Research Analysis
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Is Patient Activation the Answer? Engaged Patients Could Yield Lower Costs for Hospitals
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Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are growing rapidly in the United States because of new pay-for-performance incentives under the Affordable Care Act. These provider networks currently cover more than 28 million patients across the country, whereby they agree to cover a set number of patients for a fixed cost per year.…
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Does Foreign Aid Have an Effect on Economic Growth? New Research Adds to the Debate
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There is an ongoing debate about the impact of international aid on growth, particularly in developing countries. Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly represent the two primary strains of thought in this debate. Sachs argues that foreign aid constitutes an important instrument to reduce poverty and foster development, while Easterly suggests that foreign aid fails to reach…
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Influencing Innovation: Government’s Role in Subsidizing R&D
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Firms often underinvest in research and development (R&D) when there is no government intervention. There are many uncertainties and risks that discourage firms from investing in R&D, which slows the pace of innovation. To address this problem, governments can provide firms with subsidies to incentivize new product creation or improve…
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Wicked Smart: Massachusetts’s Efforts to Turn Around a Failing School District
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Just 30 miles north of Boston on the Merrimack River is the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. This industrial metropolitan area is home to almost 80,000 people, with a median household income of $32,851 and a poverty rate of 29.2 percent. Almost 40 percent of residents are immigrants, coming predominantly from…
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Paying Too Much for Energy? The True Costs of Our Energy Choices
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With less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States consumes about one-fifth (21 percent) of the world’s energy. In a working paper for The Hamilton Project published in 2012, Greenstone and Looney find that the true social cost (private costs on energy bills plus external costs) of energy…
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Exceptional Access: How a “Back Door” Could Create Large-Scale Security Threats
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On February 16, 2016, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, issued a letter to customers in which he declared his opposition to a federal court order requiring the company to help the FBI “unlock” an iPhone used by one of the two gunmen in the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting in…
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Food Aid in Syria: Good Intentions, Unintended Outcomes
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Emergency food aid is often depicted as the international community’s humane response to a crisis, aimed at alleviating suffering in areas of conflict or following natural disasters. However, a recent paper argues that despite the impartial intentions of UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations, the distribution of food aid during…
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Can Comments Improve Care? How Yelp Reviews Can Help Patients and Providers Understand Experiences of Hospital Care
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Recently, there has been an increased focus on improving patient satisfaction in health care. Patient experience is one of the three pillars of the Triple Aim framework, as numerous studies have found a positive link between patient experience and downstream health outcomes, particularly with regards to self-management of chronic disease…
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Community Anchors: How Can Arts & Culture Improve Neighborhoods?
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As many American cities try to determine the most effective mechanisms to revitalize their struggling neighborhoods, the concept of arts-led community development has become increasingly popular. Innovative efforts in this domain, such as the University of Chicago’s newly established Place Lab, focus on community redevelopment strategies that stem from urban-based…
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Demolition, Displacement, and the Effect on Children in Chicago Public Housing
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Housing is the foundation of a family’s life. This basic need determines the surrounding environment, the schools children attend, access to amenities, and even economic opportunities. Due to the essential service that housing provides, the US federal government spends about $50 billion annually on housing assistance for low-income families. However,…
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Bullying in South Korea: A Long-Lasting Burden to Carry
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In their research, Miguel Sarzosa and Sergio Urzúa examine how cognitive and non-cognitive skills can influence the occurrence of bullying, and how these skills can exacerbate the effects of bullying on outcomes such as depression, school attainment, satisfaction, and health.