The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) is pleased to announce the fellows for the 2026 PhD Summer Fieldwork award to advance innovative, policy-oriented research and support PhD student-led projects that bridge evidence and policy to improve human capital outcomes globally. This fellowship engages PhD candidates currently advised by HCI Faculty Affiliates and provides summer funding to […]
By Maureen Heydt Rachel Brulé, Associate Director of the Human Capital Initiative (HCI), Associate Professor of Global Development Policy with the Pardee School of Global Studies and 2024-2025 SAGE Sara Miller McCune Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University has been awarded a US National Science Foundation […]
In 2017, the Trump administration reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy (MCP) as the “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance” (PLGHA) policy, forbidding international organizations receiving US health assistance from promoting abortion. Existing evidence suggests that abortion rates rise under the MCP, but the direct effect of US funding restrictions on supply and use […]
In Kenya, interpersonal violence (IPV) is an issue of major public health concern, with 24 percent of Kenyan women reporting physical violence from a current husband or partner. IPV has profound impacts on physical and mental health outcomes, particularly for pregnant women; it has been found to increase the risk of perinatal mortality, low birth […]
By Naomi Frim-Abrams The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) is excited to announce the first winners of its inaugural Incubation Grant. Solomon Owusu and David Lagakos will be conducting their project, “Why are measured hours of work so low for agricultural workers?” through the grant’s support. “We are thrilled to see this project get started and […]
By Naomi Frim-Abrams On March 29, 2024, the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) convened the new cohort of HCI Core Faculty Members to present their current research projects and spark conversations about potential areas for collaboration in the annual Human Capital Initiative Research Symposium. With topics spanning long-term mobility in informal settlements, social and economic determinants […]
By Naomi Frim-Abrams On March 20, 2024, the Spring 2024 Human Capital Initiative Research Seminar Series hosted Elisa Maffioli, Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan, to discuss her forthcoming study on the effect of social influence on vaccination behavior during COVID-19 in Kenya. The study evaluates a campaign where […]
By Ananya Agarwal Public servants worldwide face legal restrictions, to varying degrees, on their ability to leave the public sector to represent private interests for personal gain before the government in which they served. So-called “revolving door laws” often involve constraints on how a former official may interact with government (e.g., whether they can interact […]
By Claire Paul What happens when armed conflict and political turmoil coincide with a burgeoning market for international adoptions? How do poverty and state-sanctioned prejudice blur the line between consent and coercion? What is the human cost in the aftermath of the unsanctioned adoption industry that decimated the Guatemalan Indigenous population? In her new book, […]
Black individuals are more likely to report shorter sleep durations compared with white individuals, posing a potential public health problem given that short sleep is risk factor for many chronic and mental health conditions. Unequal exposure to police violence, a cardinal manifestation of structural racism, may be a contributor to racial disparities in sleep health. […]