ISPS at 40 Conference

Please join us to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Institution for Social and Policy Studies ISPS at Yale University. Recognizing that important social problems cannot be studied adequately by a single discipline, the Yale Corporation established the Institution in 1968 in order to facilitate interdisciplinary inquiry in the social sciences and research into important public policy arenas.

This celebration and conference will bring together a distinguished group of scholars representing a diversity of disciplines to commemorate ISPS’ accomplishments and look toward the future.  The theme of the conference is the use of rigorous scientific research methods, such as field experimentation, to study important social science and policy questions. The conference showcases unusually creative and important pieces of research conducted by ISPS-affiliated scholars in a variety of social science disciplines.

List of participants

 

Conference Schedule
 

Friday, November 14, 2008
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch & Welcome
1:00 - 2:30 Experiments in Economics

Justine Hastings (Economics, Yale University)
  “Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement:
   Evidence from Two Experiments.”

Dean Karlan (Economics, Yale University)
  “Microfinance: Learning What Works, What Does Not, and Why.”
 
Henry Schneider (Economics, Cornell University)
  “Are Bidders on eBay Rational? Evidence from a Field Experiment”
2:45 - 4:15 Experiments in Comparative Politics I

Leonard Wantchekon (Political Science, New York University)
  “Expert Information, Public Deliberation, and Electoral Support
   for Good Governance: Experimental Evidence from Benin.”

Elizabeth Levy Paluck (Psychology, Princeton University)
  “Experimental Interventions using Mass Media to Change Political
   Norms and Behaviors in Central Africa.”

Christopher Blattman (Political Science, Yale University)
  “Reintegrating ex-combatants: Experimental and
   Quasi-experimental Evidence.”
4:30 - 6:00 Voter Mobilization Experiments

Costas Panagopoulos (Political Science, Fordham University)
  “Emotions and Motivation: Testing the Effects of Alternative Civic
   Duty Appeals on Voter Turnout.”

David Nickerson (Political Science, Notre Dame University)
  “How (and How Not) to Study Voter Registration
   Experimentally.”
   
Melissa Michelson (Political Science, California State University,
   Eastbay) & Lisa Garcia Bedolla (Political Science, University of
   California, Berkeley)
  “Heeding the Call: The Effect of Targeted Two-Round Phonebanks
   on Voter Turnout.”
6:30 Dinner (Yale Graduate Club, 155 Elm Street, New Haven) Speaker: Donald Green (Political Science, Yale University)

Saturday, November 15, 2008
8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 – 10:30 Experiments in Comparative Politics II

Jennifer Green (Yale University)
   “Mobilizing Women to Vote in Traditional Societies: A randomized
   field experiment on grassroots mobilization in rural India”

Ana De La O (Political Science, Yale University)
  “Do Poverty Relief Funds Affect Electoral Behavior? Evidence
   from a Randomized Experiment in Mexico.”

Susan Hyde (Political Science, Yale University)
  “Testing the Effects of International Observers on Domestic
   Elections.”
10:45 – 12:15 Experimental tests of Campaign Effects

Ebonya Washington (Economics, Yale University), Alan Gerber
   (Political Science, Yale University) & Gregory Huber (Political
   Science, Yale University)
   TBA

Lynn Vavreck (Political Science, University of California, Los
   Angeles)
  “The Effects of Mass Media GOTV Efforts on Turnout in
   Presidential Elections.”

Gregory Huber (Political Science, Yale University) & Kevin
   Arceneaux (Political Science, Temple University)
  “Identifying the Persuasive Effects of Presidential Advertising.”
12:30 Lunch
Speaker: Alan Gerber (Political Science, Yale University)
1:45 – 2:45 A Collection of Experimental Projects I

Daniel Butler (Political Science, Yale University)
  “Ethnicity and Voter Suppression: Evidence from a Field
   Experiment.”

John Bullock (Political Science, Yale University) & Shang Ha (ISPS,
   Yale University)
  “Experimental Approaches to Mediation.”
3:00 – 4:00 A Collection of Experimental Projects II

Michael Rowe & Dave Sells (Department of Psychiatry, Yale
   University Medical School and Connecticut Mental Health Center)
  “The Peer Engagement Specialist and Citizens Projects.”

Rachel Milstein Sondheimer (Social Sciences, Unites States Military
   Academy)
  “The Brody Paradox: Using Experiments to Estimate the Effects
   of Education on Voter Turnout.”
4:15 – 5:15 Laboratory Experiments

Kevin Arceneaux (Political Science, Temple University)
  “It All Depends on Who’s Watching: Studying Selective Reception
   in the Laboratory.”
 
Eric Dickson (Political Science, Yale University), Gregory Huber
   (Political Science, Yale University) & Sanford Gordon (Politics,
   New York University)
  “Enforcement and Compliance in an Uncertain World: An
   Experimental Investigation.”
5:30 – 7:00 Graduate student poster session & cocktails
7:30 Dinner (Foster’s Restaurant, 56 Orange St., New Haven)


Graduate Student Posters
  1. Atheendar Venkataramani, Paul Lagunes & Brian Fried
  “Corruption and Inequality at the Crossroad: An Experiment on    Bribery and Discrimination in Mexico City.”

2. Ruth Ditlmann & Paul Lagunes
  “Fair Trading? Differential Treatment toward Latinos at Retail
   Stores.”

3. Ryan Sheely
  “The Effect of Institutions on the Maintenance of Public Goods in
   Africa: Evidence from an Anti-Littering Experiment in Rural
   Kenya.”

4. Alan Gerber & Kyohei Yamada
  “Field Experiment, Politics, and Culture: Testing Social
   Psychological Theories Regarding Social Norms Using a Field
   Experiment in Japan.”

5. Nancy Hite
  “Political Engagement, Social Change and the Political Economy
   of Microfinance Expansion: Experimental Evidence from the
   Philippines.”

6. Tiffany Davenport
  “Casting Lots, Casting Votes: The Vietnam Draft Lottery and
   Voting Behavior of Parents, a Natural Experiment.”

7. Leonid Peisakhin & Paul Pinto
  “Does Information Disclosure Improve Public Service Provision?
   Evidence from Field Experiments in India.”

8. Sheree Bennett
  “Local Government and Community-Driven Development in Haiti:
   A Regression Discontinuity Design.”

9. Jennifer Green (with Aghijit Banerjee, MIT, Economics & Rohini
   Pande, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government)
   TBA

10. Paolo Spada
  “Political Competition, Candidate Rationality and Selective    Perception: A Field Experiment of Italian 2006 National Elections.”