Graduate Student Activities
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

Our graduate students were professionally active in 2001, earning an early start on their policy analysis careers. Jointly with faculty and on their own, they have published or have had accepted twenty-one scholarly papers and have another eight under review. They presented nine papers at professional conferences and worked abroad in two countries. For Ph.D.s awarded, see the academic doctoral activities section of this report.

Scholarly Activities

Femi Alao (Ph.D. in Economics)

working with The Community Guide Working Group in the Epidemiology Program Office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was nominated for the: Outstanding Scientific Contribution to Public Health Award for the 2001 Charles C. Shepard Science Award, held on May 2, 2001 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The award is to recognize an individual or a group for scientific work or application that had significant influence on the public health or public health practice. "Though the group did not win the award, it is a great privilege to have worked with a group that was nominated for this award," said Femi.

began a post-doctoral fellowship in the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Fall 2001.

Esra Alkan (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

(with Nevbahar Ertas) has been invited to present "Information Technology as a Determinant of Decentralization in the Urban Setting: Analysis of Local Governments in the Marmara Region in Turkey throughout the 1999 Earthquake," at the Georgia Political Science Association Annual Conference, Savannah, Ga., January 31-February 2, 2002.

Jim Barnhart (Ph.D. in Economics)

(with Roy Bahl). "Fiscal Deficits and Fiscal Health of State and Local Governments," Public Policy and Administrative Renewal, Mel Dubnick and Wayne Petrozzi (eds.), Toronto: Mosiac Press, under review.

Grant Black (Ph.D. in Economics)

(with Paula Stephan, James Adams and Sharon Levin). “Doctoral Education of Temporary Residents in the United States: Recent Evidence,” Science, under review.

(with Paula Stephan). “Bioinformatics: Emerging Opportunities and Emerging Gaps,” Capitalizing on New Needs and New Opportunities: Government-Industry Partnerships in Biotechnology and Information Technology, Charles Wessner (ed.), National Academy Press, pp. 139-144, 2001.

served as reviewer for the Division of Science Resources Statistics, National Science Foundation, 2001.

presented “Small Firm Innovation in Metropolitan Areas: Does the Local Technological Infrastructure Matter?” at the annual meetings of the Association of Public Policy and Management, Washington, D.C., November 2001.

attended "Policy and Data Issues of the Scientific Workforce," organized by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Sloan Foundation, Washington, D.C., March 2001.

Marguerite Bryan (M.P.A.)

(with Darleen Opfer) performs program evaluations of Georgia's Teacher Quality Plan, a.k.a. Georgia's Plan for Having a Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom by 2006, which is funded by the Department of Education Title II, (through the Applied Research Center).

Pete Curry (M.S. in Urban Policy Studies)

recently completed an internship with the DeKalb County Board of Health.

Nevbahar Ertas (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

(with Esra Alkan) has been invited to present "Information Technology as a Determinant of Decentralization in the Urban Setting: Analysis of Local Governments in the Marmara Region in Turkey throughout the 1999 Earthquake" at the Georgia Political Science Association Annual Conference, Savannah, Ga., January 31-February 2, 2002.

Stephen Everhart (Ph.D. in Economics)

(with Mariusz A. Sumlinski). "Trends in Private Investment in Developing Countries, Statistics for 1970-2000," IFC Discussion Paper No. 44, September 2001.

(with Robert Duval-Hernandez). "Short Term Macro Monitoring: Leading Indicator Construction-Mexico," International Studies Program working paper, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, 2001.

(with Robert Duval-Hernandez). "Management of Oil Windfalls in Mexico: Historical Experience and Policy Options for the Future," World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, No. 2592, April 2001.

"Mexico: Fiscal Sustainability," Mexico: A Comprehensive Development Agenda for the New Era, Vinh Nguyen and Marcelo Giugale (eds.), World Bank Publishing, 2001.

