Event: Nathaniel Hendren (MIT) to deliver the 2025 Woodward Lecture on January 29th



 

Join us January 29th for the 2025 Woodward Lecture, featuring a presentation by Dr. Nathaniel Hendren (MIT) titled, “The Welfare effects of Government Policies,” presented by the Vancouver School of Economics. No registration required.

Presentation Abstract: what policy changes would do the most to improve societal well-being? Should we spend more on education? Subsidize electric vehicles to fight climate change? Should we increase taxes on top earners? This lecture discusses new evidence on these questions from recent work using the marginal value of public funds (MVPF) framework. This approach translates high quality causal effect estimates of the causal impact of these policy changes into a harmonized MVPF measure for comparison both within and across policy domains. We discuss lessons from this MVPF analysis on over 200 policy changes spanning education, social insurance, environmental taxes and subsidies, income taxes and cash transfers, tax audits and enforcement, in-kind transfers, and many more.

Nathaniel Hendren is a Professor of Economics at MIT. He is a Founder and Co-Director of Policy Impacts, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of government decision-making and evidence-based policy-making. He is also a Founder and Co-Director of Opportunity Insights, which is dedicated to identifying barriers to economic opportunity and developing scalable solutions that will empower people throughout the United States to rise out of poverty and achieve better life outcomes.

Through the generosity of Mr. Woodward, UBC has established a lectureship to perpetuate his spirit of concern for economic freedom and his interest in fresh approaches to contemporary economic problems and institutions. The Vancouver School of Economics administers the lectureship. See past Woodward lectures.