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Two GWIPP Research Professors In Ink

Power in the CityClarence Stone, GWIPP Research Professor, is the author of the book, Power in the City and the Politics of Inequality, edited by Marion Orr and Valerie C Johnson with foreword by Dianne Pinderhughes. The book collects ten classic articles and essays by Stone to create a succinct reader in urban politics. It encompasses theoretical work on urban political power; examinations of political leadership in community politics; considerations of race, class, and political power in Atlanta; and writings on the politics of social reform and urban regeneration. These pieces provide a model for integrating empiricism with theory, offer Stone’s own reflections on his theory, and demonstrate the evolution of his thought. The book may be purchased through University Press of Kansas or Amazon.

http://mesharpe.com/images/65617682.jpgPat Atkins, GWIPP Research Professor, edited (along with David K Hamilton) the book Urban and Regional Policies for Metropolitan Livability. The book provides a concise, up-to-date, and systematic treatment of the problems and issues involved in urban and regional policy concerns. Each policy chapter is written by a respected expert in the area, and the book covers all the key policy issues that confront contemporary metropolitan areas, including transportation, the environment, affordable housing, crime, employment, poverty, education, and regional governance. Each chapter outlines an issue, which is followed by current thinking on problem diagnosis and problem solving, as well as the prognosis for future policy success. The book is available for purchase at M.E. Sharp.

GWU President Steven Knapp to Meet With GWIPP Policy Research Scholars in January 2008
10/18/07 -President Knapp has accepted an invitation to meet with current and past Policy Research Scholars at a reception in January 2008.  President Knapp has expressed keen interest in research, and this reception will provide a good opportunity for him to become acquainted with the research being pursued through GWIPP.  The event will celebrate seven years of a successful and effective program aimed at helping members of the academic community to design and pursue sponsored research. 

Collection of Property Tax Data Expected To Be Ready in Early 2008
10/18/07 -As part of a major collaboration with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Senior Research Associate Nancy Y. Augustine has been working with a web site development firm to design and implement a user-friendly interface for access to an extensive collection of material on the property tax in the U.S. The data set will be available through an interactive Web site, scheduled for launch in early 2008. Preformatted tables and state profiles will provide easy access to the key features of tax relief programs, structural arrangements, tax rates and limitations, and annual statistics. Users will be able to sort and screen data to focus on a subset of results. A feedback mechanism will allow users to comment on changes. Once the site is fully implemented, updates are expected to be available quarterly. An extract of the data set will also be converted to SAS format to allow researchers to perform statistical analysis. All categorical data will be included in the SAS data set. For more information about the project and the data collection, contact Dr. Augustine at nya@gwu.edu or visit http://www.gwu.edu/~gwipp/lincoln/.

Inaugural Property Tax Policy Roundtable Set for October 5-6, 2007
 10/1/07 - The first annual roundtable on property tax policy will be held on the George Washington University campus on October 5-6, 2007. Invited scholars will present and discuss papers on important policy issues related to the property tax. Attendance at the roundtable is by invitation only. The roundtable is a key component of a multi-year collaboration with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to provide data and research on the property tax in the U.S. The project is intended in part to fill a gap left when the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) was disbanded in the mid 1990s and ceased publishing its annual volume, Significant Features of Fiscal Federalism. More information about the project is posted at http://www.gwu.edu/~gwipp/lincoln/.

Research Professor Julia Friedman Joins the Adjunct Faculty of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration
9/24/07 - Research Professor Julia Friedman is serving as co-instructor for the capstone course, which is required for all students enrolled in the last semester of the Master of Public Policy or Master of Public Administration program. She will be working with teams of student researchers on two projects, this semester. One project will examine the long-term effect of homeownership on families who received assistance from Manna, a local nonprofit developer of affordable housing for homeownership. The other project will assess a proposal being considered by the DC City Council to require employers to expand sick leave provisions for their employees. Prof. Friedman joins GWIPP Senior Research Associate Nancy Y. Augustine to instruct this class.

GWIPP Welcomes Rick Lempert as Newest Member of Its Research Faculty
9/24/07 - Noted legal scholar Richard O. Lempert has joined the research faculty of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy. His most recent affiliations are with the University of Michigan Law School and the National Science Foundation.

Forthcoming Article Examines Prospects of Children
9/24/07 - Hal Wolman and Nancy Augustine are among the co-authors of the forthcoming article, 'The Influence of Neighborhood Poverty During Childhood on Fertility, Education, and Earnings Outcomes', Housing Studies, 22:5 [September 2007], 723 - 751. The other authors of the paper are George Galster (Wayne State University), and Dave E. Marcotte and Marv Mandell (University of Maryland at Baltimore County).

