Harvard Kennedy School faculty disseminate their research in working publications and papers that contribute to public knowledge and fuel policy innovation. This list features recent faculty publications, including journal articles, books, edited volumes, research papers, and public testimony.
Faculty Publications
Wimer, Christopher; Zachary Parolin, Anny Fenton, Liana Fox, and Christopher Jencks. "The Direct Effect of Taxes and Transfers on Changes in the U.S. Income Distribution, 1967–2015." Demography 57.5 (October 2020): 1833-1851.
Wimer, Christopher, Zachary Parolin, Anny Fenton, Liana Fox, and Christopher Jencks. "The Direct Effect of Taxes and Transfers on Changes in the U.S. Income Distribution, 1967–2015." Demography 57 (2020): 1833–1851.
Harding, David J., Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer. "Family Background and Income in Adulthood, 1961–1999." The Inequality Reader: Contemporary and Foundational Readings in Race, Class, and Gender. Ed. David Grusky. Routledge, 2019.
Jencks, Christopher. "Luck, Chance, and Taxes." Review of Success and Luck, by Robert Frank. The American Interest, 13.1, June 23, 2017.
Levels, Mark, Jaap Dronkers, and Christopher Jencks. "Contextual Explanations for Numeracy and Literacy Skill Disparities Between Native and Foreign-Born Adults in Western Countries." PLoS One 12.3 (March 16, 2017): 1-25.
Owens, Ann, Sean F. Reardon, and Christopher Jencks. "Income Segregation between Schools and School District." American Educational Research Journal 53.4 (December 2016): 848-862.
Deming, David J., Sarah Cohodes, Jennifer Jennings and Christopher Jencks. "School Accountability, Postsecondary Attainment and Earnings." Review of Economics and Statistics 98.5 (December 2016): 848-862.
Jencks, Christopher. "Why the Very Poor Have Become Poorer." Review of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer. The New York Review of Books, 63.10, June 9, 2016: 15-17.
Truesdale, Beth C., and Christopher Jencks. "Income Inequality and Health: Strong Theories, Weaker Evidence." Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research 5.5 (2016): 30-37.
Truesdale, Beth C., and Christopher Jencks. "The Health Effects of Income Inequality: Averages and Disparities." Annual Review of Public Health 37 (March 2016): 413-430.
Deming, David J., Sarah Cohodes, Jennifer Jennings, and Christopher Jencks. "When Does Accountability Work? Texas System Had Mixed Effects on College Graduation rates and future earnings." Education Next 16.1 (January 2016): 70-77.
Jencks, Christopher. "Did We Lose the War on Poverty?—II." Review of Legacies of the War on Poverty, ed. Martha J. Bailey and Sheldon Danziger. New York Review of Books, 62.7, April 23, 2015: 37-39.
Jencks, Christopher. "The War on Poverty: Was It Lost?" Review of Legacies of the War on Poverty, ed. Martha J. Bailey and Sheldon Danziger. New York Review of Books, 62.6, April 2015: 82-85.
McLanahan, Sara, and Christopher Jencks. "Was Moynihan Right?" Education Next 15.2 (Spring 2015): 16-22.
Jennings, Jennifer L., David Deming, Christopher Jencks, Maya Lopuch, and Beth E. Schueler. "Do Differences in School Quality Matter More Than We Thought? New Evidence on Educational Opportunity in the Twenty-first Century." Sociology of Education 88.1 (January 2015): 56-82.
Jencks, Christopher. "On America's Front Lines." Review of On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City, by Alice Goffman. The New York Review of Books, 61.15, October 9, 2014: 34-36.
Levels, Mark, Jaap Dronkers, and Christopher Jencks. "Mind the Gap: Compositional, Cultural and Institutional Explanations for Numeracy Skills Disparities Between Adult Immigrants and Natives in Western Countries." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP14-020, April 2014.
Andrews, Dan, Christopher Jencks, and Andrew Leigh. "Do Rising Top Incomes Lift All Boats?" B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 11.1 (January 2011): Article 6.
Rehkopf, David H., Christopher Jencks, and Maria M. Glymour. "The Association of Earnings with Health in Middle Age: Do Self-Reported Earnings for the Previous Year Tell the Whole Story?" Social Science and Medicine 71.3 (August 2010): 431-439.
Leigh, Andrew, Christopher Jencks, and Timothy M. Smeeding. Health and Economic Inequality. Oxford Handbook of Economic Inequality. Ed. Wiemer Salverda, Brian Nolan, and Tim Smeeding. Oxford University Press, 2009, 384-406.
Jencks, Christopher. Does Rising Economic Inequality Matter? The Future of Political Science. Ed. Gary King, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Norman H. Nie. Routledge, 2009, 115-117.
Jencks, Christopher. "Reinventing the American Dream." Chronicle of Higher Education, October 17, 2008.
