Syracuse University Center for Policy Research

Professor Alex Rothenberg discusses his research on the effects of Indonesia's Integrated Development Economic Zones on this episode of "Economics Unpacked." @cprmaxwell.bsky.social

Regional political climate’s moderating role in the association between political conservatism and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States There is an emerging body of evidence linking political conservatism and conservative political climate in the United States to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake. The goal of the present research ...

How does political climate shape COVID-19 vaccine behavior? A study coauthored by Brittany Kmush finds that conservatives living in liberal regions showed lower hesitancy and higher booster uptake than those living in conservative regions. @maxwellsu.bsky.social

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Are the Kids Alright? Maxwell Expert Panel Examines Youth Mental Health Are the Kids Alright? Maxwell Expert Panel Examines Youth Mental Health

Are the kids alright? 🧠

Maxwell School faculty met in Washington, D.C., to explore youth mental health, risky behavior and how social and economic changes are affecting young people today.
@johncawley.bsky.social @cprmaxwell.bsky.social

Comparison of self-reported survey and wastewater-based epidemiology measures of cocaine use on a college campus Background Wastewater–based epidemiology (WBE) has the potential to produce reliable, efficient, and non-invasive measures of current psychoactive drug use. The aim of this study was to assess the fea...

Wastewater testing and student surveys produced similar estimates of cocaine use on campus. This study coauthored by Dessa Bergen-Cico & David Larsen shows anonymous, community-level data could help track public health trends more efficiently. @maxwellsu.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

No Joy in Cooking Secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins recently suggested Americans can get the nutrition they need on $3 meals. Here’s what happened when I tried to follow her plan.

WATCH: Professor Colleen Heflin discusses Ag Sec. Rollin's $3 meal claim. “I was very confused. USDA has several established meal plans that they estimate the cost of each month. And none of those comes out to $3,” she says. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social @sulernercenter.bsky.social https://bit.ly/46etCla

"Who Should be on Electronic Monitoring: Conceptualizations of Ideal Supervisees" by CPR Senior Research Associate Gabriela Kirk-Werner was published in Punishment and Society!

Read the publication: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

@maxwellsu.bsky.social

AI Nudges Syracuse Professors Back Toward Blue Books, In-Class Work To prevent students from relying on artificial intelligence to write and do homework for them, many professors are returning to pre-technology assessments and having students finish essays in class.

Professor Johannes Himmelreich discusses Maxwell's new AI policy minor and AI in teaching: “AI is going to have significant social impact. This will create policy challenges that require an understanding of the technology as well as the policy analysis skills,” he says.

Today at 7pm! A panel of experts, including CPR Senior Research Associate @johncawley.bsky.social, will examine how government regulation, labeling practices and industries shape public policies.

Learn more or register: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Trump's USDA is hiding the data on food stamp cuts The agency's food insecurity survey was pointless "liberal fodder," a spokesperson said.

“It’s really important for states to be thinking about the administrative burden,” says Lerner Affiliate Colleen Heflin. “All these things become a little bit harder as people become older, and they may have declines in hearing, sight or cognitive function.”

www.motherjones.com/food/2026/01...

Professor Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern's new book “goes under the hood of the Fair Food Program to tell a remarkable story of transformation and hope,” says the CIW. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social @sulernercenter.bsky.social

How Trump Made Life Difficult for International Students and Wisconsin

“The reality is that China’s best and the brightest are not coming but leaving,” says Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social

Walking the land with property owners Click on the article title to read more.

"By conversing with landowners where they live [...] we gained far-richer insight into why people voluntarily restore, manage, and protect their land for conservation."

Learn more in this guest editorial coauthored by Rick Welsh: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Colleen Heflin Examines Impact of Changes to Virginia’s Child Care Subsidy Program Colleen Heflin Examines Impact of Changes to Virginia’s Child Care Subsidy Program

How do child care subsidies affect work and income? 👶📊

Maxwell Professor Colleen Heflin is part of a research team studying how changes to Virginia’s Child Care Subsidy Program influenced employment and earnings outcomes for families. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social

"Urban Sprawl and Residential Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Indonesia and the Philippines" by Yi Jiang, Taylor Lathrop, Alexander D. Rothenberg, and Yao Wang has been added to the CPR Working Paper Series!