Presented"Private Investment: The Impact of Corruption and the Quality of Public Investment, Patterns and Evidence From Emerging Economies," (with Mariusz A. Sumlinski) at the Southern Economic Association conference, November 2001.

has been invited to chair a session on Foreign Exchange, and to participate at a panel discussion session on "The Implications of Sept. 11 for Emerging Markets," at the Eastern Finance Association meetings in Baltimore, Md., April 10-14, 2002.

served on the staff of the Chief Economist of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank as Senior Economist.

co-taught the IMF/World Bank Institute's short course, "Quantitative Methods in Macro Management," at the Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas (FIPE - Institute of Economic Research), Universidad de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, January 22-February 2, 2001.

Sheila Fehrenbach (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

"Initiation of Beta-Blocker Therapy After AMI in a Managed Care Population," The American Journal of Managed Care, August 2001.

Sue A. Frank (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

(with Gregory Lewis). "Who Wants to Work for the Government?" Public Administration Review, forthcoming.

Katherine Gardner (Ph.D. in Economics)

(with Jay Bae and Jennifer Edwards). "Enrolling Children in SCHIP: Analysis of Georgia PeachCare for Kids Experience," Health Care Financing Review, under review.

(with Kathleen Hoza Lysak and Jennifer Edwards). Kids and Dental Providers in Georgia: The Gap Between Demand and Supply, Georgia Health Policy Center, May 2001.

(with Jay Bae) is working on the Georgia Health Policy Center project, Evaluating Georgia's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which involves evaluation of Georgia's health insurance program to serve low-income children, PeachCare for Kids. The evaluation assesses the program's effectiveness in achieving several goals: improved access to insurance, improved access to primary care, access to high quality health services, and better health outcomes. Results will support policy and program development at DMA, and will also be reported to the Health Care Financing Administration, to be combined with results of other state CHIP programs.

Craig Gordon (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

(with Gary Henry). "Tracking Issue Attention: Specifying the Dynamics of the Public Agenda," Public Opinion Quarterly, forthcoming.

(with Gary Henry, Andrew Mashburn and Bentley Ponder). "Pre-Kindergarten Longitudinal Study: Findings from the 1999-2000 School Year," Atlanta, Ga.: Office of School Readiness, 2001.

(with E. Michael Foster). "Return of the Revisionists: A Latent Curve Analysis of Party Identification," American Political Science Review, revise and resubmit.

(with Gary Henry). "Driving Less for Better Air: Behavioral Impacts of a Public Information Campaign," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, revise and resubmit.

(with Gary Henry). "Influencing the Public: Effects of a Public Information Campaign on Issue Importance and Attitudes," Social Science Quarterly, revise and resubmit.

(with Andrew J. Mashburn) presented "Measuring the Processes and Outcomes of Georgia's Pre-Kindergarten Program" and "Developing the Baseline Models of Individual Educational Growth" at the American Evaluation Association, St. Louis, Mo., November 8, 2001.

Presented a paper at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, November 13, 2001.

defended his dissertation proposal, "Falling on Deaf Ears or Preaching to the Choir? The Effects of Mediated Communications on Attitudinal and Behavioral Outcomes," December 10, 2001.

worked as Project Manager for the Applied Research Center Georgia Pre-Kindergarten Study, managing multiple personnel, and maintaining the Access database used to track the 3600 children followed from their Pre-K year through the third grade. He designed and administered multiple mail and web-based surveys to the children's teachers and a telephone survey for the children's parents. This fifth year of the study surveyed the largest number of teachers and parents of any year. $450,000 annual budget funded by the Office of School Readiness (PI-Gary Henry).

Georgia Early Childhood Study Consultant. Assisted in the development of the sampling methodology; contributed in the writing of the budget and scope of work; and provided the expertise in the analysis of data. In the first year of the study, researchers will follow 680 four year-olds in randomly selected early childhood programs throughout Georgia. $400,000 annual budget funded by the Office of School Readiness (PI-Gary Henry).

