Policy Research
The policy briefs below were mostly written for Common Good Iowa, and its predecessor the Iowa Policy Project.
Understanding Iowa’s Jobs Deficit, Common Good Iowa (June 2021)
(with Laura Dresser and Hannah Halbert) Weak Labor Protections Have Put Midwestern Food Processing Workers at Risk for Coronavirus, Working Economics (April 2020)
Race in the Heartland: Equity, Opportunity, and Public Policy in the Midwest (Economic Analysis Research Network [with Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Policy Matters Ohio, and Iowa Policy Project] (September 2019).
(with Matthew Glasson and Emily Schott) Cold Shoulder: Shifting the Risk in Iowa’s Workers’ Compensation System (Iowa Policy Project, September 2018)
Stolen Chances: Precarious Work and Wage Theft in Iowa (Iowa Policy Project, March 2015)
The State of Working Iowa, 2014 (IPP, September 2014)
Keep High Quality in High Quality Jobs (IPP Backgrounder, February 2014)
The Rich Get Richer: Top Incomes in Iowa, 1917-2011 (IPP, February 2014)
Iowa follows U.S. patterns on loss of health coverage (IPP, November 2013)
Counting Jobs: A Primer (IPP, November 2013)
Iowa Follows US on Loss of Employer-Sponsored Coverage, Iowa Policy Points (November 2013)
The State of Working Iowa, 2013 (IPP, September 2013)
The State of Working Iowa, 2012 (IPP, December 2012)
(with Robin Clark-Bennett, Jen Sherer, and Matthew Glasson), Wage Theft in Iowa (IPP, Aug. 2012)
(with Andrew Cannon, Peter Fisher, and Noga O’Connor), Fending for Themselves: Nonstandard Workers, Health Insurance Coverage and the Labor Market (IPP, October 2011), Department of Labor funded study, 59pp.
(with Noga O’Connor), The State of Working Iowa, 2011 (IPP, September 2011), 25pp.
Not Your Father’s Health Insurance: Discount Medical Plans and the American Health Crisis (IPP, December 2010); Department of Labor funded study, 15pp.
(with Christine Ralston) The State of Working Iowa, 2009 (IPP, 2009)
(with Christine Ralston) Wage and Benefit Standards: An Analysis of Proposed Changes to the Iowa Values Fund (IPP, 2009), 14pp.
(with Beth Pearson), Young Workers and the Iowa Economy (IPP, 2008), 8pp.
(with Beth Pearson), Women, Work, and Iowa Economy (IPP, 2008), 13pp.
(with Beth Pearson), The State of Working Iowa , 2008 (IPP, 2008), 12pp
EZ Money: Assessing Iowa’s Enterprise Zone Program (IPP, 2008), 18pp
(with Elaine Ditsler and Jevon Europe), The State of Working Iowa, 2007 (IPProject, 2007), 32pp
Prescriptions and Placebos: Health Reform in Iowa (IPP, 2006), 28pp.
(with Elaine Ditsler), No Picnic: The State of Working Iowa: 2006 (IPP, 2006), 10pp
(with Peter Fisher, David West, and Elaine Ditsler), Nonstandard Jobs, Substandard Benefits (IPP, 2005), 52pp
(with Elaine Ditsler and Peter Fisher), On the Fringe: The Substandard Benefits of Workers in Part-Time, Temporary, and Contract Jobs (The Commonwealth Fund, 2005), 32pp
(with Elaine Ditsler and Peter Fisher), The State of Working Iowa, 2005 (IPP, 2005), 46pp
Working Blues: Labor Day in Iowa, 2004 (IPP, 2004), 7pp
Bending the Rules: The Promise and Practice of the Grow Iowa Values Fund (IPP, 2004), 18pp
(with Peter Fisher) The State of Working Iowa, 2003 (IPP), 56pp
(with Peter Fisher) The State of Working Iowa, 2001 (IPP), 63pp
“Dead on Arrival: The Past and Future of American Health Care,” (Open Magazine, New Party Papers #2, 1995), 1-30.