About the Award for PhD Dissertation Award
The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) seeks to recognize emergent scholars in the field by presenting an award for the best PhD dissertation in public policy and management.
For the 2025 nominations, any dissertation that has been completed in the academic years 2023 - 2024 or 2024 - 2025, and granted a degree in that period, is eligible for consideration. No dissertation that has been completed prior to May 1, 2023 will be accepted and previously submitted dissertations will not be considered. Dissertations from any discipline are acceptable as long as they deal substantively with public policy issues and are nominated by a faculty member from an APPAM institutional member university. The faculty member does not need to be the major adviser or supervisor of the student’s dissertation, but can nominate the dissertation based on the belief that it makes a strong contribution to policy analysis.
Nominations are open now through July 9, 2025.
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Prior Winners
2023 - 2024
Alison Lodermeier, Brown University
Essays on the Economics of Eviction
Honorable Mentions
Samiya Khalid, University of Massachusetts - Boston
Unheard Voices: Lady Health Workers in Lahore’s Peripheral Communities​
Lois Miller, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Essays on the Economics of Higher Education
2022 - 2023
Neil Cholli, University of Chicago
Essays on Social Policy Reforms and Human Capital
Honorable Mentions
Andrew King, University of Massachusetts - Boston
Opening the Halls of Power: Implementing a Community Organizing Approach to Parent Engagement in New York City's Community Schools
Paula Clasing, University of Michigan
The Promise of Free Tuition: The Case of Chile
2021 - 2022
Katharine Nelson, Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP)
FHA and the Dual Mortgage Delivery System in Philadelphia
Honorable Mentions
Hector Blanco, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Economic Effects of Public Housing Programs
Isabelle Cohen, University of California, Berkeley
Essays on Public Finance and Development
2020 - 2021
George Zuo, University of Maryland
Essays on Bridging Economic and Educational Disparities in America
Honorable Mentions
Zachary Bleemer, University of California Berkeley
On the Meritocratic Allocation of Higher Education
Brandyn Churchill, Vanderbilt University
Three Essays in Health Economics
Ezra Karger, University of Chicago
Essays on the Measurement of Income in Economic Analysis
Jun Li, University of Michigan
Medicare Incentives, Payment Reform, and Quality in the Nursing Home Health Care Sector
2019 - 2020
Cody Tuttle, University of Maryland
Government Responses to Crime and Racial Inequality
Honorable Mentions
Theresa Anderson, George Washington University
What If Mom Went Back to School? A Mixed Methods Study of Effects and Experiences for Both Generations When Mothers Return to School
Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Harvard University
Essays on the Economics of Education
2018 - 2019
Shiran Victoria Shen, Stanford University
Political Pollution Cycle: An Inconvenient Truth and How to Break It
Honorable Mention
Patricio Dominiquez Rivera, Inter-American Development Bank and Elizabeth Pérez-Chiqués, CIDE
2017 - 2018
Garima Siwach, University at Albany, State University of New York
Impact of Employment Barriers on Individuals with Criminal Records: An Econometric Evaluation of Criminal Records in New York
Honorable Mention
Y. Nina Gao, University of Chicago and Allison C. Kelly, University of Washington
2016 - 2017
Mallory Flowers, Georgia Tech School of Public Policy
Green Certification Pathways: The Roles of Public Goods, Private Goods and Certification Schemes
Honorable Mention
Alan Zarychta, University of Colorado - Boulder
2015 - 2016
Vincent Reina, University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy
The Impact of Mobility and Government Rental Subsidies on the Welfare of Households and Affordability of Markets
Honorable Mention
Eric Roberts, John Hopkins University and Daniel Sebastian Tello-Trillo, Vanderbilt University
2014 - 2015
Manasi Deshpande, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Essays on the Effects of Disability Insurance
Honorable Mention
Alexander Smith, University of Virginia and Gabriel Cardona-Fox, University of Texas, Austin
2013 - 2014
Anjali Adukia, Harvard University
The Role of Basic Needs in Educational Decisions: Essays in Education and Development Economics
Honorable Mention
Sara Heller, University of Chicago
2012 - 2013
Sarah Anzia, University of California, Berkeley
Election Timing and the Political Influence of the Organized
Honorable Mention
Hosung Sohn, University of California, Berkeley
2011 - 2012
Daeho Kim, Brown University
Essays in Health Economics
Honorable Mentions
Chloe Gibbs, University of Chicago
Christopher Robert, Harvard University JFK School of Government
2010 - 2011
Kurt Lavetti, University of California-Berkeley
