Policy Papers
- policy paper | November 25, 2013 | Asset Building
Designing California's Secure Choice Savings Program
Policy Considerations for Building an Automatic and State-Based Savings Platform
Increasing access to retirement savings plans and creating incentives for low- and moderate-income workers to participate is a cornerstone of a pol... - policy paper | November 22, 2013 | Asset Building
Ohio’s Tax Time Coalition
Building Assets through Free Tax Preparation in Franklin County, 2013
Throughout the country, a network of over 4,300 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites helps over 1.2 million low-income taxpayers file their... -
Improving Gainful Employment
Suggestions for Better Accountability
President Barack Obama took to the Northeast in late August to unveil a new plan for college affordability. Standing before raucous crowds at sever... -
Productivity Measurement in the United States Health System
Joe Colucci Rick McKellarImproving productivity in health care is, unquestionably, among the most important challenges facing policy makers and health care systems. Advance... -
Productivity and the Health Care Workforce
Since World War II, health care spending in the United States has grown rapidly – faster than in the rest of the developed world, and much faster t... -
Hope or Hype? Five Obstacles to Mobile Money Innovations for Youth Financial Services
Jamie Zimmerman Julia ArnoldBy synthesizing the current opportunities and obstacles to using mobile-based tools to advance youth financial access and by assessing current opin... -
Beyond the Low Wage Social Contract
The issue of low wages has moved to the center of American public debate recently, thanks to protests against the low pay of fast food workers, the... -
Beyond the Buzz: The Allure and Challenge of Using Mobile Phones to Increase Youth Financial Inclusion
Elizabeth Carls Jamie M. Zimmerman Julia Arnold Lex Nowak Vinay RaoThe recent application of mobile phones for financial inclusion among adults and the rising use of mobile phones among youth suggest that mobiles c... -
Talking to the Taliban
The Afghanistan intervention shows why the U.S. must empathize with its adversaries
John Bew Marisa Porges Martyn Frampton Peter Neumann Ryan EvansAs the United States withdraws from Afghanistan, it leaves violence and uncertainty in its wake. The election of a new Afghan president gives some ... -
A King of Beers?
Concentration of Power Over America's Alcohol Markets is Bad for Consumers. It Also Imperils Constitutional and Moral Balances.
New AmericaIn some respects, America’s market for beer has never looked healthier. Where fewer than a hundred brewers operated a generation ago, we now can co... -
Creating Creatures of Habit: Nudging Saving in Youth
Payal PathakPractitioners, policy makers, and researchers often assert the importance of individuals developing savings behaviors. For the poor, especially, wh... -
Accelerating Financial Capability Among Youth: Nudging New Thinking
This paper argues that common definitions of financial capability understate the role of psychological barriers to establishing sound financial beh... -
Savings Accounts for Young People in Developing Countries: Trends in Practice
Jamie Zimmerman Rani DeshpandeThis paper surveys current practice to better understand the diverse range of youth savings initiatives under way in developing countries, and the ... -
Youth Savings in Developing Countries
Jamie Zimmerman Rani DeshpandeResearch and experience to date suggest that savings accounts for low-income youth may be a high-leverage tool to achieve both youth development an... -
Youth Savings around the World: Youth Characteristics, Savings Performance, and Potential Impacts
David Ansong Fred Ssewamala Gina Chowa Li Zou Lissa Johnson Margaret Sherraden Michael Sherraden Rainier MasaYouth, ages 15 to 24, will rise in number from just under 500 million in 1950 to 1.2 billion by 2050. Almost 90% will live in developing economies,... -
How Oppressive Can A Nudge Be?
Alan Wolfe Argues that Behavioral Economics is the Real Threat to Liberalism
Probably the most distinctive innovation in the Obama Administration's brand of liberalism is its interest in behavioral economics and the power of... -
Savings-Linked Conditional Cash Transfer: A New Policy Approach to Global Poverty Reduction
Jamie Zimmerman Yves MouryThis policy brief makes the case for linking conditional cash transfers to savings as a two-pronged poverty reduction strategy of supplementing inc... -
Overview of Child Development Accounts in Developing Countries
Jamie Zimmerman Jeff Meyer Rainier MasaThis paper presents evidence of the existence of CDAs by reviewing several different types of such accounts in operation in developing nations. How... -
A Family-Based Social Contract
David Gray Phillip LongmanAmericans instinctively revere the family as an institution that helps facilitate all other aspects of life. The family fosters attachments across ... -
Child Savings Accounts: Global Trends in Design and Practice
Jamie Zimmerman Jeff Meyer Ray BosharaChild Savings Accounts (CSAs) exist as policies, products, and programs, and are being offered by governments, financial institutions, and non-prof... -
Child Savings Accounts: A Primer
Jamie Zimmerman Jeff MeyerPoverty reduction strategies increasingly focus on the importance of creating financial assets. Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) are a novel and promi... -
The Stress of Balancing Work and Family
The Impact on Parent and Child Health and the Need for Workplace Flexibility
David Gray Kelleen KayeAmerican families confront major challenges in balancing work and family life. Workers report that they would prefer fewer hours, while new technol...