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Offered by the Committee on Higher Degrees in Public Policy

The PhD in Public Policy provides advanced graduate training to exceptional scholars preparing for responsible positions in government, academic institutions, and research organizations. Participants in the program explore the questions of what government should do and how better governance can be achieved. The program furthers the primary mission of training capable leaders for the public sector by facilitating the scholarly research that enables public policy practitioners to make ever more informed policy choices. Recipients of this degree are also qualified to be future teachers in public policy and related academic fields.

Admissions and Residence

All students spend the first two years of their predoctoral studies at the Kennedy School
of Government (KSG). Admissions decisions are based on the excellence of the candidate’s academic record, test scores, recommendations, and a demonstrated ability and motivation to pursue research. Solid quantitative skills are an important part of successful applications.

Note to internal applicants from the Kennedy School only: Applicants for predoctoral study may apply as early as the first term in residence. In some cases a student may choose to wait until the midpoint of the second year to apply. Through careful choice of elective courses, students usually can complete the course requirements for the predoctoral program concurrently with those of the MPP or MPA programs, if they choose.

At the end of the second year of study, predoctoral students who have passed all PhD qualifying requirements are recommended to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for admission. The entire academic focus at this point is generally on the dissertation and any remaining elective coursework.

All applicants are required to take the GRE no later than November 2007. Students whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) unless they have already completed a degree from an institution in which the language of instruction is English.

Applications for admission are available online at www.ksg.harvard.edu .

Applications must be submitted to the Kennedy School of Government and not to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).

For more detailed program information, consult the Website maintained at the John F. Kennedy School of Government: www.ksg.har-vard.edu/ksgdoctoral/.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Full tuition is charged during the first two years of study, and reduced tuition is charged in the second two years of study. The facilities fee is charged for any additional years in residence. Predoctoral candidates are automatically considered for merit fellowships, ranging from partial tuition alone to full tuition plus stipend. These fellowships are offered over a period of four years.

Applicants who are US citizens or permanent residents of the US should determine if they are eligible for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Research Fellowship (www.nsf.gov), the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship for Minorities (202-334-2872), or the US Department of Education’s Jacob K. Javits Graduate Fellowship (202-502-7542).

Most students are also eligible for teaching fellowships, research assistantships, and loans. Research assistantships are available through affiliations with the Kennedy School’s research centers in science and international affairs; human rights policy; social policy; business and government; state, local and intergovernmental studies; international development (CID); public leadership; the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations; the Joint Center for Housing Studies; and the Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy. While most of these centers support students after the first year, the Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy offers research support to eligible first-year students as well.

Program of Study

A sophisticated understanding of the core materials in the MPP program at the Kennedy School, and a demonstrated ability to apply analytic techniques to a field of policy are critical factors in the faculty decision to recommend a student to the GSAS for the dissertation phase of study. Mathematical preparation should include multivariable calculus. Accordingly, all PhD candidates must demonstrate proficiency in the areas of theory, methods, and a substantive special field. The theory area includes Economics and Politics/Political Philosophy/Public Management. The methods area includes Qualitative Methods, Quantitative Methods and Analytical Methods. The special field includes, among other areas, Environmental Policy, International Economic Policy, Science and Technology Policy, International Security Relations, Risk Assessment, Economic Regulatory Policy, and International Development. Appropriate courses in the student’s special field must be approved by the PhD Com-mittee. All others should be drawn from the published list of KSG courses and other offerings at the University. In two fields (Analytical Methods and Public Management) students may demon-strate proficiency by a combination of course work and written qualifying examinations. Proficiency in quantitative methods and qualitative methods may be demonstrated by satisfactory completion of one doctoral course in each area. Students have the option of making quantitative methods the field of specialization, to be fulfilled by two doctoral courses in the area. All students must also attend the PhD research seminar, API 901, in their first year.

Students advance to the oral general examination after passing their doctoral coursework and written qualifying examinations. A primary field of substantive interest and a secondary field that may be a disciplinary or methodological area are examined at the end of the second year in residence.

Prospectus and Dissertation

Once admitted to GSAS, doctoral students cross-register for the Kennedy School’s PhD Proseminar (API 902) during their first year of dissertation research. This portion of the seminar is designed for the presentation and discussion of student research papers in general, and specifically for the development of a dissertation topic. By the end of this course, students must present a completed prospectus to the Committee on Higher Degrees in Public Policy. Approval of the prospectus is contingent upon a successful oral presentation to two of the three dissertation committee members at the end of the third year in residence.

The dissertation is expected to represent a significant contribution to knowledge in a policy area, or to yield insight aimed more broadly at improving the functioning of government. Most dissertations involve the application of analytic techniques to the solution of a substantive problem. A few methodological theses concentrate on developing new analytic techniques, their usefulness to be demonstrated through explicit application to a policy issue.

