Helping Leaders Make Better Decisions
Center for Policy Research
faculty experts on a range of disciplines
graduate students conducting research to address pressing issues
research areas connect faculty across departments and disciplines
Featured Event
AI Will Change Everything Except What Matters Most
September 16, 2025, 4 p.m.-5:30 p.m. EDT | Eggers Hall, 220
Featured Research
Not in My Backyard? The Local Impact of Wind and Solar Parks in Brazil
Fabian Scheifele, David Popp
This article investigates the impact of utility-scale wind and solar parks on employment, GDP and public finances in Brazilian municipalities. The results provide different implications for policymakers that want to advocate for renewable energy in their towns.
June 2025
How Does SNAP Access Prior to Pregnancy Affect Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes?
Sarah Hamersma and Mitch McFarlane
This working paper investigates pre-pregnancy SNAP access and the health of mothers and their infants. The authors find that waived work requirements in the year before conception are associated with a 4 percent reduction in pre-pregnancy hypertension and may also help improve the birth weight distribution of infants.
May 2025 | Download full working paper
Testing for Spatial Lag Dependence and Homoskedasticity in a Random Effects Panel Data Model
Badi H. Baltagi, Long Liu
This paper derives a joint Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test for spatial correlation and homoskedasticity for a spatial autoregressive (SAR) panel model with random effects.
August 2025
CPR Research Areas
Faculty in the Center for Policy Research (CPR) conduct a broad range of interdisciplinary research related to public policy in the following research areas:
- Education and Labor
- Population Health
- Social Policy and Inequality
- Econometrics
- Energy, Environment and Food Systems
- Public Finance
- Urban, Rural and Regional Studies
Center for Policy Design and Governance
Integrating policy, political and computational sciences in research and instruction to help scientists, practitioners and future public service leaders understand and address future governance challenges.
Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health
Maxwell X Lab
Partnering with the public and nonprofit sectors, the X Lab leverages behavioral science and randomized controlled trials to create cost-effective solutions to complex problems.
CPR/Metro Alumni
The center serves students, graduates and faculty for a lifetime and it's our pleasure to spread the word about the wonderful things going on in CPR and throughout the Maxwell School.
Alums—update us on what you’ve been up to, where you are employed and how your time in CPR impacted your life by filling out our Alumni Update form. We will gladly share your stories in our Connection Newsletter, a publication that shares news about the Center’s students, faculty, staff and alumni. Join us for the events and activities we have throughout the year and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
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