Essays on the Estimation of Prices in Implicit Markets
Honorable Mentions
Cassandra Marie Doll Hart, Northwestern University
2009 - 2010
Heidi Williams, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Essays on Technological Change in Healthcare Markets
Honorable Mentions
Kristin Seefeldt, University of Michigan
Judith Scott-Clayton, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government
2008 - 2009
Steven Hemelt, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Essays in Education Policy: Accountability, Achievement, and Access
Honorable Mention
None recognized for this year
2007 - 2008
Haitao Yin, University of Pennsylvania
The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Environmental Regulations: The Case of Underground Storage Tank Regulations
Honorable Mentions
Maria Fitzpatrick, University of Virginia
Jeremy Rosner, University of Maryland
2006 - 2007
Christopher Herbst, University of Maryland - College Park
Effects of Social Policy Reforms and the Economy on Welfare Participation and Employment of Single Mothers
Honorable Mentions
Douglas Carr, University of Kentucky
Stephanie Cellini, University of California-Los Angeles
2005 - 2006
Kilkon Ko, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Behaviors of Policy Analysts in Public Investment Decisions: How Policy Analysts Make Decisions
Honorable Mentions
Leah Brooks, University of California-Los Angeles
Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Northwestern University
2004- 2005
Asim Zia, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy
Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Decision Behaviors in Response to the Inspection and Maintenance Program in the Atlanta Airshed, 1997-2001
Honorable Mentions
Margaret Patrick Haist, University of Kentucky
Sergio Fernandez, University of Georgia
2003 - 2004
Shreyasi Jha, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Linkages Between Trade and Liberalization and Environmental Policy: Evidence from India
Honorable Mentions
Zhong Yi Tong, University of Maryland
Jesse Levin, University of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute
2002 - 2003
Rucker Johnson, University of Michigan
Essays on Urban Spatial Structure, Job Search and Job Mobility
Honorable Mentions
R. Karl Rethemeyer, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government
Gail Corrado, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
2001 - 2002
Mark Long, University of Michigan
The Effects of Education Policy on College Entry and Household Savings
Honorable Mentions
Brian Jacob, University of Chicago
Katherine Magnuson, Northwestern University
2000 - 2001
Jacob Hacker, Yale University
Boundary Wars: Political Struggle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the U.S.
Honorable Mentions
Jean Marie Abraham, Carnegie Mellon University
Shanti Rabindran Gamper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1999 - 2000
Susanna Loeb, University of Michigan
Economic Analyses of Elementary and Secondary School Resource Provision
Honorable Mentions
Laura J. Dugan, Carnegie Mellon University
Patrick McEwan, Stanford University
1998 - 1999
Meredith Phillips, Northwestern University
Early Inequalities: The Development of Ethnic Differences in Academic Achievement During Childhood
Honorable Mentions
Karen Baehler, University of Maryland
Carol Silva, University of Rochester
1997 - 1998
Kevin Volpp, University of Pennsylvania
Market-based Reforms and the Impact on Quality of Care: An Examination of the Quality Impacts of the Transition from Hospital Rate-Setting to Price Competition in New Jersey
Honorable Mentions
Kim Rueben, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Katherine Baicker, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government
1996 - 1997
Xavier De Souza Briggs, Harvard University JFK School of Government
Brown Kids in White Suburbs: Housing Mobility, Neighborhood Effects and the Social Capital of Poor Youth
Honorable Mentions
Ingrid Gould Ellen, New York University
Rebecca London, Northwestern University
1995 - 1996
Sheila E. Murray, University of Maryland-College Park
Two Essays on the Distribution of Education Resources and Outcomes
1994 - 1995
Johannes M. Bos, New York University Wagner School of Public Service
The Labor Market Value of Remedial Education: Evidence from Time Series Data on an Experimental Program for School Dropouts
1993 - 1994
Kathryn A. Foster, Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Special Districts and the Political Economy of Metropolitan Service Delivery
Thomas J. Nechyba, University of Rochester
Fiscal Federalism and Local Public Finance: A General Equilibrium Approach with Voting
1992 - 1993
Kenneth Langa, University of Chicago Harris School of Policy Studies
Medicaid Cost-Containment in the 1980s: Did It Encourage Interpayer Differences in Hospital Care
1991 - 1992
Thomas J. Kane, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government
College Entry by Blacks Since 1970: The Role of Tuition, Financial Aid, Local Economic Conditions and Family Background