Dissertation Defense

After completing all other requirements for the degree, the candidate must pass an oral defense of the dissertation. The dissertation examiners will include at least two readers who are serving as dissertation supervisors, one of whom must be a Kennedy School faculty member on the PhD Committee, and one of whom must hold an appointment at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The third committee member may be chosen by the student from any department at the University. Additional members of the committee may include a non-Harvard faculty member or a Harvard professor emeritus.

General

One chapter of the dissertation must be completed each year after the second year in residence at GSAS. Except by special vote of the committee, all work for the PhD degree must be completed within five years of recommendation for entry to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Recent Dissertation Titles

“Integrating Information and Decision Making in a Multi-Level World: Cross-scale Environmental Science and Management”
“Regulation of the Medical Use of Psychedelics and Marijuana”
“Norms and Membership Conditionality: The Role of European Institutions in Ethnic Politics in Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, and Romania”
“Essays on Institutions and Finance”
“Policy Coordination, Political Structure,
and Public Debt: The Political Economy of Public Debt Accumulation in OECD Countries Since 1960”
“Strategy and Psychology in Environmental Assessment”
“The Management and Performance of Microfinance Organizations”
“Essays on Monetary Policy and Debt Accumulation”
“Land, Money and Politics: Essays on Government Intervention in Housing Markets”
“Living as a Debtor in a World of Sudden Stops: The roles of exposure to trade and commitment”
“Household Behavior and Energy Demand: Evidence from Peru”
“The Economic Interdependence of China and the World”
“A Comparative Study of Income Inequality, Corruption, and Social Trust”
“Three Essays in Program Evaluation”
“Administrative Reform as Credible Commitment: The Design, Sustainability, and Performance of Semi-autonomous Revenue Authorities in Latin America”
“Federalism and the Policy Process: Using Basic Education as a Test-case of Decentralization in Mexico”
“The Effects of Freeway Management Systems and Motorist Assistance Patrols on the Frequency of Reported Motor Vehicle Crashes”
“The Political Economy of Institutional Change in the Electricity Supply Industry”
“The Location of US Multinational Affiliates”
“Pension Reform in Economies with Large Informal Sectors: The Case of the Ukraine”
Essays in Program Evaluation”
“Essays on the Changing Labor Market: Computerization, Inequality, and the Development of the Contingent Work Force”
“Keeping the Job You Find: Understanding Job Turnover Among Welfare Recipients Who Obtain Work”
“Incentives in Health Care Payment Systems”
“Structural Change and Technological Diffusion in Transition Economies: Implications for Energy Use and Carbon Emissions in China”
“Essays in International Capital Markets”
“A Theory of the Determinants of R&D: Consumer Characteristics and Technological Competence”
“A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of Land Use Change Under Uncertainty”
“Speed Bumps and Road Blocks: Procedural Controls and Regulatory Change”
“Silence, Sacrifice, and Shoofly Pies: An Inquiry into the Social Capital and Organizational Structures of the Amish Community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania”
“In Search of a Second Chance: The Consequences of GED Certification, Education, and Training for Young Women Without Traditional High School Diplomas”
“Skill Mismatch, Turnover, and the Development of Young Workers’ Careers”
“After the Peace Agreement: Lessons for Implementation from Mozambique, Angola, and Liberia”
“Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy”
“Child Care Arrangements Among Low-Income Families: A Qualitative Approach”
“Between Politics and Markets: The Institutional Allocation of Resources in Higher Education”
“Money and Mission: How Nonprofit Organizations Finance Their Charitable Activities”
“Essays on Tax-Deferred Saving in Canada”
“Centralization or Democratization: Assessing the Internet’s Impact on Policy Networks”
“Child Neglect in a Changing Economic and Social Policy Context”
“Essays in Environment and Development”
“Analysis of Tax and Trade Incentives for Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of Vietnam”
“Sustainable Competition or Inevitable Monopoly? The Potential for Competition in Network Communications Industries”
“Does the Neighborhood Matter? Three Essays in International Economics”
“Innovation and Globalization in Four High-Technology Industries in the United States: One Size Does Not Fit All”
“Essays in Poverty and Inequality”
“Analyzing Strategic Interaction in Multi-settlement Electricity Markets: A Closed-loop Supply Function Equilibrium Model”
“Essays on Facility-Level Response to Environmental Regulation”
“Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy”
“ICT and Global Economic Growth: Contribution, Impact, and Policy Implication”
“Essays on Monetary Policy and Debt Accumulation”
“Living as a Debtor in a World of Sudden Stops: The Roles of Exposure to Trade and Commitment”
“Household Behavior and Energy Demand: Evidence from Peru”
“The Economic Interdependence of China and the World”
“Land, Money and Politics: Essays on Government Intervention in Housing Markets”
“A Comparative Study of Income Inequality, Corruption, and Social Trust”
“Essays in Legislative Behavior”

Members of the Committee on Higher Degrees in Public Policy, 2007–2008

Arthur I. Applbaum, Professor of Ethics and Public Policy, Kennedy School. Political philosopher. Normative theories of political legitimacy at home and abroad; human rights; ethics and the professions; ethics of stem cell research; early modern accounts of authority and resistance.

