Power, laws, and planning
MIT urbanist Justin Steil studies how law and policy are used to replicate social divisions in the use of land.
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Measuring the “woodwork effect” in medical insurance
Study: When adults gain access to Medicaid, they sign up their previously unenrolled kids, too — yet many more remain outside the system.
A better way to make development projects work
In a new book, Associate Professor Gabriella Carolini emphasizes that equitable partnership on the ground delivers the best results in the Global South.
Friendly skies? Study charts Covid-19 odds for plane flights
Researchers calculate chances of catching the illness when aloft, though pandemic conditions keep shifting.
Review: IT in health care has produced modest changes — so far
Large study of existing research shows incremental improvement in patient outcomes and productivity, without big employment changes.
Economists weigh a new approach to unemployment insurance
Study suggests automatically starting benefits at the outset of a recession would remove uncertainty for workers.
How the debt crisis of 2008-09 fueled populist politics
Research shows that in Hungary, debt drove voters to the right, as part of a consequential shift.
Study: Trade can worsen income inequality
Using Ecuador as case study, economists show international trade widens the income gap in individual countries.
When politics is local in the Middle East
Study suggests sectarian identity in the region is tied to domestic matters, not a larger, transnational religious split.
Virtual worlds apart
Paul Roquet’s new book traces the very different trajectories of virtual reality in the U.S. and Japan.
President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson of Iceland visits MIT
Delegation meets campus leaders, with an eye toward AI applications and the Icelandic language.
From South Africa, a success story for democracy
In a new book, MIT political scientist Evan Lieberman examines a quarter-century of post-Apartheid government and finds meaningful progress.
When dueling narratives deepen a divide
At the latest Starr Forum, John Tirman and his collaborators describe the cultural framework that has worsened US-Iran relations.
A bright light on New York’s Bengali past
“In Search of Bengali Harlem,” a new film co-created by Professor Vivek Bald, salutes South Asians who carved out new lives in the US, against the odds.
Springing people from the poverty trap
Field experiment in Bangladesh shows the poor simply lack opportunities to gain wealth — but a one-time boost can make a major difference.