APPAM Conferences Feature Students, Alumni

August 29, 2019

Six students and alumni attended the 2019 APPAM International Conference in Barcelona this July. And in November, dozens of students, alumni, faculty, and RAND colleagues will participate in the 2019 APPAM Fall Conference in Denver.

Barcelona, July 29-30

Public Policy in an Era of Rapid Change

Four students and one alum presented their research in Barcelona at the end of July. Student PhuongGiang Nguyen (Cohort '14) also attended the conference.

• Student Christine Chen ('15) presented Using Machine Learning to Collect Vaccine Misinformation on Twitter as part of the panel on Improving Tools of Analysis in Policy Research.
• Juliana Chen ('15) presented Applying Open Science Practices in Empirical Research for Public Policy as part of the panel on Early Childhood: Assessing Inequalities and Improving Outcomes. She previously presented at the 2018 APPAM International Conference, in Monterrey, Mexico.
• Sujeong Park ('15) presented Impact of Opioid on Labor Market Activity By Older Workers as part of the panel on Old Age and Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from Around the Globe.

• Etienne Rosas ('14) presented Network of Redistributive Corruption in Mexico – a National and State-Level Analysis of the Corruption-Inequality Relationship in Mexico Since 2000 as part of the panel on Causes and Consequences of Corruption Practices; he also chaired the panel on The Impact on the Population of Variations in Crime. Rosas previously participated in the 2017 APPAM International Conference in Brussels and the 2016 conference in London.
• Additionally, alum Bill Gelfeld ('14) presented a poster, Food Security in the Gulf Cooperation Council and Its Applications for Developing Countries, based on a paper he wrote with fellow alum Shira Efron ('11) and professor Shanthi Nataraj. Gelfeld previously participated in the 2017 APPAM International Conference as a discussant, panel chair, and paper presenter.

Denver, November 7-9

Rising to the Challenge: Engaging Diverse Perspectives on Issues and Evidence

If you want to meet with Pardee RAND students, alumni, and faculty, Denver will be the place to be in early November. Of course, many of them will be busy, so it might help to attend their panel presentations and events. (Or join Pardee RAND at its annual reception — details are forthcoming.)

In terms of overall Pardee RAND participation, the panel Substance Abuse and Crime is clearly the winner. Alum Anne Boustead ('11) will present her paper, "The Impact of Marijuana Outlet Density on DUI Arrests and Substance-Related Fatal Accidents." Student Sujeong Park ('15) will present a paper she wrote with Prof. David Powell, "Growth of Illicit Drug Markets and Its Effects on Crime Rates." And alum Gabriel Weinberger ('13) will present his paper, "Does Community Supervision Lead to More Substance Use Treatment Engagement? a Case Study from Los Angeles."

In another Pardee RAND-filled event, a Super Session called Cannabis Policy: The Plot Thickens, alum Greg Midgette ('09) will present his research, "Local Policy Influence on Recreational Cannabis Market Activity: Evidence from Oregon and Washington." Prof. Beau Kilmer will serve as one of the session's moderators, and Prof. Rosalie Pacula will also present a paper, "The Development of New Measures of Cannabis Market Exposure: A Case Study in Colorado."

And if you work in the western half of the U.S., consider joining Pardee RAND associate dean Rachel Swanger and alum Michael Shires ('90) at the inaugural meeting of Policy Analysts of the Coastal and Inter-Mountain West.

In additional to these terrific events, several alumni, students, and faculty are doing double and even triple duty, participating in multiple panels.

• Alum Erin Duffy ('15) is the author of two papers being presented in the same panel, Surprise Medical Bills: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Solutions. She's presenting "Surprise Medical Bills in Ambulatory Surgical Centers: Prevalence, Magnitude, and Attributes of Providers and Health Plans" and her coauthor, Loren Adler, is presenting "Analyzing the Impact of New York's Surprise out-of-Network Billing Law."
• Alum Ashley Muchow ('13) is presenting two papers in two different sessions. She'll share "Can Community-Based Policing Moderate the 'Chilling Effect' of Immigration Enforcement? Evidence from Los Angeles" at the panel Restrictive Immigration Policies, and "Global Perceptions of the United States and International Student Enrollments" at the panel Immigrants & Education
• Prof. Matthew D. Baird will also present two papers. He'll share "Successful Characteristics of Job Training Programs for Disadvantaged Workers: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Several Contemporaneous Training Programs in New Orleans" during the panel on Alternative Strategies to Promote Reemployment. And in the panel on Promising Approaches to Developing and Supporting Effective School Principals, he'll present "Preparing School Leaders for Success: Evaluation of New Leaders’ Aspiring Principals Program 2012–2017," which he wrote with fellow professor Susan Gates and several other RAND colleagues.
• Student Rachel Perera ('16) will act as a moderator for two student resources panels, Navigating the Academy as a Student of Color and Confronting Structural Racism in Quantitative Research.
• Alum Neeraj Sood ('99) organized and will serve as a moderator on the panel Rising to the Health Care Cost Challenge. He also organized the panel Improving Value in Healthcare, at which he will also be presenting a paper, "Effects of Employer-Offered High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) on Low-Value Spending in the Privately Insured Population." (RAND's Christopher Whaley will also be participating in that panel, presenting "Paying Patients to Switch: Impact of a Rewards Program on Choice of Providers, Prices, and Utilization." Prof. Mark Friedberg's paper "Nudging Specialists in Value-Based Systems" will be presented by one of his coauthors.)
• Bradley D. Stein ('97) will act as a discussant for the panel on Tackling the Opioid Crisis through Buprenorphine Treatment. Additionally, a research paper by Stein and Prof. Rosalie Pacula, "Defining the Costs of Opioid Use Disorder for Family Members," will be shared by their coauthor, Sierra Smucker, in a panel titled Costs of Crime.
• And Prof. Andrew McEachin will act as a discussant for the panel Building Human Capacity in Low-Performing Schools: Evidence from School Reform Models across the Country. Additionally, his paper "The Ups and Downs: The Outsized Role of Summers in Eighth Grade Achievement Disparities across the U.S." will be presented by his coauthor, Allsion Atteberry, in the panel Summer Learning, Some Are Not: New Insights for an Old Question.

