Project Research Seminar
Where Theory Meets "Real World" Clients
All Thomas Jefferson MPP students register for the Policy Research Seminar, or PRS. In this course, students work in small teams for real-world clients. The work done by the teams allows students to bring to bear the analytic tools they have developed together in the first-year courses. Class meetings address issues raised by the research teams, and the input of other students is a key element shaping the final presentations, reports, and other deliverables to clients. Like a more traditional thesis, the work done by students is original. The completion of a PRS project allows a Jefferson Program MPP to demonstrate substantial mastery of his or her subject in a real-world setting. The following is a list of Fall 2009 projects:
Project # 1 -- Client: World Bank – An Analysis of the European Union’s Emission Trading System
Project Description: This study will analyze the market – primary and secondary - for Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) in the European Union’s Emission Trading System (EU ETS) launched in January 2005. The primary goal of the study is to develop and analyze a survey of the industries and firms that have received ERUs in the Member States. The study will gauge how industry has utilized the ERUs to reach the targets articulated in the Kyoto Protocol and the market incentives and motivations for the trade of these permits. The survey will also evaluate the level of confidence these companies have in their knowledge of the EU ETS, the degree to which firms participate in secondary markets, possible hurdles to firm participation, and on the implications of transaction costs and resource efficiency within the EU ETS member countries. The analysis will be highly quantitative in nature, but will also include a literature review of the permit trading markets.
Project # 2 – Client: Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis – A Profile of Immigrants in Virginia’s Economy
Project Description: At a time when the immigration conversation in Virginia is often dominated by polarizing “pro” and “anti” rhetoric, the proposed “A PROFILE OF IMMIGRANTS IN VIRGINIA’S ECONOMY” report will help to ensure that the discussion is anchored in what is actually known about immigrants’ presence in the Virginia economy. To accomplish this goal, the report will address questions such as: What countries do Virginia’s immigrants come from? Where do they live? How educated are they? Where do they work? How well are they doing?
Project # 3 -- Client: Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Program (RWALP) (a non-profit organization housed at W&M) – What is the Economic Impact of Adult Literacy Programs of the Type Offered at RWALP: Focus on Employment, Income, Poverty, and Health Outcomes.
Project description: This project will address a series of questions including the following: (1.) Using evidence from the social science and policy analysis literature, what is nature and size of the impact of improvements in adult literacy on earnings, employment, poverty, and health status? How is adult literacy measured? What is the real cost of such improvements in literacy? Explore existing data bases and, if appropriate, re-estimate models to tailor them to the questions raised here. (2.) What are the best practices in producing adult literacy programs (consider some case studies)? How does program performance vary with patterns of length of stay in the program, retention, drop-out patterns? How do these questions vary between the two major forms of adult literacy training: Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English as a Second Language (ESL)? How can RWALP and other such programs be better-linked with Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs, with local community colleges, and with local health clinics? (3.) Using the quantitative estimates of the impact of literacy on earnings, employment, poverty, and health outcomes, provide extrapolated estimates that are appropriate to the Commonwealth of Virginia as a whole and the Greater Williamsburg Area through the work of the Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Program. Produce estimated impact on earnings, employment, poverty, and health status in the Greater Williamsburg. These estimates will also demonstrate the pros and cons for expanding or changing the program by considering the benefits and costs of different program sizes or models.
Project # 4 – Client: Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) -- What are the Economic Impacts of Requiring the Virginia Treasury to Place Treasury-Managed Funds with In-State versus Out-of-State Financial Institutions?
Project Description: The Virginia General Assembly directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study “the benefits of placing more public deposits, investments and other Treasury managed funds with [financial institutions] operating within the Commonwealth.” The main purpose of this project is to explore the different ways of estimating the in-state economic impacts of requiring the Treasury to deposit funds with in-state financial institutions and to provide quantitative estimates of the economic impacts and the effects on the State tax revenue. Various quantitative methods will be used including econometrics and input-output forecasting (using IMPLAN, RIMS-II, and REMI).
Project # 5 – Client: Urban Institute -- Foreclosures, Minorities, and Immigrants in Prince William County, Virginia
Project Description: This project investigates the impact of the foreclosure crisis and sub-prime mortgages on minority borrowers in Northern Virginia. The project will be conducted in conjunction with the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C. policy research organization. Both quantitative and qualitative research skills will be applied to investigate the populations most affected by the mortgage crisis, whether foreclosures are concentrated in a geographic location, and the impact on foreclosures on affected families.
Project # 6 – Client: Williamsburg City Education Review Committee (WCERC) – (A Grassroots Community Group) – What are Plausible Models for Moving the School Students (K-12) from the Combined Williamsburg-James City County School Division to an Independent City of Williamsburg Approach
Project Description: Currently, the City of Williamsburg has a joint public school division and school board with James City County. This year, a study is underway considering whether the City should create its own public school system. The project will examine whether this option is financially, educationally and politically feasible using benefit-cost analyses. The team will be working with elected officials, appointed officials, and citizen groups in order to evaluate the full context of the issue.
Project # 7 – Client: Office of Economic Development at the College of William & Mary – A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Provision of a Year-Round Free Clinic in Petersburg, VA.
Project Description: The College of William & Mary’s Medical Ethnography and Intervention Model (MEIM) and the Office of Economic Development have asked public policy graduate students for assistance in conducting a benefit-cost analysis of the provision of a year-round free clinic in Petersburg, VA in light of the rising cost of emergency care. These analyses will enable the team to better leverage resources from emergency rooms, government agencies, and non-profits in order to foster measurable increases in health outcomes for Petersburg community members. The team will also be conducting an indicator study of the health status and resources of Petersburg community members. The data will be specific to Petersburg, but meta-analysis of other communities of similar demographics will likely occur as well.
Project # 8 – Client: Alliance for the Family (AFF) (a non-profit organization) – The Impact of Character Education in Latin America
Project Description: This project is part of an ongoing evaluation an initiative that was initially funded by USAID on “character education in Latin America.” A large survey sample of children in Peru, Venezuela, and Mexico is well underway. This survey asked pre-and post- questions relating to “character” and “behavior” that are related to improving democratic values. Overall, the survey is for multiple cohorts of students in the 3 countries, measured longitudinally, with a variety of outcome measures. The goal of this project is to reassess a previous data analysis and determine if modifications to research design and methodology need to be made.
Project # 9 – Client: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Program Analysis and Evaluation -- Analyzing the Transportation Security Administration “9/11 Fees”
Project Description: The September 11 Passenger Security Fee is imposed on domestic and foreign passenger airline tickets for flights originating in the United States. The Fee offsets a portion of the Transportation Security Administration’s Aviation Security appropriation. The TSA Fee Study will review the current methodology used by the federal government to calculate fee offsets, as well as the original intent of the fee offset. The study will analyze the Aviation Security operation’s variable costs, screening operations in particular. The study will also analyze the extent to which TSA’s screening operations should vary with future fee projections.