ACT Curriculum Training Research Associate. Helped lead the evaluation of a state-wide program to train and provide technical assistance to pre-schools. $350,000 annual budget funded by the Department of Human Resources (PI-Laura Henderson).

Peter Edward Grigelis (Ph.D. in Economics)

defended his dissertation proposal, "The Effects of Contamination on Commercial and Industrial Property Values," April 18, 2001.

Verdell Hawkins (M.P.A. with a specialization in planning and economic development)

recently completed an internship with the City of Smyrna, working closely with the city's community-relations director. Hawkins' main role was to serve as assistant coordinator of Smyrna's Study Circles Project, a nationally recognized program designed to promote community involvement in city governance and economic development.

Christopher Horne (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

presented (with David M. Van Slyke) "Measuring Public Support for Faith-Based Organizations under Charitable Choice" at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Conference, November 2001.

"Families of Homicide Victims: Service Utilization Patterns of Extra- and Intra-Familial Homicide Survivors," Journal of Family Violence, forthcoming.

Angela Blair Hutchinson (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

(with E. M. Foster). “The Effect of Medicaid Managed Care on Children with Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders,” Mental Health Services Research, accepted with revisions.

(with L. Sampietro-Colom and V. Philips). "A Systematic Review of Preferences in Women’s Health Care," an invited submission in the Special Women’s Health Edition, Journal of the International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care, forthcoming.

(with G. Corbie-Smith, S.B. Thomas, S. Mohanan, and C. del Rio). "Understanding the Patients Perspective on New Innovative Approaches to HIV Counseling and Testing: Results from Qualitative Research in a High Risk Population," Social Science and Medicine, under review.

(with S.R. Snyder, V. Carande-Kulis, and P.S. Corso). “A Systematic Framework for Filling Public Health Intervention Cost Gaps in Economic Evaluations,” and (with P.S. Corso, C.W. Thomas, and V. Carande-Kulis) “Translation of Economic Evaluations Included in the Guide to Community Preventive Services,” were accepted for presentation at the International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany, June 2002.

Began a research fellowship at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Epidemiology Program Office, in the Prevention Effectiveness Branch working with the Guide to Community Preventive Services.

Served as referee for Public Administration Review, and has been invited to served as referee for an article for the Center for Disease Control's Morbidity Mortality Weekly Review (MMWR).

Kathryn Lookofsky (M.P.A.)

worked as an intern at Capitol Impact, an online service that tracks political and governmental affairs in Georgia.

Kimberly Clauss MaGee (Ph.D. in Human Resource Development)

defended her dissertation proposal, "The Impact of Organizational Culture on the Implementation of Performance Management," February 7, 2001.

Renee McCown (M.P.A. with a specialization in nonprofit management)

was recently featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for developing Project Rise, a program to give elementary students extra experiences and attention throughout their school careers.

Mikhail Melnik (Ph.D. in Economics)

(with James Alm). "Does a Seller's eCommerce Reputation Matter? Evidence from eBay Auctions," Journal of Industrial Economics, forthcoming.

Wasseem Mina (Ph.D. in Economics)

defended his dissertation proposal, "Growth of Short-term Foreign Debt, Expectations, and Currency and Financial Crises."

Paul Nieminen (Ph.D. in Human Resource Development)

(with K. Logan, C. Hansen, and E. H. Wright). "Student Support Teams: Helping Students Succeed in General Education Classrooms or Working to Place Students in Special Education?" Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 280-292, 2001.

Katie O'Neill (Ph.D. in Human Resource Development)

defended her dissertation proposal, "The Effect of Gender Schema on the Transfer of Interpersonal Communication Skills Training to the Workplace," November 20, 2001.

Presented"The effect of Gender Schema on the Transfer of Interpersonal Communication Skills Training to the Workplace: A Review of Literature," to the Academy of Human Resource Development.