GWIPP Affiliate Dylan Conger Receives Grants to Study Issues Related to Immigrant Youth
9/24/07 - Dylan Conger was selected for the Changing Faces of America's Children Young Scholars Program by the Foundation for Child Development. With support from the Foundation, Professor Conger will study how long it takes students to become English proficient and how the time to proficiency varies according to students' background characteristics, the grade at which they enter school, and the type of English instruction they receive. With colleagues Patrice Iatarola of Florida State University and Mark Long of the University of Washington, she also received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to study the links between high school course-taking and secondary and post-secondary outcomes. Dr. Conger published "Immigrant and Native-born Differences in School Stability and Special Education: Evidence from New York City" in International Migration Review and "Which Schools Have the Most Segregated Classrooms? A Look Inside New York City Schools," in an edited volume entitled Child Poverty in American Today: The Promise of Education. She also gave three presentations this year, including "Racial Differences in High School Course-Taking in Florida" at New York University and "Racial Isolation in School: What Are School District Administrators and Social Scientists Overlooking?" at the American Education Finance Association (AEFA) and American Educational Research Association (AERA) conferences. Dr. Conger also served as a discussant on one panel at AEFA and two panels at AERA and served as a panelist at the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration/Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management workshop on doctoral education in public affairs. She is currently the program committee chair for the section on Legal, Judicial, and Intergovernmental Issues for the annual conference of AERA.

GWIPP Studies State Tax Incentives
 9/24/07 - GWIPP researchers David Brunori, Joe Cordes, and Lori Metcalf are collecting and analyzing data on state tax incentives for the Pew Center on the States. In recent years, consensus has emerged in the academic and state policy communities that tax incentives are only useful for economic development if they are used in certain ways. For example, they should be consistent with the state's broad economic development goals, transparent, subject to cost-benefit analysis, clear and verifiable. Moreover, as the economy moves forward, it has become abundantly clear that tax incentives aimed exclusively at a single corporate taxpayer in a way designed to attract or retain that taxpayer tend to be counterproductive. GWIPP researchers will prepare an inventory of the key variables in state tax systems that pertain to the use of incentives. Results of this study will be incorporated into a larger study undertaken by the Pew Center on the States to examine ways in which state taxes and incentives lead - or do not lead - to vibrant state economies.

GWIPP Collaborates with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to Study the Property Tax
9/24/07 - At its meeting in May, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy approved a year-long collaboration with the George Washington Institute of Public Policy to continue study of the property tax in the U.S. During the first year of the project, a data collection team compiled and classified a wide range of material that characterizes property tax structures and processes in all fifty states. The data set will be available for download and researchers will be able to perform simple queries through an interactive web site. Summary tables will present key results. A State Property Tax Policy Roundtable will be scheduled for Fall 2007 in Washington, DC. Papers written by GWIPP research faculty will be supplemented by several commissioned papers, focusing on the topic "Erosion of the Local Property Tax Base: Trends and Consequences."

Proceedings of Spring Conference to Be Published in early 2008 (March, 2007)
 9/24/07 - A Conference on Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects was held on March 29-30, 2007 in Washington, D.C. The conference was co-sponsored by GW's Institute of Public Policy and School of Public Policy and Public Administration, The Brookings Institution, and the Urban Institute. Papers presented at the conference are being prepared for publication by the Brooking Institution Press, to be available in early 2008. GWIPP Director Hal Wolman is co-editor of the volume, along with Margery A. Turner of the Urban Institute and Howard Wial of the Brookings Institution.

GWIPP Collaborates with Lincoln Institute
 9/14/07 - At its meeting in May, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy approved a year-long collaboration with the George Washington Institute of Public Policy to continue study of the property tax in the U.S. During the first year of the project, a data collection team compiled and classified a wide range of material that characterizes property tax structures and processes in all fifty states. The data set will be available for download and researchers will be able to perform simple queries through an interactive web site. Summary tables will present key results.  A State Property Tax Policy Roundtable will be scheduled for Fall 2007 in Washington, DC. Papers written by GWIPP research faculty will be supplemented by several commissioned papers, focusing on the topic “Erosion of the Local Property Tax Base: Trends and Consequences.”

Green Assumes CWAS Lead
Green assumed the role of Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies (CWAS) after an interim appointment of Dr. Garry Young to the position in January. In addition to CWAS Director, Dr. Green is Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Chair of Real Estate and Finance as well as Professor of Economics at the George Washington University .  He is also currently President of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.  His work has appeared in The American Economic Review , Journal of Economics Perspectives, Journal of Urban Economics, Real Estate Econmics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Urban Studies,  and other venues.   His book with Stephen Malpezzi, a Primer on US Housing Markets and Housing Policy, is used at universities throughout the country.  He was won awards for graduate level teaching in real estate

Friedman Joins GWIPP Facutly
4/12/07 - Dr. Julia Friedman joined GWIPP in January 2007, following her retirement after 14 years as Chief Economist for the government of the District of Columbia.   During the last 7 years she also served as Deputy Chief Financial Officer under the Independent CFO form of government that is unique to the District.  In these positions she managed the revenue forecasting and budget scoring of all policy proposals and these analyses are binding on legislation.  In joining DC, she left a 12 year career at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota where she was a tenured member of the Economics Department and served 2 terms as chair.  While on leave, she held the position of Visiting Associate Professor at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.  She received a PhD in Economics at the University or Oregon in 1972, preceded by a Masters degree.  Her BA in mathematics is from the University of Oregon.  From 1972-1994 she was a founding partner of Economic Consultants, Northwest, consulting on economic impact, land use, labor force, housing, small business, and other regional economic issues.

