9/9/2015
PA5401 Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy
4:00-5:15 PM Monday/Wednesday
Humphrey Center 184
Prof. Maria Hanratty
251 Humphrey School
hanra003@umn.edu
612-625-6500
Office Hours:
M 1-3 or by appointment
Course Description/Goals and Objectives
Welcome to Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy. The class draws together some of the
most influential research, as well as more up-to-date articles and data that have
influenced the evolution of social policies in the United States. This class is intended to
offer students the opportunity to apply economic and empirical skills learned in the first
year core courses.
Key goals and objectives are for students to:
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Understand theories for how labor market opportunities, family structure, and
neighborhood location may affect poverty and inequality
Evaluate empirical research that tests alternate theories of poverty and inequality
Understand the motivations for social policy reforms, and the potential impacts of
policies on families and children
Understand the key conflicts inherent in the design of social welfare polices
Synthesize and critique policy evaluation research;
Construct and present coherent arguments for reform that effectively use current
research.
The Mechanics of the Course
The class will be taught in a mixed lecture-discussion format. We also will incorporate
small group discussions and small group assignments to help you to apply the reading
material. Assignments will be discussed in class before they are due and a grading rubric
provided. Additional detailed instructions may also be provided in class and/or via email.
Students are responsible for contacting the instructor to obtain additional instructions or
handouts from any class sessions they miss.
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1) Reaction Paragraphs (15% of grade): To encourage you to begin to clarify your
thinking prior to class, you are required to post a short reaction paragraph which
summarizes your reactions to one or more of the readings. These reactions could include:
a) a critique of the methods of analysis, b) a discussion of the importance of the article for
policy, c) a question for the class for discussion, &/or d) a discussion of how this issue
connects to your personal experience or research/career interests. Students are
encouraged to respond to other students’ posts. Reaction paragraphs must be posted by
3:45 pm prior to class in order to receive credit. You will receive full credit if you make a
posting for 19 of 22 classes.
2) Class Presentation and Class Participation (10% of grade): Students will work in small
groups to prepare an in-class presentation on one or more of the readings in a selected
class. Students will be asked to highlight the main findings of the article, to discuss the
implications of the article for policy, and to critique the methods of analysis.
Students bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to class from which other students
and the instructor can learn. Therefore, each student will be expected to participate
constructively in class discussions, including in-class discussion assignments. In general,
students who attend each class and make their class presentation will receive 7 points;
students who occasionally volunteer constructive comments will receive 8-9 points;
students who consistently add valuable comments to the class discussion and facilitate
their classmates’ participation (but do not dominate the discussion) will receive 10 points.
3) Short Memo on Poverty Measurement (10% grade): Students will work on an in-class
exercise on poverty measurement and write a short memo summarizing their results. It is
important that you are in class September 10th, to work on the project.
4) Policy Memos (40% grade): Students will write two short policy memos that critically
synthesize research on a specific topic, and that includes implications for policy. All
memos should directly incorporate relevant readings from class, although you can go
beyond these readings if you would like to address a specific issue in more detail.
5) Final Group Project: (25% grade): To allow you to delve into a specific issue in more
depth, you will be asked to work on a group project. You will give an oral presentation
to the class of your paper in the last two weeks of class. The final paper should be 10-15
double spaced pages for a group size on three (smaller or larger groups could write
shorter/longer papers). These projects can follow one of two formats.
Develop a Policy Reform Proposal: The paper should clearly delineate the problem
addressed, present arguments for and against the policy reform, and present a
definitive argument as to why this proposal is ultimately a good idea.
Empirical Analysis: This paper could test a hypothesis regarding economic causes of
poverty, assess recent trends in well-being for subgroups not considered in this class,
or examine the impact of policy interventions. If you choose this option, please see
me early in the class, as it takes more time to implement successfully.
9/9/2015
Assignment Deadlines
Assignment
Reaction Paragraphs (19-22 total)
Class Presentation &
Class Discussion
Poverty Measurement Brief
Policy Brief #1
Policy Brief #2
Final Group Presentation
Final Group Paper
TOTAL
Due Date
Before Each Class (2/week)
Date individually assigned/
Ongoing
September 28
November 2
November 23
December 7,9,14,16
December 19
Points
15.0
10.0
10.0
20.0
20.0
25.0
100.0
Policies on Late Work
Students will not be penalized for absence during the semester due to unavoidable or
legitimate circumstances. Such circumstances include verified illness, participation in
intercollegiate athletic events, subpoenas, jury duty, military service, bereavement, and
religious observances. Please notify me prior to the due date, so that we can make
alternate arrangements.
