Abstract
In applying data science tools for social good, researchers must confront challenges unique to public- and social-sector organizations. In this talk, I present insights from energy and environmental economics that may be helpful to data scientists interested in producing research with policy impact, drawing on work on pollution in China, with Indian state governments, and alongside the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There are three main suggestions for increasing policymaker buy-in and eventual impact: 1) it is critical that researchers listen carefully to policymakers’ concerns and objectives and ruthlessly focus research on what is policy-relevant; 2) the highest priority should be given to transparent research designs that produce causal estimates with minimal assumptions to combat the substantial mistrust of black-box designs that require strong assumptions (e.g., “selection on observables”); and 3) the results must be communicated in ways that are easily accessible by non-technical people.

Bio
Michael Greenstone is the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, the College, and the Harris School, as well as the Director of the Becker Friedman Institute, the interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, and the Tata Centre for Development at the University of Chicago. He previously served as the Chief Economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he co-led the development of the United States Government’s social cost of carbon. Greenstone also directed The Hamilton Project, which studies policies to promote economic growth, and has since joined its Advisory Council. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the Econometric Society, and a former editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Before coming to the University of Chicago, Greenstone was the 3M Professor of Environmental Economics at MIT.

Greenstone’s research, which has influenced policy globally, is largely focused on uncovering the benefits and costs of environmental quality and society’s energy choices. His current work is particularly focused on testing innovative ways to increase energy access and improve the efficiency of environmental regulations globally. As a co-director of the Climate Impact Lab, he is producing empirically grounded estimates of the local and global impacts of climate change. He also created the Air Quality Life Index™ that provides a measure of the gain in life expectancy communities would experience if their particulates air pollution concentrations are brought into compliance with global or national standards.

Greenstone received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University and a BA in economics with High Honors from Swarthmore College.