Changes in GWIPP/CWAS Command
 1/18/07 - Prof. Garry Young has been appointed to serve as Acting Director of GWIPP. The 8-month appointment covers the period during which GWIPP Director Hal Wolman is on sabbatical. Prof. Wolman plans to spend the spring semester in New Zealand, followed by a summer in London. He is scheduled to return in time to resume teaching and research in the fall semester, 2007. Dr. Young is also serving as Acting Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies (CWAS). This interim appointment was necessitated by the departure of former GWIPP Research Professor and CWAS Director, Royce Hanson. Dr. Hanson is now the Chair of the Montgomery County (MD) Planning Board. By the end of the current academic year, Prof. Richard K. Green will assume this position. Richard K. Green is Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Chair of Real Estate and Finance as well as Professor of Economics at the George Washington University . He is also currently President of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. His work has appeared in The American Economic Review , Journal of Economics Perspectives, Journal of Urban Economics, Real Estate Econmics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Urban Studies, and other venues. His book with Stephen Malpezzi, a Primer on US Housing Markets and Housing Policy, is used at universities throughout the country. He has won awards for graduate level teaching in real estate.

Brookings-GWIPP-TSPPPA-Urban Institute Conference on Urban and Regional Policy and its Effects, March 2007:
 11/9/06 - The Brookings Institution, GWIPP, TSPPPA, and the Urban Institute are holding a joint conference on Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects in Washington, DC on March 29-30, 2007. Papers will be commissioned for the conference and the resulting revised papers will be published as a book by the Brookings Institution Press. It is hoped that the conference will be the first in a series of annual or biennial conferences and publications similar in spirit to the Brookings-Wharton conference and Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs. The Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects conference will, as its name implies, focus more directly on policy and be aimed at a wider audience than the Brookings-Wharton series. The goal of the papers and the conference volume is to inform scholars, policymakers, and practitioners about the state of knowledge related to the effectiveness of select policy approaches, reforms or experiments on key social and economic problems facing cities, suburbs, and metropolitan areas. Each conference and book volume will commission papers analyzing responses to six key policy challenges or goals that most local communities face: (1) growing a competitive economy through industry-based strategies, (2) building human capital, (3) creating quality neighborhoods for families, (4) growing the middle-class, (5) managing the spatial pattern of metropolitan growth and development, and (6) governing effectively

2007-08 Policy Research Scholar Call
 10-31-06 - GWIPP announces a new round of its Policy Research Scholar competition. The competition is open to all GW full-time regular-active status faculty including research faculty. Click here for details.

NEW GWIPP Research Professor
 10/09/06 - GWIPP welcomes its newest Research faculty member, Melissa Keeley. Melissa's research focuses on urban environmental policy and planning, particularly water resource management. Her interests include watershed management, land use planning, and the environmental services provided by urban vegetation, and her work contributes a comparative, transatlantic dimension to these topics.

GWIPP Loses Two Research Professors
 08/01/06 - The staff at GWIPP wish a fond farewell to two of our Research Professors, Bob Ebel and Royce Hanson. While the University and GWIPP are losing two terrific scholars, the Washington-area are gaining two fine public-servants. Bob is leaving to become the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Revenue Analysis. Royce (who was also the Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies) recently begun his tenure as Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board.

GWIPP Announces External Advisory Committee
 07/01/06 - GWIPP announced the creation of an External Advisory Committee. The committee will help connect the research capabilities of GWIPP with policy issues for which careful policy research and evaluation could effectively inform the policy process. The External Advisory Committee will also provide advice on to whom and how GWIPP can disseminate the results of its research. Members of the External Advisory Committee are:

Stone Gets Nod from Rock
 5-1-06 - GWIPP Research Professor Clarence Stone recently received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to fund a conference to be held in Bellagio, Italy in November 2006. The conference will kick off a major research project on comparative local governments. More specifically, conference participants will help design a cross-national study of efforts to transform poor urban neighborhoods

GWIPP Scholar Gets Notice
 07/10/05 - GWIPP Policy Research Scholar, Stephen Smith, is receiving a lot of attention these days for his recent book. The GW economics professor recently published Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works (Palgrave MacMillan). The book was reviewed in the Washington Post. Purchase the book.