Research

Rigorous, relevant research is a hallmark of the Sanford Institute of Public Policy and its faculty. With expertise in a wide variety of fields, the public policy faculty is recognized for research in health policy, media and democracy, education finance and achievement, and many other areas. Recent publications are highlighted here; for additional publications information, you may visit individual faculty web pages or use the links at the top of this page. To find faculty with a particular area of expertise, browse this list of topic areas or search within our faculty directory.

Recent Publications

Television, Power and the Public in Russia
By Ellen Mickiewicz, James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy Studies, Director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy and Professor of Political Science
(Cambridge University Press, March 2008, 248 pp).

In the early 21st century, the Russian government tightened its grip on the media, buying up television channels and shutting down dissenting stations. Television news narrowed its focus, reflecting only the party line. Mickiewicz uses focus group research and new developments in cognitive theory to reveal what the Russian audience really thinks of its news, which is not at all what their leaders assume. Based on research that focuses on ordinary people, Mickiewicz argues that Russian viewers are not taken in by the officially controlled television programs.

“Mickiewicz, a highly respected authority on the political role of television in Russia, provides surprising and significant insights into the gap separating the current Russian leadership from the Russian people,” states reviewer Zbigniew Brzezinksi, counselor and trustee for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Medical Malpractice
By Frank Sloan, Duke University Professor of Health Policy and Economics, and Lindsey Chepke
The MIT Press (Feb. 2008, 464 pp)

In Medical Malpractice, economist Frank Sloan and lawyer Lindsey Chepke argue that the complexity of medical malpractice stems largely from the interaction of the four discrete markets that determine outcomes – legal, medical malpractice insurance, medical care and government activity. After describing what the evidence shows about the functioning of medical malpractice, types of defensive medicine and the effects of past reforms, they examine such topics as scheduling damages as an alternative to flat caps, jury behavior, health courts, incentives to prevent medical errors, insurance regulation, reinsurance, no-fault insurance and suggestions for future reforms.

“Underground gun markets”
By Philip J. Cook, Duke University Professor of Public Policy; Jens Ludwig; Sudhir Venkatesh; and Anthony A. Braga
The Economic Journal 117 (November 2007): F1-F29.

In this recent study, Professor of Public Policy Philip Cook and others find evidence that strict government regulations on handgun ownership curtailed the use and ease with which handguns are traded in the underground market. The results are derived from interviews with gang members, gun dealers, professional thieves, prostitutes, police, public school security guards and teenagers in two South Side Chicago neighborhoods, as well as from analysis of U.S Department of Justice data from 22 other cities.

“What length of hospice use maximizes reduction in medical expenditures near death in the US Medicare program?”
By Donald H. Taylor, Jr., Assistant Professor of Public Policy; Jan Ostermann; Courtney H. Van Houtven; James A. Tulsky; and Karen Steinhauser.

Partial Abstract: Hospices have been expected to reduce health expenditures since their addition to the US Medicare benefit package in the early-1980s, but the literature on their ability to do so is mixed. The contradictory findings noted in previous studies may be due to selection bias and the period of cost comparison used. Accounting for these, this study focuses on the length of hospice use that maximizes reductions in medical expenditures near death. Hospice use reduced Medicare program expenditures during the last year of life by an average of $2309 per hospice user. Given the length of hospice use observed in the Medicare program, increasing the length of hospice use for 7 in 10 Medicare hospice users would increase savings.

Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control
By Phillip J. Cook, ITT/Terry Sanford Professor of Public Policy Studies, Professor of Economics and Sociology
Princeton University Press (Sept. 2007, 278 pp)

Paying the Tab, a comprehensive analysis of alcohol policy in the United States, synthesizes Cook’s many years of research on this topic and calls for broadening the approach to curbing destructive drinking.

Cook chronicles the history of attempts to “legislate morality,” the overlooked lessons from Prohibition, and the rise of Alcoholics Anonymous, providing a thorough account of the scientific evidence accumulated over the last 25 years of economic and public-health research. He concludes that higher alcohol excise taxes and other supply restrictions are effective and underutilized policy tools that can cut abuse while preserving the pleasures of moderate consumption.

American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century (3rd ed.)
by Bruce W. Jentleson, Professor of Public Policy Studies and Political Science
W.W. Norton & Company (June 2007, 700 pp)

In this updated edition of American Foreign Policy, Professor Bruce Jentleson addresses the most pressing foreign policy issues of the new global era: how should the United States wield its power, pursue peace, be true to its principles, and work with the international community? The book introduces students to U.S. foreign policy amidst the challenges of terrorism, the war in Iraq, the Darfur crisis, globalization, democratization, and other timely issues.

The book balances historic and contemporary foreign policy concerns with selections from writings by major political figures such as Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Kofi Annan, as well as by scholars such as John Ikenberry, Walter LaFeber, and Samuel Huntington.

"How and Why Do Teacher Credentials Matter for Student Achievement?"
by Charles T. Clotfelter, Helen F. Ladd and Jacob L. Vigdor
"High Poverty Schools and the Distribution of Teachers and Principals,"
by Charles T. Clotfelter, Helen F. Ladd, Jacob L. Vigdor and Justin Wheeler.

Duke University and the Sanford Institute are partners in the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), which uses longitudinal individual-level student and teacher data across a number of states to investigate how state and local policies affect teachers and students achievement. These two recent working papers by Sanford faculty are available online from CALDER.

The Foundation: A Great American Secret - How Private Wealth Is Changing the World
By Joel Fleishman, Professor of Public Policy Studies and Law (PublicAffairs, 2007.)

Foundations are a peculiarly American institution. They have been the dynamo of social change since their invention at the beginning of the last century. Yet they are cloaked in secrecy, leaving them substantially unaccountable to anyone. Joel Fleishman has been in and around foundations for almost half a century...running them, sitting on their boards, and seeking grants from them. And in this groundbreaking book he explains the history of foundations, tells the stories of the most successful foundation initiatives - and of those that have failed - and explains why it matters.