Students without a legitimate reason for turning in late work should turn in all work
within 24 hours of the due date to receive full credit on the assignment. I prefer to
receive both a written copy and an email copy of your work. Students who do turn in
late work without a legitimate reason will receive a grade penalty of up to ½-grade (i.e. A
to A-, etc) for work handed in within the first week it is due, with higher penalties for
assignments handed in later.
Option to Re-Write Memos:
Students who would like to improve their grade have the option to rewrite one of the
individual memos. Students who wish to do so, should meet with me to discuss any
comments I have made on the memo and to discuss a plan for turning in a revised memo.
The grade for this work will be based on the revised memo.
Disability Accommodations:
The University of Minnesota is committed to providing equitable access to learning
opportunities for all students. Disability Services (DS) is the campus office that
collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable
accommodations.
If you have, or think you may have, a disability (e.g., mental health, attentional, learning,
chronic health, sensory, or physical), please contact DS at 612-626-1333 to arrange a
confidential discussion regarding equitable access and reasonable accommodations.
9/9/2015
If you are registered with DS and have a current letter requesting reasonable
accommodations, please contact me as early in the semester as possible to discuss how
the accommodations will be applied in the course.
For more information, please see the DS website, https://diversity.umn.edu/disability/.
Mental Health and Stress Management:
As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning,
such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down,
difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or
stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance and may reduce your
ability to participate in daily activities. University of Minnesota services are available to
assist you. You can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health
services available on campus via the Student Mental Health Website:
http://www.mentalhealth.umn.edu.
Remember that there are advisors in the Humphrey Student Services office who are
trained and experienced counselors. They are available at very short notice to address
any concerns you may have and provide further resources within the university.
Humphrey Student Services HHH 280, 612-624-3800
IV. Course Readings
All readings are available on the class web site. Asterisked readings are highly
recommended. I will give you further guidance on which readings to focus on before
each class.
You also may want to become acquainted with some of the following web sites.
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Institute for Research on Poverty: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp
UC Davis Center for Poverty Research: http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/about-center
Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality:
http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/index.html
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: http://www.cbpp.org
Center on Law and Social Policies: http://www.clasp.org
Urban Institute: http://www.urban.org
Brookings Institute: http://www.brookings.edu
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation: http://www.mdrc.org
National Bureau of Economic Research: http://www.nber.org
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This syllabus is a work in progress. I may change the readings to better meet the specific
needs and interests of this class. If so, I will give you enough advance notice to anticipate
the changes.
For those of you who are writing significant research projects, and would like to tailor the
assignments to meet your needs, please see me. I am open to considering changes to the
format, provided you consult with me before the assignment is due.
September 9: Course Overview
Rebecca Blank, “Selecting Among Poverty Policies: Can an Economist be Both Critical
and Caring,” Review of Social Economy, LXI(4), December 2003.
William Darity, “Will the Poor Always be With Us?” Review of Social Economy, LXI(4),
December 2003.
Nancy Folbre, “Blowing the Whistle on Poverty Policy,” Review of Social Economy,
LXI(4), December 2003.
September 14: Conceptualizing & Measuring Poverty
* Amartya Sen, “Poor Relatively Speaking,” Oxford Economic Papers, July 1983.
* Rebecca Blank, “Presidential Address: How to Improve Poverty Measurement in the
United States,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27(2), Spring 2008.
Timothy Smeeding, “Poverty Measurement”, University of Wisconsin Discussion Paper
1424-14, June 13, 2014
Liana Fox, Irwin Garfinkel, Neeraj Kaushal, Jane Waldfogel, “Waging War on Poverty:
Historical Trends in Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure,” National Bureau
of Economic Research Working Paper 19789, January 2014
September 16: Poverty Measurement Exercise
Read Instructions on Poverty Measurement Exercise on Moodle
U.S. Census Bureau, Observations from the Interagency Task Force on Developing a
Supplemental Poverty Measure, March 2010
US Census Bureau, The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure, 2012
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September 21: Trends in Poverty & Macro-Economy
*Hilary Hoynes, Marianne Page, and Ann Huff Stephens, “Poverty in America: Trends
and Explanations,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), Winter 2006.