Andrews, Daniel, Christopher Jencks, and Andrew Leigh. "Do Rising Top Incomes Lift All Boats?" HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP09-018, June 2009.
Glymour, Maria, Ichiro Kawachi, Christopher Jencks, and Lisa F. Berkman. "Does Childhood Schooling Affect Old Age Memory or Mental Status?: Using State Schooling Laws as Natural Experiments." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 62 (June 2008): 532-537.
Leigh, Andrew, and Christopher Jencks. "Inequality and Mortality: Long-Run Evidence from a Panel of Countries." Journal of Health Economics 26.1-2 (January 2007): 1-24.
Jencks, Christopher. "The Immigration Charade." Review of State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America, by Patrick J. Buchanan. New York Review of Books, 54.14 September 27, 2007: 49-52.
Leigh, Andrew, and Christopher Jencks. "Inequality and Mortality: Long-Run Evidence from a Panel of Countries." KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP06-032, July 2006.
Jencks, Christopher, and Laura Tach. "Would Equal Opportunity Mean More Mobility?" Mobility and Inequality: Frontiers of Research from Sociology and Economics. Ed. Stephen L. Morgan, David B. Grusky, and Gary S. Fields. Stanford University Press, 2006, 23-58.
Jencks, Christopher. "1990: Welfare Then and Now." The American Prospect June 2005.
Jencks, Christopher, and Laura Tach. "Would Equal Opportunity Mean More Mobility?" KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP05-037, May 2005.
Jencks, Christopher. "What Happened to Welfare?" Review of American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare, by Jason DeParle. The New York Review of Books, 52.20 December 15, 2005.
Harding, David, Christopher Jencks, Leonard Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer. "The Changing Effect of Family Background on the Incomes of American Adults." Unequal Chances: Family Background and Economic Success. Ed. Samuel Bowles, et al. Princeton University Press, 2005, 100-144.
Jencks, Christopher, Susan E. Mayer, and Joseph Swingle. "Can We Fix the Federal Poverty Measure So It Provides Reliable Information About Changes in the Children's Living Conditions." September 2004.
Winship, Scott, and Christopher Jencks. "Welfare Reform Worked - Don't Fix It." The Christian Science Monitor, July 21, 2004.
Winship, Scott, and Christopher Jencks. "How Did the Social Policy Changes of the 1990s Affect Material Hardship among Single Mothers? Evidence from the CPS Food Security Supplement." KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP04-027, July 2004.
Jencks, Christopher. "Our Unequal Democracy." The American Prospect June 2004: A2-A4.
Jencks, Christopher, Susan E. Mayer, and Joseph Swingle. "Who Has Benefited from Economic Growth in the United States since 1969? The Case of Children." KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP04-017, March 2004.
Ellwood, David, and Christopher Jencks. "The Spread of Single-Parent Families in the United States since 1960." KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP04-008, February 2004.
Jencks, Christopher. "The Low-Wage Puzzle." The American Prospect January 2004: 35-38.
Jencks, Christopher, Susan E. Mayer, and Joseph Swingle. "Who Has Benefited from Economic Growth in the United States Since 1969? The Case of Children." What Has Happened to the Quality of Life in American and Other Advanced Industrial Nations? Ed. Edward N. Wolff. Edward Elgar, 2004.
Ellwood, David, and Christopher Jencks. "The Spread of Single-Parent Families in the United States Since 1960." The Future of the Family. Ed. Daniel P. Moynihan, Timothy M. Smeeding, and Lee Rainwater. Russell Sage, 2004.
Ellwood, David, and Christopher Jencks. "The Uneven Spread of Single-Parent Families: What Do We Know? Where Do We Look for Answers?" Social Inequality. Ed. Kathryn Neckerman. Russell Sage, 2004.
Harding, David J., Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer. "The Changing Effect of Family Background on the Incomes of American Adults." KSG Faculty Research Working Papers Series RWP03-045, December 2003.
Harding, David J., and Christopher Jencks. "Changing Attitudes toward Premarital Sex: Cohort, Period, and Aging Effects." Public Opinion Quarterly 67.2 (Summer 2003): 211-226.
Jencks, Christopher, and Gary Burtless. "American Inequality and Its Consequences." Agenda for the Nation. Ed. Henry Aaron, James Lindsay, and Pietro Nivola. Brookings Institution, 2003.
Jencks, Christopher. "Liberal Lessons from Welfare Reform." The American Prospect July 2002: A9-A12.
Jencks, Christopher. “Does Inequality Matter?” Daedalus (Winter 2002): 49-65.
Jencks, Christopher. "Who Should Get In? Part II" New York Review of Books December 20, 2001.
Jencks, Christopher. "Who Should Get In?" New York Review of Books November 29, 2001.
Jencks, Christopher, and David Riesman. The Academic Revolution, Paperback Edition. Transaction Publishers, 2001.