Formerly, the Mercatus MA Fellowship required the completion of a Mercatus Graduate Policy Essay. Mercatus Graduate Policy Essays offered a novel application of well-defined economic theoretical framework to an underexplored topic in policy. Essays offered an in depth literature review of the theoretical frame being employed, present original findings and/or analysis and concluded with policy recommendations.
This page lists the Mercatus Graduate Policy Essays from alumni of the Mercatus MA Fellowship program sorted by class year.
Class of 2019
Danielle Barden. Ronald Coase, Data Privacy, and Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. (Winter 2019)
Alice Calder. The Complexities of Work: A Return to Classical Political Economy. (Summer 2019)
Joe Conway. An Economic Analysis of U.S. Sports Betting Markets: Implications of State Regulation. (Summer 2019)
Class of 2018
Andrew Baxter. A Revenue Neutral Approach to Immigration: A Regulatory Impact Analysis. (Spring 2019)
Gabriella Beaumont-Smith. The Protectionist Intent Behind Antitrust Laws: An Assessment of the European Union's Competition Policy. (Spring 2019)
Adam Simons. The Economic Impact of Air Cabotage Restrictions in the United States. (Spring 2019)
Joe Brunk. Analyzing Two Approaches of Supervising Culture in Banking. (Summer 2018)
Mark Febrizio. Analyzing the Economic Effects of State-Level Regulation. (Summer 2018)
Catherine Konieczny. Federalism in Regulation: Comments from E.O. 13771. (Summer 2018)
Kathryn May. Permissionless Innovation in the Healthcare Space: The Story of 23andMe. (Summer 2018)
Conor Norris. Nominal GDP Targeting: A Path to End Fiscal Stimulus. (Summer 2018)
Victoria Pryor. Analysis of the CBO Scoring Methodology. (Summer 2018)
Nick Zaiac. Public, Private, and In-Between: The Political Economy of Roadway Management. (Summer 2018)
Class of 2017
Jessica Carges. Property Rights and Electronic Health Records. (Summer 2017)
ErikaGrace Davies. Williamsport Revisited: Applying an Austrian Lens to the Lumber and Fracking Booms of Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. (Summer 2017)
Patrick Higgins. Markets Aren’t Built in a Day: The Role of Markets as Sticky Institutions in Resisting Soviet Occupation and then Facilitating the Transition to “Neoliberal” Political Economy in Poland. (Summer 2017)
Joe Kane. Economic Flaws in Computerized Socialism. (Summer 2017)
David Rann. Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) as Public Goods and Regulatory Management of Financial Risk. (Summer 2017)
Ariel Slonim. Entry Regulation in Hospital Markets: The Impact of Certificate of Need Laws on Hospital Concentration. (Summer 2017)
Class of 2016
Kelly Ferguson. Section 1115 Waivers: An Increasing Part of the Medicaid Program. (Summer 2016)
Anne Hobson. The Social and Economic Effects of Ending U.S. Travel and Remittance Restrictions for Cuban-Americans. (Fall 2016)
Kristine Johnson. Risk-based Capital Regulation and Bank Asset Allocations. (Winter 2016)
Stephen M. Jones. Reading Between the Lines: Regulatory Discretion in the Federal Railroad Administration. (Spring 2017)
Nicholas Krosse. The Fable of the Packets: A New Institutional/Market Process Approach to Network Neutrality. (Winter 2016)
Ross Marchand. Does Tort Reform Matter in Environmental Outcomes? An Empirical Investigation. (Summer 2016)
Chris Kuiper. Monetary Policy After the Crisis and Alternative Systems for Macroeconomic Stability. (Winter 2016)
Ethan Roberts. The Economics of Conflict in the Southern Phillippines: Institutional Stickiness and the Moro Insurgency. (Summer 2016)
David Wille. The Political Economy of Intervention in the Conflict against ISIS. (Summer 2016)
Class of 2015
David Christensen. Anticommons and Public Lands in the West. (Winter 2015)
Scott Eastman. State Fiscal Condition and Interstate Income Migration. (Summer 2015)
Candace McTeer. The Political Economy of Casino Licensing: A Case Study on Maryland's Experience. (Summer 2015)
Courtney Michaluk. A Better Tomorrow: Policy Reform and the Limitations of State-Led Targeted Economic Development. (Summer 2015)