*Hilary Hoynes, Douglas L. Miller and Jessamyn Schaller, “Who Suffers during
Recessions?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2012.
*Jeff Larrimore, Richard V. Burkhauser, Philip Armour, “Accounting for Income
Changes over the Great Recession (2007-2010) Relative to Previous Recessions: The
Importance of Taxes and Transfers,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working
Paper 19699, December 2013
*Richard Freeman, “Failing the Test? The Flexible U.S. Job Market in the Great
Recession,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 19587 October
2013
September 23: Trends in Wage Inequality
*David Autor, 2010. “The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market,”
Center for American Progress and the Hamilton Project, April 2010.
*Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz,” The Future of Inequality: The Other Reason Education
Matters so Much,” Milken Institute Review, October 2009.
Frank Levy and Peter Temin, Inequality and Institutions, National Bureau of Economic
Research Working Paper 13106, May 2007
September 28: Child Poverty & Economic Mobility
*Greg J. Duncan, Katherine A. Magnuson and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, “Boosting
Family Income to Promote Child Development,” Future of Children 24(1), Spring 2014
*Ross A. Thompson, Stress and Child Development, Future of Children, 24(1), Spring
2014
*Neeraj Kaushal, “Intergenerational Payoffs to Education,” Future of Children, 24(1),
Spring 2014
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2005). Excessive Stress Disrupts
the Architecture of the Developing Brain: Working Paper #3.
http://www.developingchild.net
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September 30: Early Childhood Interventions
*Heckman, James J, “Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged
children.” Science 312(5782): 1900-1902, 2006.
*Isabel Sawhill and Quentin Karpilow, “How Much Could We Improve Children’s Life
Chances by Intervening Early and Often?”, Brookings Center on Children and Poverty,
Brief #54, July 2014
*Janet Currie, “Early childhood education programs.” Journal of Economic Perspectives
15: 213-238, 2001
*Greg Duncan and Katherine Magnuson. 2013. "Investing in Preschool Programs."
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(2): 109-32.
P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Two--‐Generation
Programs in the Twenty-First Century, Future of Children, 24(1), Spring 2014
October 5: Interventions for Adolescents
Cunha, F., Heckman, J., Lochner, L. & Masterov, D.V. (2006). “Interpreting the
Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation.” National Bureau of Economic Research
Working Paper 1131, May 2005 (Read Sections 6.2 and 6.3 and Conclusion only)
Steinberg, Laurence, “Our Last Best Chance: Why Adolescence Matters More than
Ever,” Colloquium Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, September 26, 2013
Jens Ludwig and Anuj Shaw, “Think Before You Act: A New Approach to Preventing
Youth Violence and Dropout,” Brookings Institution, May 1, 2014
Sara B. Heller, Anuj K. Shah, Jonathan Guryan, Jens Ludwig, Sendhil Mullainathan
Harold A. Pollack, Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to Reduce Crime
and Dropout in Chicago, NBER Working Paper 21178,
Bloom, Howard and Rebecca Unterman. 2012. “Sustained Positive Effects on Graduation
Rates Produced by New York City’s Small Public High Schools of Choice.” New York:
MDRC.
Phillip Levine, “Designing Effective Mentoring Programs for Disadvantaged Youth,”
Brookings Institution, The Hamilton Project, June 19, 2014
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October 7: Workforce Development
*Christopher T. King, Carolyn J. Heinrich, “How Effective Are Workforce Development
Programs? Implications for U.S. Workforce Policies,” Presentation at APPAM Fall
Research Conference, November 2011.
Carolyn J. Heinrich, Peter R. Mueser, Kenneth R. Troske, Kyung-Seong Jeon,
Daver C. Kahvecioglu, “New Estimates of Public Employment and Training
Program Net Impacts: A Nonexperimental Evaluation of the Workforce Investment Act
Program,” IZA Discussion Paper 4569, November 2009.
Ann Huff Stevens, Michal Kurlaender, Michel Grosz, Career Technical Education and
Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from California Community Colleges, NBER
Working Paper 21137, April 2015
*Gordon Berlin, “Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization Will the Past Be
Prologue?” Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, November 2009.
*Harry J. Holzer, “Raising Job Quality and Skills for American Workers:
Creating More-Effective Education and Workforce Development Systems in the States,”
Hamilton Project November 2011.