Read the paper: surface.syr.edu/cpr/519/

Badi Baltagi Named 2025 Great Arab Minds Award Laureate in Economics Badi Baltagi Named 2025 Great Arab Minds Award Laureate in Economics

An international honor for Maxwell scholarship 🌍

Distinguished Professor Badi H. Baltag has been named a 2025 Great Arab Minds Award laureate, a prestigious recognition often called the “Arab Nobel,” celebrating his global impact on econometrics and economic research. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social

CONNECT NY | Food Insecurity | Season 11 | Episode 12 On the December edition of Connect NY, David Lombardo covers food insecurity in New York State

“I think it's important to note that while poverty is a really significant risk factor for food insecurity, there are more people that live above the poverty line, actually, who are food insecure,” says Professor Colleen Heflin. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social @sulernercenter.bsky.social

Only 55% of eligible older adults received SNAP benefits in 2022, compared to 88% of adults overall. In a new article, Lerner Affiliates Colleen Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer examine three flaws in SNAP's design when it comes to older adults: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Maxwell School Commemorates US’ 250th Anniversary With Course Offered Free to the Public Maxwell School Commemorates US’ 250th Anniversary With Course Offered Free to the Public

As the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary, @MaxwellSchool is launching USA@250

The free, public lecture series will explore American democracy, history, and society through weekly Spring 2026 sessions.

“A Policy Reversal as Structural Break: A Lesson from China’s Land Lease Financing for Infrastructure” by Yilin Hou, Lin Li, and Lei Shao has been added to the CPR Working Paper Series.

Read the paper: surface.syr.edu/cpr/518/

Congratulations to CPR Senior Research Associate Badi Baltagi on winning the UAE's Great Arab Minds 2025 Award in Economics! Dr. Baltagi was honored for his groundbreaking contributions to econometrics, particularly in panel data analysis.

Vermont Edition Federal agents have arrested more than 100 people in Vermont over the last 10 months. Those arrests have heightened fears in tight-knit communities across the state. Vermont Public’s Peter Hirschfeld ...

“The food system perspective is really important here. It's not just about how do they pay for labor costs and compete, but why do we have this system where so little of the money is going to farmers,” says Professor Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern. @cprmaxwell.bsky.social @sulernercenter.bsky.social

Is AI supplementing care or replacing it? Among U.S. adults who use AI for mental health support, 28% now visit human mental health professionals less often. Learn more in this new @maxwellsu.bsky.social #SULerner data slice: surface.syr.edu/lerner/288/

A group photo of the Public Health Department

Maxwell’s Public Health Department, by the numbers:

🍊 125 undergraduates
🍊 27 graduate students
🍊 21 countries in which alumni live and work
🍊 43 U.S. states and territories in which alumni reside

➡️ Read more about what the department brings to our school: https://bit.ly/48yGiF5

"Asian College Students' Well-Being During a Period of Rising Anti-Asian Sentiment" by Kyuhan Choi, Ying Shi, and Maria Zhu has been added to the CPR Working Paper Series.

Read the paper: surface.syr.edu/cpr/516/

6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong Many people understand rural America through stereotypes. Two scholars who study rural communities bust 6 of those myths, complicating the conventional wisdom.

Rural communities are varied, says Prof. @smonnat.bsky.social, and getting the facts right about these communities matters “because public debates, policies and resources...often rely on these assumptions, and misunderstandings can leave real needs neglected.” @sulernercenter.bsky.social

Can Schools Sustain the Rising Cost of Retiree Health Care? Many New York State school districts spend significant amounts each year for retiree health care benefits, and these payments are expected to grow over the coming decades. This brief summarizes findin...

NYS school districts’ retiree health care costs could triple by 2075 without policy changes. New @maxwellsu.bsky.social #CPR brief examines strategies to manage rising costs while balancing needs across generations. Learn more: surface.syr.edu/cpr/517/

6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong Many people understand rural America through stereotypes. Two scholars who study rural communities bust 6 of those myths, complicating the conventional wisdom.

Check out my article in the @us.theconversation.com today, co-authored with Tim Slack.

6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong

theconversation.com/6-myths-abou...

Today at 11am ET! Join CPR Senior Research Associate Colleen Heflin and experts as they discuss the findings from the New York Health Foundation’s newest report examining food insecurity among older adults in New York State.

Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Congrats to CPR and @maxwellsu.bsky.social alum, Graham Ambrose, on receiving funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to explore how rural electric co-ops are navigating electrification and growing energy demands!

An essay by CPR Senior Research Associate Sarah Hamersma entitled, "On Being a Christian Economist Adoptive Special-Needs Mom," was featured in an issue of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession's (CSWEP) Newsletter.

Learn more: www.aeaweb.org/content/file...