The Institute for Policy & Social Research is a faculty-driven research center supporting social scientists who focus on social problems and policy-relevant questions. IPSR fosters independent researchers and collaborative teams within our network of faculty affiliates and seven interdisciplinary research centers.

What's New

COVID-19 Research & Resources

The Institute for Policy & Social Research has been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on the state of Kansas and, as a public service, IPSR has created a website that provides resources for people to see how COVID-19 is affecting the state and its economy. This website includes research presentations by economics professor Donna Ginther (and director of IPSR) that explain how policy has an economic impact on the state. Other links provide background data on demographics and healthcare and broadband access. Please visit https://ipsr.ku.edu/covid19/ for regular updates as new information becomes available.

New consortium to improve data science across Kansas

To expand the state's data sicnece capabilities, the National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research awarded funding earlier this year to a team of researchers and educators from across Kansas. The Kansas Data Science Consortium will incorporate real-world data sets into student learning, and it is seeking community organizations of all types to partner and share data.
Link(s): https://today.ku.edu/2022/09/27/new-consortium-improve-data-science-across-kansas

New BLS questions will address telework

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will stop asking supplemental questions about COVID to gauge its impact on the labor market, and it will start asking about telework.
Link(s): https://www.marketplace.org/2022/09/05/federal-jobs-survey-will-replace-covid-questions-with-new-queries-about-telework/

Kansas Statistical Abstract 56th edition features timely and relevant information for Kansans

The newest edition of the Kansas Statistical Abstract is now available on the Institute for Policy & Social Research website. This rich resource contains information on the Sunflower State on a variety of topics ranging from agriculture to transportation.
Link(s): https://today.ku.edu/2022/09/02/kansas-statistical-abstract-56th-edition-features-timely-and-relevant-information-kansas

Please visit IPSR's News page for more.

Research Spotlight

Research Released on the Cost of Not Expanding Medicaid in Kansas

Kansas is one of only 12 states that
have not expanded Medicaid under
the Affordable Care Act, despite the
federal government covering more
than 90 percent of the cost along
with additional federal incentives.
Kansas is now entirely bordered
by states that expanded Medicaid
following adoption of expansion in
Missouri and Oklahoma in 2021.

The REACH Healthcare Foundation provided funding to IPSR to study the impact of failure to expand Medicaid on Kansans. The research brief and report show that Kansans are spending more state resources on Medicaid, health care spending is increasing at a faster rate, and employee premiums for health care are increasing faster in Kansas than in states that expanded Medicaid. County mill levies for hospitals have also increased. There are many unexpected costs resulting from the state’s failure to expand Medicaid.

The 56th Edition of the Kansas Statistical Abstract is now available! The abstract is available EXCLUSIVELY online as a PDF file with individual pages available in Microsoft Excel and PDF. For more information and access to the data, please visit https://ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/ksah/.

The Kansas Statistical Abstract was featured in a radio spot on the Jayhawk Radio Network, tune in or click the button below to play the clip now:

SAVE THE DATE

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Please visit the conference site for registration. Additional details will be posted soon.

Recent Publications

Ginther, Donna K., Davut Ayan, and David J.G. Slusky, The Unexpected Costs of Not Expanding Medicaid in Kansas, sponsored by the REACH Foundation, May 2022.

Ayan, Davut, Donna K. Ginther, and David J.G. Slusky, Economic Costs to Kansas Due to State’s Failure to Expand Medicaid, sponsored by the REACH Foundation, May 2022.

The Governor's Council on Tax Reform, Final Report, January 2022.

Ginther, Donna K., Genna Hurd, Xan Wedel, Thomas Becker, and Patricia Oslund, The Status of Women in Kansas, sponsored by United WE, January 2022.

Ginther, Donna K, Nancy Cayton Myers, Thomas Becker, Lindsay Elliot Jorgenson, "Growing New Ventures and Jobs in Kansas: An in-depth Review of Entrepreneurship Activities and Policies in Kansas and How We Compare." Institute for Policy & Social Research, The University of Kansas (January 2020).

Maynard-Moody, Steven with Charles Epp and Donald Haider-Markel,“Beyond Profiling: The Institutional Sources of Racial Disparities in Policing,” Public Administration Review (forthcoming).

Maynard-Moody, Steven, “Punishing the Poor.” Book review essay, Social Service Review, vol. 90, no. 4 (Dec 2016).

Maynard-Moody, Steven with Michael Musheno, “'Playing the Rules’: Discretion Social and Policy Context”. In Peter Hupe, Michael Hill, and Aurélien Buffat, eds., Understanding Street-Level Bureaucrats (Bristol, UK: The Policy Press, 2016).

For other publications please visit our Publications Page.