Many other Pardee RANDites will also be participating in the conference.

• Student PhuongGiang Nguyen ('14) will present her paper "Death By a Thousand Cuts: How Do Hospitals Respond to Financial Constraints?" in the panel on Health Care Supply
• Alum Eric Apaydin ('11) will present a poster paper, "Burnout and Intent to Remain in Practice Among VA Providers Experiencing Primary Care Transformation," at the Welcome Reception with Poster Session
• Alum Marlon Graf ('12) will serve as a discussant on the panel Innovation in Internet Technology and Policy to Further Social and Economic Inclusion
• Alum Melody Harvey ('12) will present a paper, "Impacts of State Policies Mandating Financial Education in High School on Savings By Low-Income Households," at the panel Challenges and Opportunities in Building Financial Security in Economically Vulnerable Populations.
• Alum Russell Lundberg ('07) will present a paper, "Addressing Terror in Homeland Security Policy," as part of the panel Engaging the Public in Homeland Security & Disaster Response.
• Prof. Philip Armour will present a paper, "Does Student Loan Forgiveness Drive Disability Application?: The Effect of the 2013 Expansion of the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Program on SSDI and SSI Participation," at the panel The Impact of Safety Net Programs on the Benefit Receipt and Labor Supply Decisions of Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families.
• Prof. Lynn Karoly will act as a discussant at the panel on Improving Child Care Quality? Insights into State and Federal ECE Accountability Systems.

Several RAND staff will also be in Denver, presenting their research or acting as panel discussants.

• Michael Dworsky will act as a discussant on the panel Health and Care of an Aging Population. One of the panel's papers is "Trends and Inequalities in the Prevalence of Dementia in the U.S. – Estimates from a Nationally Representative Study," presented by RAND researcher Peter Hudomiet and coauthored by Michael Hurd and Susann Rohwedder.
• John Engberg will present a paper he coauthored with colleague Catherine Augustine, "The Impact of Restorative Practices on Discipline, Climate and Achievement: A Multiple-Site, Multiple-Mediator Instrumental Variable Analysis," in the panel on Assessing Diverse Approaches to Addressing Student Behavior and Discipline
• Celia J. Gomez will act as a discussant for the panel on Diverse Uses of Kindergarten Entry Assessments to Inform Research, Policy, and Practice.
• Isaac Opper will act as a discussant on the panel Understanding the Effects of Peers on Educational Outcomes.
• Patrick Roberts will present his paper, "How Public Managers Make Tradeoffs Regarding Lives: Evidence from a Flood Planning Survey Experiment," during the panel on Economic Efficiency in Local Government.
• Heather Schwartz will act as a discussants for the panel Exploring the Complexities of School and Neighborhood Integration.
• Rosanna Smart will act as a discussant on the panel Intergenerational and Spillover Effects of Incarceration.
• Fatih Unlu will present a paper, "A Review of Methods for Assessing Sensitivity of Quasi-Experimental Effect Estimates to Unobserved Confounders," in the panel on Technical & Practical Issues for Quasi-Experimental Evaluation Designs.

Finally, in the "possibly absent but still represented" category:

• A research paper by alum D. Phuong "Phoenix" Do ('00), "Metropolitan Living Wage Policy and Health: Preliminary Evidence from the Community Tracking Study," will be presented by her coauthor in the panel From Cradle to Grave: The Effects of Income Policies on Health and Well-Being.
• A paper by alum Christopher McLaren ('05), "Retain Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work Demonstration Projects: Phase 1 Program Characteristics and Preliminary Implementation Lessons Learned," will be presented by his coauthor in the panel Maintaining Connection to Employment in the Face of Health Challenges.