2016
Winner
Manasi Deshpande, Economics, MIT.
Essays on the Effects of Disability Insurance
2015
Winner
Maria Polyakova, Economics, MIT
Regulation of Public Health Insurance
Honorable Mention
Michael Boudreaux, University of Minnesota
The Long-Term Effects of Exposure to Medicaid in Early Childhood
2014
Winner
Nathaniel Hendren, Economics, MIT.
Essays on Information and Insurance Markets, MIT
2012
Winner
Karen Tani, History, University of Pennsylvania
Securing A Right to Welfare: Public Assistance Administration and the Rule of Law, 1935-1965
Honorable Mention
John Graves, Health Policy, Harvard University
The Evolving Dynamics of Health Insurance Under State and Federal Reform
2011
Winner
Catherine B. Haskins, Economics, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Household Employer Payroll Tax Evasion: An Exploration Based on IRS Data and on Interviews with Employers and Domestic Workers
2010
Winner
Jessie B. Ramey, History, Carnegie Mellon University
A Child Care Crisis: Poor Black and White Families and Orphanages in Pittsburgh, 1878-1929.
Honorable Mention
John W. “Jack” Gettens, Social Policy, Brandeis University
Medicaid Expansions: The Work and Program Participation of People With Disabilities
2009
Winner
Lauren Hersch Nicholas, Social Policy & Policy Analysis, Columbia University
Medicare Advantage? The Effects of Managed Care on Medicare Quality, Costs and Enrollment
2008
Winner
Sandra Levitsky, Sociology, University of Wisconsin
Private Dilemmas of Public Provision: The Formation of Political Demand for State Entitlements to Long-Term Care
Honorable Mention
Erin Strumpf, Health Policy and Economics, Harvard University
Employment, Health Insurance, and Health Care for Vulnerable Populations: Early Retirees, Low-Income Adults, and Racial/Ethnic Minorities
2007
Winner
Giovanni Mastrobuoni, Economics, Princeton University
An Empirical Evaluation of Recent Social Security Reforms
Honorable Mention
Kenneth Fortson, Economics, Princeton University
Economic Analysis of Workplace Injuries
2006
Winner
Samuel K. Allen, Economics, University of Arizona
The Economics and Politics of Workers’ Compensation: 1930-2000
2005
Winner
Alan Jacobs, Government, Harvard University
Governing for the Long Term: Democratic Politics and Policy Investment
Honorable Mention
Mauro Mastrogiacomo, Netherlands Bureau for Economic and Policy Analysis
Retirement Expectations and Realizations: Essays on the Netherlands and Italy
2004
Winner
Robin L. McKnight, Economics, MIT
Essays on the Economics of Health Insurance
Honorable Mention
Jill Rachel Horwitz, Health Policy, Harvard University
Corporate Form of Hospitals: Behavior and Obligations
2003
Winner
Jennifer L. Erkulwater, Political Science, Boston College
The Forgotten Safety Net: The Expansion of Supplemental Security Income
Honorable Mention
Pamela Herd, Sociology, Syracuse University
Crediting Care, Citizenship, or Marriage? Gender, Race, Class and Social Security Reform
2002
Winner
Jacob Hacker, Political Science, Yale University
The Political Struggle over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States
Honorable Mention
Amy Finkelstein, Economics, MIT
Adverse Selection and Government Intervention in Life and Health Insurance Markets
2001
Co-Winner
Jason Barabas, Political Science, Northwestern University
Americans Discuss Social Security: How Deliberation Affects Public Opinion
Co-Winner
Irineu de Carvalho, Economics, MIT
Essays in Development Economics
2000
Winner
Jennifer Klein, History, University of Virginia
Managing Security: The Business of American Social Policy, 1910s-1960
Honorable Mention
Michael Harrington
1999
Winner
Katherine Baicker, Economics, Harvard University
Fiscal Federalism and Social Insurance
Honorable Mentions
Julie Berry Cullen, Economics, MIT
Essays on Special Education Finance and Intergovernmental Relations
Alexandra Shields, Health Policy, Brandeis University
Medicaid Managed Care and Plan Performance: The Case of Pediatric Asthma
1998
Winner
Jean Marie Gilman, Government, University of Virginia
Medicaid and the Cost of Federalism, 1984-1992
Honorable Mention
Matthew Eichner, Economics, MIT
Medical Expenditures and Major Risk Health Insurance
1997
Winner
Elizabeth Kilbreth, Social Work, Brandeis University
Recipient Access and the Continuity of Care
Honorable Mentions
Jon Oberlander, Political Science, Yale University
Medicare and The American State: The Politics of Federal Health Insurance, 1965-1991
Kerwin Charles, Economics, Cornell University
An Inquiry in the Labor Market Consequences of Disabling Illness
1996
Winner
Steven Teles, Government, University of Virginia
AFDC: The Politics of Dissensus
1995
Winner
Brent Kreider, Economics, University of Wisconsin
Labor Force Attrition, Application to the Social Security Disability Program, Income Uncertainty and Optimal Redistributive Taxation
Honorable Mention
Mark McClellan, Economics, MIT
The Economics of Medical Treatment Intensity
1994
Winner
Bridgitte Madrian, Economics, MIT
Labor Market Effects of Employment-Based Health Insurance
Honorable Mentions
Jiang Lin, Demography, Berkeley
Parity and Security: A Simulation Study of Population Aging, Kinship Network, and Old Age Security in China
Richard Himelfarb, Political Science, University of Rochester
The Catastrophic Politics of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988
1993
Winner
Madonna Meyer, Sociology, Florida State University
Universalism vs. Targeting as a Basis of Social Distribution: Gender, Race and Long Term Care in the United States
Honorable Mentions
Kimberly Rask, Health Care, University of Pennsylvania
Public Insurance Programs
David Cutler, Economics, MIT
Estimating the Effect of Reimbursement Policy on Medical Outcomes