Piriya Pholphirul (Ph.D. in Economics)

defended the dissertation proposal, "The Role of Foreign Direct Investment on Exchange Rate Pass-Through and Pricing-to-Market Behavior."

Bentley Ponder (A&S, Applied Research Center Research Associate)

presented "Administering the Design: Logistics in Tracking a Diverse Sample of Four-Year Olds for Five Years" at the American Evaluation Association Annual Conference in St. Louis, Mo., November 8, 2001.

Presented"Hot Lovin or Cold Feet: Methamphetamine Use and Reported Sexual Behavior by Sexual Identity" (with Kirk Elifson of the Department of Sociology at Georgia State University) at the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Anaheim, Calif., August 25, 2001.

Presented"The Use of Qualitative Methods in Teaching the Sociology of Sexuality" at the Southern Sociological Meetings in Atlanta, Ga., April 6, 2001.

organized the session, "Afternoon Delight or Fright: Tales from the Trenches of Teaching Sexuality" at the Southern Sociological Meetings in Atlanta, Ga., April 7, 2001.

participated on the ARC study, Project Management: Fifth Year Longitudinal Study: Georgia Pre-K Program, a longitudinal study following 3600 children from Pre-K to Third Grade. Data collection included parent and teacher surveys and teacher ratings of children.

provided project management for the Georgia Early Childhood Study, Applied Research Center.

David B. Rein (Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy)

(with Lynda A. Anderson, Janelle Dixon, Vani R. Gowda, and Kathleen L. Irwin). "Public STD Projects and Managed Care: Opportunities for Partnerships," Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 336-342, 2001.

(with Jennifer N. Edwards and Janet Bronstein). "Do Enrollees in 'Look-Alike' Medicaid and SCHIP Programs Really Look Alike?" Health Affairs, forthcoming.

(with Edwards, Floyd, Bae, Phillips, and Williams). "A Mini-grant Program That Works: Georgia's Community-based Outreach," Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, revise and resubmit.

(with Jennifer N. Edwards) presented "Using CAHPS to Measure Access Differences for Publicly Insured Children" at the National CAHPS Users Group Meeting, Las Vegas, Nev., 2001.

defended his dissertation proposal, "Modeling the Health Care Utilization of Children with Special Health Care Needs Using Finite Mixture Methods," August 29, 2001.

W. Joseph Smith (Ph.D. in Economics)

(with Jeanie Thomas). Economic Development: Report of Statewide Results of Georgia Poll, 2001. Fiscal Research Program/Applied Research Center. This report presents results of an annual survey on economic development activities in the State.

(with Benjamin Scafidi and Mary Beth Walker). Are Small Urban Centers Magnets for Economic Growth? Fiscal Research Program. This report for the Georgia State Office of Planning and Budget estimates a model of county-level job growth and finds an effect of small urban centers on their regional economies.

Changes in the Geographic Distribution of County-Level Sales Tax Bases in Georgia. Fiscal Research Program. This report presents the geographic changes in county-level sales tax base for Georgia and discusses the fiscal implications of these changes.

Estimates of the Effects of Education and Training on Earnings. Fiscal Research Program. This report reviews literature on the effect of training on earning and provides additional empirical evidence.

coordinated the activities for upgrading the Georgia State's Urban Services Web site to include an interactive database.

Served on the college Web Oversight Committee.

Besa Tarazhi (M.S. In Urban Policy Studies)

served a summer internship with Central Atlanta Progress.

Bayar Tumennasan (Ph.D. in Economics)

served an internship at the World Bank Institute, working on studies on existing practices of intergovernmental fiscal relations, land and property taxation in developing and transition countries, and the fiscal decentralization process.

Darmen K. Zhumadil (Ph.D. in Economics)

began a two-year appointment as associate drug control officer with the United Nation's International Narcotics Control Board, based in Vienna, Austria, July 2001. His duties will include performing economic and statistical analysis of the demand and supply of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the chemicals used in their production, in an effort to assist governments in complying with multilateral conventions.