Benjamin Backes, Harry J. Holzer, and Erin Dunlop Velez, Is It Worth It? Postsecondary
Education and Labor Market Outcomes for the Disadvantaged, Institute for Research on
Poverty Discussion Paper 1425-14, 2014
October 12: Racial Discrimination and Labor Markets
Kenneth Arrow, “What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination?,” Journal of
Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998
William Darity, Patrick Mason, “Evidence on Discrimination in Employment,” Journal
of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998.
James J. Heckman, “Detecting Discrimination,” Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Spring 1998.
Roland Fryer, “Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of
Discrimination,” National Bureau of Economic Working Paper 16256, August 2010.
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October 14: Gender and Labor Markets
Claudia Goldin, “The Quiet Revolution that Transformed Women’s Employment,
Education and Family,” American Economic Review, May 2006.
Claudia Goldin, Lawrence Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemo,” The Homecoming of American
College Women: The Reversal of the Gender Gap,” Journal of Economic Perspectives,
2006.
Shelley Correll, Stephen Benard, and In Paik, “Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood
Penalty?” American Journal of Sociology, March 2007.
Elizabeth Ty Wilde, Lily Batchelder, David T. Ellwood, “The Mommy Track Divides:
The Impact of Childbearing on Wages of Women of Differing Skill Levels,” National
Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 16582, December 2010
October 19: Neighborhood Segregation
Douglas Massey and Nancy A. Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the
Making of the Underclass, 1993, University of Chicago Press, Chapters 4
William Julius Wilson, The Truly Disadvantaged: the Inner City, the Underclass, and
Public Policy, University of Chicago Press, 1987, Chapters 1-2
Douglas Massey, Jonathan Rothwell, and Thurston Domina, The Changing Bases of
Segregation in the United States, Annals of the American Academy of Political Sciences,
November 292, 626: 74-90
Daniel Lichter, Geography of Exclusion, Social Problems, August 2012, 59(3): 364-388
October 21: Housing Mobility Programs
Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Lawrence F. Katz, The Effects of Exposure to Better
Neighborhoods on Children: New Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment,
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 21156, May 2015
Ludwig, Jens; Duncan, Greg J; Gennetian, Lisa A; Katz, Lawrence F; Kessler, Ronald C;
et al Long-Term Neighborhood Effects on Low-Income Families: Evidence from Moving
to Opportunity NBER Working Paper Series, 2013
Rosenbaum, Does Changing Neighborhoods Change Lives? The Chicago Gautreaux
Housing Program and Recent Mobility Programs, Northwestern University, WP-09-0
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October 26, October 28: Criminal Justice
Bruce Western, Punishment and Inequality in America, Russell Sage Foundation,
December 2007, Chapters 1,2, 5,6
Additional readings tba
November 2: Family Structure
Frank F. Furstenberg, Fifty Years of Family Change: From Consensus to Complexity,
Institute for Research on Poverty, June 2013
*Shelly Lundberg, Robert Pollak, “Cohabitation and the Uneven Retreat from Marriage
in the U.S., 1950-2010,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 19413,
September 2013
*Kathryn Edin and Joanna M. Reed, “Why Don’t They Just Get Married? Barriers to
Marriage among the Disadvantaged,” Future of Children, Vol. 15 (2), Fall 2005.
*Sara McLanahan, “Diverging Destinies: How Children Fare Under the Second
Demographic Transition,” Demography, 41(4), 2004.
David Ribar, What do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage, IZA
Discussion Paper 998, January 2004 (SKIM)
McLanahan, Sara, et al. 2010, “Strengthening Fragile Families,” The Future of Children,
Vol. 20(2), Fall 2010
November 4 and 9: Welfare Reform and TANF
James Zilliak, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, National Bureau of Economic
Research Working Paper 21038, March 2015
Rebecca M. Blank, “What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What We Need to
Know about Welfare Reform,” National Poverty Center Working Paper 7-19 2007
Pamela Morris, Lisa A. Gennetian, Greg Duncan, Aletha Huston, “How Welfare Policies
Affect Child and Adolescent Development: Investigating Pathways of Influence with
Experimental Data,” University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, March 25,
2007
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November 11: Next Steps for Welfare Reform
Elizabeth Lower-Basch, TANF Goals for Reauthorization, Center on Law and Social
Policy, Februay 6, 2013
Rebecca Blank, “Improving the Safety Net for Single Mothers Who Face Serious
Barriers to Work,” The Future of Children, 17(2), Fall 2007
Gordon Berlin, “Rethinking Welfare in the Great Recession: Issues in the
Reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,” Manpower
Demonstration Research Corporation, September 21, 2010
November 16: Earned Income Tax Credit
Austin Nichols, Jesse Rothstein, The Earned Income Tax Credit, National Bureau of
Economic Research Working Paper 21211, May 2015
Steve Holt, “The Earned Income Tax Credit at Age 30: What We Know, The Brookings
Institution, February 2006.
