Rappaport Institute Publication List

Below is a list of all the Rappaport Institute publications. Please click on the link to receive the pdf version of the publication. For a listing of articles on Rappaport Institute publications and op-eds written by Rappaport Institute staff or affiliates, please go to our In the News section.

Major Reports
Rappaport Institute Policy Briefs
Working Papers and Case Studies
Applied Research
Rappaport Institute Policy Notes
Special Collections
Lectures and Proceedings
Other Reports

Major Reports

Edward L. Glaeser, Jenny Schuetz and Bryce Ward, Regulation and the Rise in Housing Prices in Greater Boston (January 2006) The impacts of regulation on housing production and prices in the region based on data from 187 communities in Massachusetts. (with Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research)

David Barron, Gerald Frug, and Rick Su, Dispelling the Myth of Home Rule: Local Power in Greater Boston (February 2004)
The legal and political realities behind state and local authority in Massachusetts.

Charles C. Euchner, editor, Governing Greater Boston: Meeting the Needs of the Region's People (March 2003)
The challenges facing the region in state and local government, civic leadership, immigration, family policy, education, public health, and state and local finance.

Charles C. Euchner, editor, Governing Greater Boston: The Politics and Policy of Place (February 2002)
The challenges facing the region in regionalism, the environment, housing, transportation, and planning.

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Rappaport Institute Policy Briefs

Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard University and Matthew Kahn, UCLA, The Greenness of Cities (March 2008)

Robert D. Behn, The Seven Big Errors of PerformanceStat, Robert D. Behn, Kennedy School of Government (February 2008)

Gerald E. Frug and David J. Barron, Harvard Law School, Boston Bound: A Comparison of Boston's Legal Powers with Those of Six Other Major American Cities (December 2007)

Eric Beaton, MUP '06, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, The Impacts of Commuter Rail in Greater Boston (October 2006)

Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, Hard Choices for the Next Governor (September 2006)

Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard University, The Economic Impact of Restricting Housing Supply (May 2006)

Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard University and Christopher Berry, University of Chicago, Why Are Smart Places Getting Smarter (February 2006)

Edward L. Glaeser, Jenny Schuetz and Bryce Ward, Harvard University, Regulation and the Rise in Housing Prices in Greater Boston (February 2006)

Phineas Baxandall, Assistant Director, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, Local Services, Local Aid, and Common Challenges (November 2005)

Christopher Stone, Kennedy School of Government, Brian Buchner and Scott Dash, Police Assessment Resource Center, Crowd Control That Can Kill: Can American Police Get a Grip on Their New, “Less-Lethal” Weapons Before They Kill Again? (November 2005)

Anthony A. Braga, Kennedy School of Government and Christopher Winship, Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Creating an Effective Foundation to Prevent Youth Violence: Lessons Learned from Boston in the 1990s (October 2005)

Edward Glaeser, Harvard University, Smart Growth: Education, Skilled Cities, and the Future of Cold-Weather Cities (April 2005)

Frank Levy, Professor of Urban Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Techonology and Richard Murnane, Professor of Education and Society at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Standards-Based Education Reform in the Computer Age: Lessons from Boston's Murphy School. (March 2005)

Anne Morrison Piehl, Associate Professor of Public Policy at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Needed Corrections: Promising Strategies for Improving Massachusetts' Prisons and Jails (February 2005)

Phineas Baxadall, Assistant Director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and Bruce Sacerdote, Associate Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, Betting the Future: The Economic Impact of Legalized Gambling (January 2005)

Mario Luis Small, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and Author, Villa Victoria: The Transformation of Social Capital in a Boston Barrio, Can Social Capital Last? Lessons from Boston's Villa Victoria Housing Complex (November 2004)

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Working Papers and Case Studies

Anthony Braga and David Hureau (Harvard Kennedy School) and Christopher Winship (Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Kennedy School) Losing Faith? Police, Black Churches, and the Resurgence of Youth Violence in Boston (May 2008) A study of youth violence in Boston after the "Boston Miracle" of the 1980s.

