Past Grants

Marcus Winters, Joshua Cowen, and Scott Imberman will examine whether liberalizing the rules that govern the hiring, assessment, and retention of teachers can help improve the performance of schools. Using nine years of data on all students in Massachusetts traditional public and charter schools, they will identify patterns of teacher hiring, retention, and mobility across different types of schools. This analysis will help reveal whether charter schools, which have more freedom to make their own choices in terms of staffing than traditional public schools, are better able to attract and retain high-quality teachers. The project’s findings will appear in a report and a series of articles and briefings.

Dane Stangler will research and write a book examining steps that cities are taking to foster entrepreneurship and considering whether those efforts can increase business formation and spur economic growth. He will undertake case studies of efforts in more than a dozen cities to support entrepreneurs through innovation centers, startup accelerators, business plan competitions, and partnerships with local universities. He will seek to better understand whether such efforts are leading to increases in new business formation, new employment and economic growth.

David Barno and Nora Bensahel will research and write a book exploring whether the U.S. military is sufficiently “adaptable under fire” and how the armed services could improve their adaptability to cope with the demands of an increasingly unpredictable strategic environment. They will examine the subject of military adaptation and analyze how this attribute can be cultivated through improvements in military doctrine, support for technological innovation, and leadership development.

John Kamm will direct the work of the Dui Hua Foundation to examine President Xi Jinping’s efforts to suppress dissent and repress civil society and to assess the implications of these policies for China’s political evolution. He will conduct research on changes in Chinese law and regulations as well as the cases of individual political detainees; conduct quarterly trips to China to discuss these cases with representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice; and engage in policy outreach to governments and multilateral organizations involved in human rights advocacy vis-à-vis China. The project’s findings will appear in a series of papers, reports, and other publications.

Henry Sokolski and Zachary Keck will research and write a book assessing the impact on U.S. national security of nuclear proliferation among U.S. allies. They will conduct archival research and interviews with policymakers who have experience with the proliferation decisions of the United Kingdom, France, Israel, and Pakistan.

Robert Litan will lead an effort to explore how research by economists informs public policy debates. He will assess how a new generation of economists reshaped the discipline by placing a greater emphasis on empirical analysis of “big data” and fielding experimental evaluations. The project’s findings will appear in a report.

Jason Delisle and Matthew Chingos will examine how federal programs for the repayment of student loans can best protect borrowers from excessive risk while reducing the potential costs to taxpayers. They will analyze data from credit reports to examine patterns of default and delinquency among student borrowers. They will also explore how borrowers perceive the risk of default, how collection agencies seek to recoup payments from delinquent borrowers, and how borrowers view the possibility of entering into alternative repayment programs. The project’s findings will appear in a report, a series of papers, and briefings for policymakers.

Michael O’Hanlon will research and write a book exploring how emerging technologies might shape future military capabilities and competitions and thereby affect American military strategy. He will identify and analyze current technological trends and assess their potential impact on U.S. warfighting potential as well as on the reassurance and deterrence of international actors.

Julie Chernov Hwang will research and write a book that explores the potential of the spread of Islamist radicalism in Southeast Asia through an empirical assessment of extremist activism in Indonesia and Malaysia. She will conduct field work in Indonesia and Malaysia; collect and analyze primary source materials, including materials on Bahasa Indonesian websites; and undertake a survey of former and current members of Islamist extremist groups.