Center on Law and Social Policy, Research Shows Long-Lasting Benefits of the EITC,
January 2013
Nada Eissa and Hillary Hoynes, “Behavioral Responses to Taxes: Lessons From the
EITC and Labor Supply,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 11729,
November 2005
November 18 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Dorothy Rosenbaum, The Food Stamp Program is Effective and Efficient, Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities, July 23, 2010
David A. Super, The Quiet “Welfare” Revolution: Resurrecting the Food Stamp Program
in the Wake of the 1996 Welfare Law, New York University Law Review, 79(1271),
2004
Hilary Hoynes, Diane Schanzenbach, Consumption Responses to In-Kind Transfers:
Evidence from the Introduction of the Food Stamp Program, American Journal of
Applied Economics 1(4), 2009
Hilary Hoynes, Dian Schanzenbach, Work Incentives and the Food Stamp Program,
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 16198, 2010
James P/ Zilliak, “Why Are So Many Americans on Food Stamps? The Role of the
Economy, Policy, and Demographics,” University of Wisconsin Discussion Paper 141413, September 2013
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November 23: Child Care and Family Leave
Christopher Ruhm, Policies to Assist Parents with Young Children, Future of Children,
Fall 2011
Chris Herbst, Obama’s Early Education Proposal Leave Federal Efforts Fragmented and
Incoherent, Brookings, 11/1/2013
Heather Sandstrom, Linsday Giesen, Ajay Chaudry, “How Contextual Constraints Affect
Low-Income Parents’ Child Care Choices,” Urban Institute Brief 22, February 2012
ASPE Issue Brief, “Estimates of Child Care Eligibility and Receipt for Fiscal Year
2009,” December 2012.
Chris Herbst and Erdahl Tekin, The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on Child WellBeing: Evidence from the Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service
Agencies, NBER Working Paper 16250, August 2010
November 25: No Class: Work on Projects
November 30: Conditional Cash Transfers
Jere Behrman, Susan Parker, Petra Todd, “Do Conditional Cash Transfers for Schooling
Generate Lasting Results? A Five-Year Follow-up of Progressa/Oportunidades,” Journal
of Human Resources 46(1)
Lawrence Aber, Experiments in 21st Century Antipoverty Policy, Public Policy Research
March-May 2009
Lorraine Deardon, Carl Emmerson, Christine Frayne, Costas Meghir, Conditional Cash
Transfers and School Dropout Rates, Journal of Human Resources, 44(4)
James Riccio, Nadine Dechausay, Cynthia Miller, Stephen Nuñez, Nandita Verma, Edith
Yang,” Conditional Cash Transfers in New York City: The Continuing Story of the
Opportunity NYC−Family Rewards Demonstration,” September 2013
David Greenberg, Nadine Dechausay, Caroline Fraker, Learning Together: How Families
Responded to Education Incentives in New York City’s Conditional Cash Transfer
Program, MDRC, May 2011
Roland G. Fryer, Steven D. Levitt, John A. List, Parental Incentives and Early Childhood
Achievement: A Field Experiment in Chicago Heights, NBER Working Paper 21477,
May 2015
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December 2: Savings/Asset Accumulation
Signe-Mary McKernan, Is Poverty Incompatible with Asset Accumulation, Urban
Institute, June 2011
Phoebe Ball, Michael Morris, Johnette Hartnette, Peter Blanck, Breaking the Cycle of
Poverty: Asset Accumulation by People with Disabilities, Disability Studies QUarterly
Gilda Azurdia, Stephen Freedman, Gayle Hamilton, Caroline Schultz, Implementation
and Early Results of the Save USA Evaluation, MDRC, April 2014
December 7, 9, 14, 16 Student Presentations
December 19th: Final Group Papers Due