Christina Rosan and Lawrence Susskind, Land-Use Planning in the Doldrums: Growth Management in Massachusetts' I-495 Region (September 2007) A case study of eight communities and how they used planning and planners in a period of growth.

Robin Sherman and David Luberoff, The Massachusetts Community Preservation Act: Who Benefits, Who Pays? (July 2007) How poorer communities are affected by the Community Preservaton Act.

Katharine R. E. Sims and Jenny Schuetz, Environmental Regulation and Land Use Change: Do Local Wetlands Bylaws Slow the Conversion of Open Spaces to Residential Uses? (Spring 2007) How environmental regulation bylaws slow conversion of open spaces to residential areas.

Parag Pathak and Tayfun Sönmez, Leveling the Playing Field: Sincere and Sophisticated Players in the Boston Mechanism (Spring 2007) A study of the Boston Public School Assignment Mechanism.

Jeffrey M. Berry, Kent E. Portney, Robin Liss, Jessica Simoncelli, and Lisa Berger, Power and Interest Groups in City Politics (December 2006) A study on how interest groups impact local governance.

Robert Costrell, Massachusetts' Hancock Case and the Adequacy Doctrine (March 2006)
Conference Paper for "Adequacy Lawsuits: Their Growing Impact on American Education."

Jenny Schuetz, Guarding the Town Walls: Mechanisims and Motives for Restricting Multi-family Housing in Massachusetts (March 2006) A study on how municipalities in Massachusetts utilize land-use regulations.

Alexander von Hoffman, Creating an Anti-Growth Regulatory Regime: A Case from Greater Boston (February 2006)
A case study on Arlington, Massachusetts' changing views on development.

Phineas Baxandall and Bruce Saccerdote, "The Casino Gamble in Massachusetts: Full Report and Appendices" (January 2005)
Full Report and Appendices for the Rappaport Institute Policy Brief, "Betting on the Future: The Economic Impact of Legalized Gambling"

Guy Stuart," Boston at the Crossroads" (November 2004)
A study of the racial trends in the Boston metropolitan area from the 1990s and beyond.

David Luberoff, "Civic Leadership and the Big Dig" (May 2004)
The role of the Artery Business Committee in the Planning, Design, and Construction of the Central Artery / Third Harbor Tunnel project.

Edward Glaeser, "Reinventing Boston" (October 2003)
The elements of Boston ’s history and economy that produce innovation and renewal.

Phineas Baxandall and Charles C. Euchner, "Can CitiStat Work in Greater Boston?" (October 2003)
The prospects for bringing Baltimore ’s revolutionary policy and management system to Massachusetts.

James Levitt, "Palladium of the People" (September 2003)
How the Boston Common has spawned a wide range of conservation innovations workdwide. The original working paper was commissioned by the Massachusetts Historical Society for the 2003 Charter Day celebrations. It has be picked up by the Harvard University Press for publication in 2005.

Mark Leccese, "Enhancing Regional Greenfrastructure" (July 2003)
Analysis of the political and managerial controversies surrounding the Metropolitan District Commission.

Charles C. Euchner and Anthony Flint, "Coming Around" (July 2003)
Analysis of the design and political challenges for building the "urban ring" transit line.

Charles C. Euchner, "Getting Home" (January 2003)
How regulatory barriers prevent the state and region from producing enough housing to meet the state’s growing needs (with the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy)

Charles Yelin, "Home and Away" (April 2002)
Policy options for paid leave to allow families to address the needs of elderly parents and young children (with the Center for Women and Enterprise)

Phil Primack, "Private Gain, Public Loss" (November 2001)
Why young people do not opt for public service.

Michele Kurtz, "Testing Testing" (October 2001)
The controversies surrounding standardized testing in Massachusetts.

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Applied Research

Ashley G. Lanfer, "The Heart of the City" (November 2004)
Heart of the City Website
An analysis of the people and places of neighborhoods in Boston ’s geographic center.

Lewis H. Spence, "Better Management for Better Schools" (January 2002)
Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Appendix 3
A review of the structure and functions of the Cambridge Public Schools administration.