Iris Bohnet, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School. Negotiations, social capital, behavioral economics, statistics; relevance of fairness and trust for individual and collective decision making. Author of Cooperation and Communication (Mohr/Siebeck, 1997).

William C. Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development, Kennedy School. The use of expertise in public policy, environmental assessment, and sustainable development. Publications include Redesigning Rural Development: A Strategic Perspective (John Hopkins, 1982); The Carbon Dioxide Review (1982).

Pepper D. Culpepper, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School. Political scientist. Mechanisms of institutional change in the advanced capitalist countries; the role of employers in politics.

Susan M. Dynarski, Associate Professor of Public Policy. Children, college admissions, economics, education, higher education, social psychology

David T. Ellwood, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy, Kennedy School. Community revitalization, housing mobility and policy, job opportunities, impacts of segregation and neighborhood poverty, community development. Author of Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family.

Jeffrey A. Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth, Kennedy School. International finance, monetary policy, regional blocs, international environmental issues.

Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez, Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy. Research interests focus on transportation and other forms of infrastructure. His most recent publications deal with the public regulation of private infrastructure providers and the influence of infrastructure on urban development.

Ricardo Hausmann, Professor of the Practice of Economic Development, Kennedy School. Issues of growth, macroeconomic stability, international finance, and the social dimensions of development.

William Hogan, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Kennedy School: HEPG Research Director. Public policy dealing with externalities and other market failures. Modeling and the role of analysis in the policy process.

Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of Science and Public Policy, Kennedy School. Special focus on the relationship between law, science, and politics in contemporary democratic societies. Environmental policy, science and technology policy, and comparative regulatory policy. Co-author of Controlling Chemicals: the Politics of Regulation in Europe and the United States, author of Risk Management and Political Culture; The Fifth Branch: Science Advisers as Policymakers; and Science at the Bar: Law, Science, and Technology in America. Editor of Learning from Disaster: Risk Management After Bhopal, co-editor of the Handbook of Science and Technology Studies.

Christopher “Sandy” Jencks, Malcom Weiner Professor of Social Policy, Kennedy School. Children, family structure, poverty, race, welfare. Author of The Academic Revolution (with David Riesman); Inequality, Who Gets Ahead?; The Urban Underclass (with Paul Peterson); Rethinking Social Policy; The Homeless; and The Black White Test Score Gap (with Meredith Phillips).

David C. King, Lecturer in Public Policy, Kennedy School. Legislative rules and procedures, political parties, election reform, and youth political engagement. Co-author: The Generation of Trust (2003), Co-editor: Why People Don’t Trust Government (1997), Author: Turf Wars: How Congressional Committees Claim Jurisdiction (1997).

Robert Z. Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment, Kennedy School. Trade policy. Author: Can America Compete? Regionalism, Multilateralism and Deeper Integration; Single World, Divided Nation?; co-author: A Prism on Globalization; Globaphobia: Confronting Fears About Open Trade; A Vision for the World Economy; and Saving Free Trade: A Pragmatic Approach.

David Lazer, Associate Professor of Public Policy. Politicians, presidential power, regulatory policy, trade.

Jeffrey B. Liebman, Malcom Wiener Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School. Economist. Public finance, labor economics, welfare policy, and tax policy.

Mark H. Moore, Professor of Criminal Justice Policy and Management. Criminal justice, customer service, drugs, entrepreneurship, ethics, innovations in government, management, nongovernmental organizations, nonprofit management, organizational behavior, philanthropy, police, social capital.

Robert D. Putnam, Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School. Demo-cratic theory, social capital, comparative analysis of elites, civic engagement. Author
of Bowling Alone: Civic Disengagement in America and What To Do About It (Simon & Schuster, 2000).

Dani Rodrik, Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy, Kennedy School; Director, CID Political Economy Program. International economics, economic development, and political economy, the consequences of international economic integration, the role of conflict-management institutions in determining economic performance, and the political economy of policy reform. Author of The New Global Economy and Developing Countries: Making Openness Work (Overseas Development Council, 1999).

Anthony Saich, Professor of International Affairs. Asia, China, nongovernmental organization, US-Asia Relations.

Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Kennedy School. Environmental and natural resource economics and policy, particular focus on normative and positive analysis of alternative environmental policy instruments, economics of technology change, economic causes and consequences of land-use changes, costs of carbon sequestration, and policies to address global climate change.

Monica Toft, Assistant Professor of Public Policy. Conflict resolution; nationalism, territory, and ethnic conflict; international affairs, civil, and interstate wars; relationship between demography and national security.

Richard J. Zeckhauser, Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, Kennedy School. Possibilities for democratic, decentralized, allocation procedures; ways to promote the health of human beings, to help labor and financial markets operate more efficiently, and to foster informed and appropriate choices by individuals, groups, and government agencies.