mentions
Hector Blanco, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Economic Effects of Public Housing Programs

Isabelle Cohen, University of California, Berkeley
Essays on Public Finance and Development

2020 - 2021

George Zuo, University of Maryland
Essays on Bridging Economic and Educational Disparities in America

Honorable Mentions
Zachary Bleemer, University of California Berkeley
On the Meritocratic Allocation of Higher Education

Brandyn Churchill, Vanderbilt University
Three Essays in Health Economics

Ezra Karger, University of Chicago
Essays on the Measurement of Income in Economic Analysis

Jun Li, University of Michigan
Medicare Incentives, Payment Reform, and Quality in the Nursing Home Health Care Sector

2019 - 2020

Cody Tuttle, University of Maryland
Government Responses to Crime and Racial Inequality

Honorable mentions
Theresa Anderson, George Washington University
What If Mom Went Back to School? A Mixed Methods Study of Effects and Experiences for Both Generations When Mothers Return to School

Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Harvard University
Essays on the Economics of Education

2018 - 2019

Shiran Victoria Shen, Stanford University
Political Pollution Cycle: An Inconvenient Truth and How to Break It

Honorable mentions:
Patricio Dominiquez Rivera, Inter-American Development Bank and Elizabeth Pérez-Chiqués, CIDE

2017 - 2018

Garima Siwach, University at Albany, State University of New York
Impact of Employment Barriers on Individuals with Criminal Records: An Econometric Evaluation of Criminal Records in New York
Honorable mentions:
Y. Nina Gao, University of Chicago and Allison C. Kelly, University of Washington

2016 - 2017

Mallory Flowers, Georgia Tech School of Public Policy
Green Certification Pathways: The Roles of Public Goods, Private Goods and Certification Schemes
Honorable mentions:
Alan Zarychta, University of Colorado - Boulder

2015 - 2016

Vincent Reina, University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy
The Impact of Mobility and Government Rental Subsidies on the Welfare of Households and Affordability of Markets
Honorable mentions:
Eric Roberts, John Hopkins University and Daniel Sebastian Tello-Trillo, Vanderbilt University

2014-2015

Manasi Deshpande, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Essays on the Effects of Disability Insurance
Honorable mentions:
Alexander Smith, University of Virginia and Gabriel Cardona-Fox, University of Texas, Austin

2013-2014

Anjali Adukia, Harvard University
The Role of Basic Needs in Educational Decisions: Essays in Education and Development Economics
Honorable mention:
Sara Heller, University of Chicago

2012-2013

Sarah Anzia, University of California, Berkeley
Election Timing and the Political Influence of the Organized
Honorable mention:
Hosung Sohn, University of California, Berkeley

2011-2012

Daeho Kim, Brown University

Essays in Health Economics

Honorable mentions:

Chloe Gibbs, University of Chicago

Christopher Robert, Harvard University JFK School of Government

2010-2011

Kurt Lavetti, University of California-Berkeley

Essays on the Estimation of Prices in Implicit Markets

Honorable mentions:

Cassandra Marie Doll Hart, Northwestern University

2009-2010

Heidi Williams, MIT

Essays on Technological Change in Healthcare Markets

Honorable mentions:

Kristin Seefeldt, University of Michigan

Judith Scott-Clayton, Harvard University JFK School of Government

2008 - 2009

Steven Hemelt, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Essays in Education Policy: Accountability, Achievement, and Access

Honorable mentions:

None recognized for this year

2007-2008

Haitao Yin, University of Pennsylvania

The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Environmental Regulations: The Case of Underground Storage Tank Regulations

Honorable mentions:

Maria Fitzpatrick, University of Virginia

Jeremy Rosner, University of Maryland

2006-2007

Christopher Herbst, University of Maryland-College Park

Effects of Social Policy Reforms and the Economy on Welfare Participation and Employment of Single Mothers

Honorable mentions:

Douglas Carr, University of Kentucky

Stephanie Cellini, University of California-Los Angeles

2005-2006

Kilkon Ko, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Behaviors of Policy Analysts in Public Investment Decisions: How Policy Analysts Make Decisions

Honorable mentions:

Leah Brooks, University of California-Los Angeles

Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Northwestern University

2004-2005

Asim Zia, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy

Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Decision Behaviors in Response to the Inspection and Maintenance Program in the Atlanta Airshed, 1997-2001

Honorable mentions:

Margaret Patrick Haist, University of Kentucky

Sergio Fernandez, University of Georgia

2003-2004

Shreyasi Jha, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Linkages Between Trade and Liberalization and Environmental Policy: Evidence from India

Honorable mentions:

Zhong Yi Tong, University of Maryland

Jesse Levin, University of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute

2002-2003

Rucker Johnson, University of Michigan

Essays on Urban Spatial Structure, Job Search and Job Mobility

Honorable mentions:

R. Karl Rethemeyer, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Gail Corrado, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

2001-2002

Mark Long, University of Michigan

The Effects of Education Policy on College Entry and Household Savings

Honorable mentions:

Brian Jacob, University of Chicago

Katherine Magnuson, Northwestern University

2000-2001

Jacob Hacker, Yale University

Boundary Wars: Political Struggle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the U.S.

Honorable mentions:

Jean Marie Abraham, Carnegie Mellon University

Shanti Rabindran Gamper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1999-2000

Susanna Loeb, University of Michigan

Economic Analyses of Elementary and Secondary School Resource Provision

Honorable mentions:

Laura J. Dugan, Carnegie Mellon University

Patrick McEwan, Stanford University

1998-1999

Meredith Phillips, Northwestern University

Early Inequalities: The Development of Ethnic Differences in Academic Achievement During Childhood

Honorable mentions:

Karen Baehler, University of Maryland

Carol Silva, University of Rochester

1997-1998

Kevin Volpp, University of Pennsylvania

Market-based Reforms and the Impact on Quality of Care: An Examination of the Quality Impacts of the Transition from Hospital Rate-Setting to Price Competition in New Jersey

Honorable mentions:

Kim Rueben, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Katherine Baicker, Harvard University JFK School of Government

1996-1997

Xavier De Souza Briggs, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Brown Kids in White Suburbs: Housing Mobility, Neighborhood Effects and the Social Capital of Poor Youth

Honorable mentions:

Ingrid Gould Ellen, New York University

Rebecca London, Northwestern University

1995-1996

Sheila E. Murray, University of Maryland-College Park

Two Essays on the Distribution of Education Resources and Outcomes

1994-1995

Johannes M. Bos, New York University Wagner School of Public Service

The Labor Market Value of Remedial Education: Evidence from Time Series Data on an Experimental Program for School Dropouts

1993-1994

Kathryn A. Foster, Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Special Districts and the Political Economy of Metropolitan Service Delivery

Thomas J. Nechyba, University of Rochester

Fiscal Federalism and Local Public Finance: A General Equilibrium Approach with Voting

1992-1993

Kenneth Langa, University of Chicago Harris School of Policy Studies

Medicaid Cost-Containment in the 1980s: Did It Encourage Interpayer Differences in Hospital Care

1991-1992

Thomas J. Kane, Harvard University JFK School of Government

College Entry by Blacks Since 1970: The Role of Tuition, Financial Aid, Local Economic Conditions and Family Background

About the 2019 Recipient: Shiran Victoria Shen, University of Virginia