¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ

Baldwin Hall – Punaro Room (355 South Jackson Street, 4th Floor)
Department of Public Administration and Policy
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ’s School of Public & International Affairs

Thursday, May 14, 2026

8:00-8:50 am Coffee and Breakfast

8:50 – 9:00 am Welcome

Session I – Fiscal Incentives and Institutional Performance: Labor, Education, and Budgeting

9:00-9:40

Cost of Living Adjustments and Public Workforce Turnover
Presenter: John Stavick (University of Tennessee)
Discussant: Rebekah Lankford (¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ)

9:40-10:20

The Effect of Budget Narrative Framing on Priorities and Performance for Budget Allocations: Experimental Evidence from Humans and AI
Presenter: Justin Ross (Indiana University)
Discussant: David Guo (Wichita State University)

10:20-11:00

The Impact of School Facility Finance Reforms on the Distribution of School Spending and Educational Attainment
Presenter: David Schwegman (American University)
Discussant: Felipe Lozano-Rojas (¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ)

Coffee Break (11:00 – 11:10 AM)

Session II – Fiscal Decentralization and Climate Resilience: Global and Behavioral Perspectives

11:10-11:50

The Public’s Willingness to Pre-Pay for Disaster: How Risk, Moral Hazard and Trust in Government Explain the Public’s Demand for Climate Change Adaptation in the U.S.
Presenter: Robert Hines (University of North Carolina, Charlotte)
Discussant: Katherine Willoughby (¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ)

11:50-12:30

Can Decentralization Strengthen Fiscal Resilience to Climate Shocks? Evidence from a Cross-Country Panel Analysis
Presenter: Can Chen (Georgia State University)
Discussant: Yilin Hou (Syracuse University)

12:30-1:10

A Local Government Sustainability Index: Evidence from New York Counties Presenter: Komla Dzigbede (State University of New York, Binghamton)
Discussant: Justin Marlowe (University of Chicago)

Lunch and Keynote Address

1:10 – 2:45

Address by Scott Pattison, Director of Research and Tax Policy at the Federation of Tax Administrators

Session III – Shifting Bases: Evaluating New Dynamics in State and Local Taxation

3:00-3:40

Examining the Dynamics of Ohio’s Municipal Income Tax During a Telecommuting Transition
Presenter: Sarah Larson (Miami University, Ohio)
Discussant: Whitney Afonso (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

3:40-4:20

A Joint Effort? The Effect of Dispensary Openings on Economic Activity and Tax Collection: The Case of Dispensary Lotteries in Arizona
Presenter: Sian Mughan (Arizona State University)
Discussant: Iiulia Shybalkina (University of Kentucky)

4:20-5:00

The Fiscal Multiplier of Medicaid Provider Taxes: A State-Level Analysis
Presenter: Lady Ikeya (Indiana University)
Discussant: David Bradford (¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ)

6:30 PM – Reception and Dinner at the ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Founders Memorial Garden

Friday, May 15, 2026

9:00-10:00 am Coffee and Breakfast

Session IV – Fiscal Constraints and Administrative Barriers in Public Management

10:00-10:40

Assessing the Burden of Capital Investment Fragmentation
Presenter: Deborah Carroll (University of Illinois, Chicago)
Discussant: Robert Greer (Texas A&M University)

10:40-11:20

Legacy Costs and Fiscal Stress in rural School Districts in New York State
Presenter: Gang Chen (State University of New York, Albany)
Discussant: Sharon Kioko (University of Washington)

11:20-12:00

Intra- and Inter-Sectoral Network Leadership Transitions and Federal Grant Funding
Presenter: Andrew Sullivan (University of Central Florida)
Discussant: Juan Pablo Martinez Guzman (University of Maryland)

12:00 PM Lunch

1:30 PM Adjourn

Travel to Athens
To ensure a smooth trip to Athens Georgia, please note that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the primary gateway. From ATL, we recommend to use . The company provides a reliable shuttle service directly to , where guest rooms are reserved for the nights of Wednesday, May 13th, and Thursday, May 14th.

While travel time varies with traffic, we recommend allowing approximately two hours for the shuttle. You may view schedules [], and book your shuttle reservations [], once your flight details are confirmed. You can also make other arrangements if it is convenient. We kindly ask that you aim to arrive in Athens on Wednesday the 13th so we can enjoy a timely start on Thursday morning.

Local Logistics & Parking 
Hotel Indigo in Downtown Athens is a pleasant 14-minute walk (or a 4-minute drive) to Baldwin Hall, the home of ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ and our conference venue. For your convenience, we are arranging a dedicated shuttle to transport participants back and forth between the hotel and Baldwin Hall throughout the event.

If you plan to drive from Atlanta or elsewhere, please coordinate parking arrangements directly with .

Return Travel
For your return trip to ATL, please note that the earliest  shuttle following the conclusion of the conference on Friday, May 15th departs Hotel Indigo at 1:05 PM, arriving at the airport at 3:35 PM. Please ensure your flight departure allows sufficient time for check-in and security. Of course, you are more than welcome to stay longer in the area if you please.

Co-Authors & Guests
If you have a co-author or a colleague in our research community who would like to attend, please let us know. While they will need to make their own travel and lodging arrangements, we want to ensure an accurate head count for the venue, catering and any additional arrangements.

Finalizing Papers & Session Format
To ensure we have high-quality and engaging sessions, we kindly ask all presenters to share their papers with their assigned discussants by April 20th. If your paper is still a work in progress, please reach out to your discussant by that date to coordinate, so they have ample time to prepare a thoughtful and constructive discussion.

For your planning purposes, each paper is allotted a 40-minute block, organized as follows:
28 to 30 Minutes:Ìý±Ê°ù±ð²õ±ð²Ô³Ù²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô
5 to 7 Minutes: Discussant Comments
Remaining time: General Q&A

We highlight the following themes as suggested areas of focus, while welcoming submissions that extend beyond them:

• Intergovernmental fiscal disruptions
• Innovations in revenue policy
• Rural government finance
• Intersection between disaster response and budget management
• Financing infrastructure projects
• Behavioral and experimental public finance
• Governance issues in public finance