Dear Faculty,

Congratulations on your many research accomplishments since the start of 2024.

A few notes:

• The 2024 APPAM Annual Fall Research Conference is accepting conference submissions through April 17th. You can find out more details regarding the session formats and policy areas at their submissions hub.
  
• The USC Office of Research recently released a new Guide to Sponsored Research Procedures.
  
• The USC Center for Excellence in Research has a list of Spring Workshops that you may find helpful. 
  

Please enjoy the full newsletter from the link below.

Best,

Alice

Vice Dean for Research

Publications:

• Chyr, L., Wolff, J., Zissimopoulos, J., & Drabo, E. (2024). Analysis of Agreement between Measures of Subjective Cognitive Impairment and Probable Dementia in the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. DOI:10.1002/alz.13758
  
  • Research Topic: The study aimed to validate subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) measures against established dementia criteria using a sample from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). Results showed that SCI was more prevalent than probable dementia, with substantial agreement (90.0%) between the measures. Sensitivity and specificity of SCI against dementia were comparable to established metrics, suggesting population-based surveys like NHATS could provide cost-effective opportunities for dementia surveillance and risk assessment. However, caution is warranted in subgroup analyses due to heterogeneity in agreement quality across different demographic groups.
    
    
• Cutler, H., Shields, M., Rose, A., Wei, D., Keyser, D., & Crofton, K. (2023). Regional Economic Impacts of the Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Transition. Climate Policy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2023.2287076 
  • Research Topic: Many state and local governments are mandating increased renewable energy generation to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, with Los Angeles targeting 100% renewable energy by 2045 through a plan analyzing nine alternative scenarios. Economic impacts vary across scenarios, but overall, transitioning to renewables shows positive effects on employment and economic output, with potential distributional impacts mitigated by targeted policies and training opportunities for city residents.
    
    
• Li, D. (2024). Critical mass condition of majority bureaucratic behavioral change in representative bureaucracy: a theoretical clarification and a nonparametric exploration. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, muae002. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muae002
  • Research Topic: Representative bureaucracy theory examines how bureaucrats’ demographics impact outcomes for clients with shared identities, with “critical mass” posited as an enabling condition. Yet empirical evidence is mixed regarding where this threshold stands. To reconcile these inconsistencies, this study emphasizes the need to first clarify the mechanisms that underpin critical mass requirements.
    
    
• Doctor, J. N., Kelley, M. A., Goldstein, N. J., Lucas, J., Knight, T., & Stewart, E. P. (2024). A randomized trial looking at planning prompts to reduce opioid prescribing. Nature Communications,15(1): 263.
  • Research Topic: The study investigated whether If/when-then planning prompts in personalized letters could enhance the effectiveness of reducing opioid and benzodiazepine prescribing among clinicians in Los Angeles County. Through a decedent-clustered trial involving 541 clinicians, it was found that the inclusion of such prompts resulted in a significant decrease of 12.85% in morphine milligram equivalents (MME) and 8.32% in diazepam milligram equivalents (DME). The study suggests the effectiveness of planning prompts, especially for clinicians with poor patient outcomes, although limitations include limited generalizability and a small sample size.
    
    
• Boeing, G., Pilgram, C., & Lu, Y. (2024). Urban Street Network Design and Transport-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions around the World. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 127(103961). DOI:10.1016/j.trd.2023.103961
  • Research Topic: This study explores the relationship between street network characteristics and transport sector CO2 emissions worldwide, analyzing whether these relationships differ based on development levels and urban design paradigms. Prior literature has primarily focused on case studies or small city samples, limiting generalizability. The findings indicate that straighter, more-connected, and less-overbuilt street networks are associated with lower transport emissions, but these relationships vary across development levels and design paradigms, emphasizing the need for more research, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions of the Global South, to inform evidence-based planning practices.
    
    
• Jenkins, J. A.,  & J. Rubin, J. (Eds.). (2024). The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy. Oxford University Press.
  • Research Topic: The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy brings together leading scholars across disciplines to explore the intricate relationship between political and economic actors and institutions throughout history. This burgeoning field, distinct from traditional economics, political economy, and history, emphasizes the causes and consequences of politics within a strictly historical context while employing social-scientific theory and methods. By providing an overview of data, techniques, and major research areas, the Handbook fosters interdisciplinary dialogue among economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians, and public policy scholars interested in historical political economy.
    
    
• Mulligan, K., Baid, D., Doctor,  J. N., Phelps, C. E., & Lakdawalla,  D. N. (2024). Risk preferences over health: empirical estimates and implications for medical decision-making. Journal of Health Economics, 94:102857.
  • Research Topic: Mainstream health economic theory suggests that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) gains are universally valued by consumers, regardless of their initial health. However, recent research, including the Generalized Risk-Adjusted Cost-Effectiveness (GRACE) model, challenges this assumption by demonstrating that baseline health status influences perceived value, particularly when consumers exhibit non-risk-neutral preferences. Empirical findings indicate varying risk preferences over HRQoL, with individuals showing risk-seeking behavior at low health levels, becoming risk-averse as health improves, and exhibiting the highest aversion at perfect health. These insights have significant implications for medical decision-making and cost-effectiveness analyses, prompting a reevaluation of the theoretical framework for health-related decision-making under uncertainty.

Media Highlights:

Monthly research digests include self-reported media coverage.

• Elizabeth Currid-Halkett published a New York Times article, sharing her son's battle with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and her journey to obtain the life-changing therapy Elevidys, which significantly improved his mobility. 

• Genevieve Kanter was quoted in the Hill.com’s article "Florida Scores Drug Import Win-But Many Hurdles Remain," which discussed the FDA's decision to permit Florida to import prescription drugs from Canada.

Presentations:

• Wandi Bruine de Bruin was keynote speaker at the National Academy of Sciences workshop on tropical cyclones on Feb 6.

• Genevieve Kanter spoke at the UCSF-Stanford CERSI fifth annual Innovations in Regulatory Science Summit on January 7th, debating whether or not advisory committees should be able to vote.

• Adam Rose gave a briefing to the Federal interagency Hazards and Natural Capital Accounts Working Group on “Disasters and National Accounts: The Potential Role of Economic Consequence Analysis,” February 20, 2024.

Of Note:

• Christine Beckman received an award for her paper, "The Social Innovation Trap: Critical Insights Into an Emerging Field,” from the American Association of Geographers.

• Alice Chen presented Congressional Testimony to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on drug development for rare diseases.

• Yan Tang’s paper, “Advancing the Frontiers of Genomic Public Administration: From Genetics to Administrative Attitudes, Behaviors, and Practices,” with Lei Tao and Bo Wen received the Mosher and Mosher Award of the best academic article in Public Administration Review in 2023.

Items of Interest:

Archived Research Reports

Price School Office of Research

USC Price Intranet

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