Sarah Hamersma

Associate Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs Link

Faculty Affiliate, Aging Studies Institute
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Aging and Policy Studies

CAPS Biography:

My major research thrust throughout my career has been the economic evaluation of government programs designed to improve the well-being of low-income families.  This work typically falls into the categories of labor economics, public economics, or health economics.  My work is characterized by efforts to obtain the best data possible for each project, to use those data in creative ways (including linking administrative data that were not previously linked), to consider the economics incentives faced by those I am studying, and to rigorously address questions that are both enduring and timely. My interests primarily fit within the CAPS signature theme of health and well-being, though some of my most recent work examines the intergenerational transmission of food insecurity – thus relating more to the theme of family and intergenerational support.  My emphasis is primarily on the cross-cutting theme of policy, with a focus on vulnerable specific populations.