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Rappaport Institute Policy Notes

Volume 3, Number 2. Includes research on large-lot housing construction in the Greater Boston area, changing the Boston School Choice Mechanism, mortgage lending in Greater Boston, the effects of increasing minimum wage in Massachusetts and the results of the 2004 Boston Youth Survey.

Volume 3, Number 1. Includes research on US socioeconomic health inequalities, what happens to technological centers during economic downturns, who lives downtown, if Boston is a magnet for young adults and exposure to ecological hazards.

Volume 2, Number 3. Includes research on US socioeconomic health inequalities, what happens to technological centers during economic downturns, who lives downtown, if Boston is a magnet for young adults and exposure to ecological hazards.

Volume 2, Number 2. Includes research on lessons from the Fleet/BankBoston merger; Boston's position in the global economy; blacks and job sprawl; the environmental and economic impacts of Massachusetts' smoking ban; barriers to adopting children in foster care; results from a Massachusetts study on poverty and mental illness; New England's looming water shortage; and policy churn and civic leadership (June 2005)

Volume 2, Number 1. Includes research on subdivision zoning trends; Boston school assignment games; charter schools; gay marriage demographics; convention center dreams and realities; effects of introducing casinos to Massachusetts; how living-wage laws affect Boston businesses; subprime mortgage lending and race; and conflicts over airport expansion. (March 2005)

Volume 1, Issue 2. Includes research on When Black Urban Churches are not Community Churches; Segregation Trends at the Crossroads; Skilled Cities Grow Because They Adapt Better to Decline; Parents Interest and Knowledge About Alternative Schooling Options; Why Land Availability Affects Support for School Spending; Using the MCAS to Target Skills for the New Economy; Costs and Quality at Academic Versus Community Hospitals; How Massachusetts Taxes Measure Up; A Field Experiment in Employment Discrimination; Commuting in Massachusetts (December 2004)

Volume 1, Issue 1. Includes research on Social Capital in Boston’s Villa Victoria Housing Complex; Designing Stable School Finance Systems; Management Challenges in Starting Boston’s Excel Charter School; The Economic and Health Effects of Moving From Low-Income Neighborhoods; Low-Income Families in Boston After Welfare Reform; Changing Asian Demographics in Greater Boston (October 2004)

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Special Collections

The Rappaport Review (March 2004)
An anthology of student writings about politics, policy, and culture in Greater Boston.

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Lectures and Proceedings

"Sustaining Boston's Economic Renaissance" (forthcoming)
Conference on Boston's economic future

"The Big Dig" (March 2005)
David Luberoff on The Connection regarding the Big Dig.

"30 Years After School Busing: Where Do We Go From Here?" (October 2004)
Panel discussion at the Old South Meeting House on the 30th anniversary of school busing in Boston.

"The Good City" (September 2004)
Transcript of a speech given by Paul S. Grogan, President of The Boston Foundation for the 2004 Charter Day Celebrations.

"The D Word" (April 2004)
The challenges of promoting density to combat regional sprawl.

"Uncommon Ground" (November 2003)
The legacy of the Boston Common on the U.S. conservation movement.

"Varieties of Regionalism" (July 2003)
An exploration of different approaches to regional planning and development.

Bill Walczak, "What Does a Healthy City Look Like?" (November 2002)
How a community’s social structures affect the health of its people.

Stephanie Pollack, "Living Together" (March 2002)
The challenges of growing smart in an age of sprawl.

Thomas H. Keane, Jr., "The Peanut Principle" (October 2001)
How small actions and systems affect broad patterns of social interaction.

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Other Reports

Phil Primack, "The Long View" (July 2002)
The debate over whether Massachusetts should adopt a two-year budget cycle to improve fiscal planning and public policy.

Phil Primack, "Analyze This" (June 2002)
The case for more robust in-house policy analysis to drive the state’s administrative and legislative agendas.

Barry Bluestone, Charles C. Euchner, and Gretchen Weismann, "A New Paradigm for Housing in Greater Boston" (September 2000)
A major report on the housing crisis facing Greater Boston (Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University.

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