Adam Michel. Firm-Specific Tax Incentives: The Bad and the Ugly. (Summer 2015)
Anna Mills. FDA Effectiveness Standards: Helpful or Harmful? (Summer 2015)
Rachel Reese. Exit, Voice, and Incentives: An Institutional Analysis of Urban Public School Districts. (Fall 2015)
Laura Stanely. Regulation and Income Inequality: The Regressive Effects of Entry Regulations. (Published as a Mercatus Working Paper, January 2016 with Patrick A. McLaughlin)
Dana Williams. Telemedicine: Innovation, Competition, Development, and the Legal System. (Summer 2015)
Class of 2014
Brian Deignan. Community Broadband, Community Benefits? An Economic Analysis of Local Government Broadband Initiatives. (Summer 2014)
Harrison Searles. The Welfare State and Moral Sentiments: A Smith-Hayek Critique of Christina Fong, Samuel Bowles, and Herbert Gintis. (Published in Econ Journal Watch, 12(2): 114-136, May 2015)
Michelle Wei. Paving the path to fuel efficiency: how federal policies and the market address gasoline use in the U.S. (Summer 2014)
Class of 2013
Devin Bowen. The Impact of Legal Prostitution On Violent Crime. (Summer 2013)
Ben Miller. False Identity: Conservation Banking, A Program Analysis. (Summer 2013)
Brandon Pizzola. A Reconsideration of the Effects of Budget Policy on Investment. (Summer 2013)
Derek Thieme. Economic Effects of the ‘Volcker Rule’: Restrictions on Banking Activity and their Consequences for Economic Growth and Stability. (Summer 2013)
Class of 2012
Jacob Feldman. The Role of Constituency and the Power of the Executive Branch in the US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. (Summer 2012)
Andreea Militaru. A Survey of Sales Tax Exemptions in the States: Understanding Sales Taxes and Sales Tax Exemptions. (Published as a Mercatus Working Paper, No. 14-01, January 2014 with Thomas Stratmann)
Nick Tuszynski. Public-Private Partnerships: Why the Private Sector Can Pave the Way to Success.(Summer 2012)
Benjamin VanMetre. Entrepreneurial Activity in Illinois: Investigating the Impact of Tax Incentive Development Programs. (Summer 2012)
Class of 2011
Jerrod Anderson. Elected vs. Appointed School Boards. (Spring 2011)
Allison Kasic. The Political Economy of D.C. School Choice: An Institutional Analysis of the Washington, D.C., Opportunity Scholarship Program. (Spring 2011)
Michelle McAdoo. The Financial Crisis. (Fall 2011)
Class of 2010
Astrid Arca. Land and Rebellion: Property Rights and Contracting in Andean Peru. (Summer 2010)
David Bieler. How Incentives and Overpromising by Public Officials Contribute to Cost, Schedule, and Performance Shortfalls in U.S. Defense Acquisition Programs. (Spring 2010)
Katelyn Christ. Failed Interventions: The Increasing Ineffectiveness of Monetary and Fiscal Policies in High Debt Environments. (Spring 2010)
Christina Forsberg. Voting With Their Feet: A Comparative Analysis of Two States and Their Respective Economic Policies Effects on Their Populations and Economic Growth. (Spring 2010)
Stefanie Haeffele-Balch. Inadequate Housing and Adequate Solutions: An Analysis of Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham, Alabama. (Spring 2010)
Olga Nicoara. Understanding Institutions and Institutional Change in Weak Post-Soviet Democracies: The Case of “Doing Business” Reforms in Moldova. (Summer 2010)
Gabriel Okolski. A-La-Carte Pricing in the Airline Industry: Drivers, Consumer Effects, and Policy Options.(Spring 2010)
Emily Washington. Stifling the Market Process with Land Use Regulation: An Analysis of Modern Trends in Land Use Regulation Applied to Redevelopment in Tysons Corner, Virginia. (Spring 2010)
Class of 2009
Mark Adams. Rules in Crisis. (Spring 2009)
Erin Agemy. Improving Academics in the Aftermath: A Case Study of New Orleans’ Experiment with Charter Schools . (Spring 2009)
Rosemarie Fike. Can Governments Create Bureaucratic Structures That Overcome Knowledge and Incentive Problems? An Analysis of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. (Spring 2009)