Hal Wolman

Research Professor

Contact:

Email: Hal Wolman

Office Phone: (202) 994-5713

Fax: (202) 994-8913

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805 21st Street NW, Office 615 Washington DC 20052

Hal Wolman was the founding Director of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy (GWIPP) and served in that capacity from 2000-2012. He is an emeritus professor in the Department of Political Science at the George Washington University and a Research Professor in the George Washington Institute of Public Policy. Dr. Wolman is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Dr. Wolman's fields of interest include urban and metropolitan policy and politics, local and regional economic development, state and local fiscal policy, and comparative and cross-national urban policy and politics. Much of his work is interdisciplinary, drawing upon the fields of political science, policy analysis, and economics. Prior to retiring as a faculty member in the Department of Political Science and the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, he taught courses on Urban Problems and Policy Analysis, Urban Politics, and Politics and the Policy Process.

Professor Wolman holds a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a Master's in Urban Planning from M.I.T. Prior to coming to GW in 2000, Dr. Wolman was Director of the Policy Sciences graduate program at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County from 1997-2000. Before that, he was a professor of Political Science and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University. He also served as a Research Associate for the Urban Institute's Public Finance Program from 1978-1984.

Dr. Wolman also has experience in the world of public affairs and policy making, both as staff director of the House Subcommittee on the Cities and as a legislative assistant to Senator Adlai E. Stevenson. He was also Director of Research for the White House conference on Balanced Growth and Economic Development. He recently served as the staff consultant to the National Research Council's Committee on the Future of American Cities.

Professor Wolman's authored and edited books include Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects (Brookings Institution, 2008) Governance and Opportunity in Metropolitan Areas (National Academy Press, 1999), Theories of Urban Politics (Sage Publications, 1995), Urban Politics and Policy: A Comparative Approach (Basil Blackwell, 1992), and Comparing Housing Systems: Housing Performance and Housing Policy in the U.S. and Britain (Oxford University Press, 1992). Other research and publications explore regional economic resilience, the effect of national government fiscal policies on cities during the great recession, the determinants of urban and regional economic growth, national urban policy, comparative urban policy and politics, local governments and fiscal autonomy, policy transfer among governments, the effect of population change on urban representation in Congress, city-suburban disparities in income and their causes, the relationship of cities to suburbs, the effect of mayoral change on public policy, and changing intergovernmental relations; as well as specific problems and policies in the areas of urban economic development, urban fiscal problems, housing and community development, urban labor markets, welfare, and transportation.

Selected Publications

Wolman, H. “Economic Competitiveness, Clusters, and Cluster-Based Development,” ch. 14 in Pengfei Ni and Zheng Qiongjie (eds), Urban Competitiveness and Innovation, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2014, pp. 229-251.

Hill, Edward W., Harold L. Wolman, Katherine Kowalczyk, and Travis St. Clair, “Forces Affecting City Population Growth or Decline: The Effects of Interregional and Inter-municipal Competition.” in Alan Mallach (ed.) Defining a Future for American Cities Experiencing Severe Population Loss. New York: American Assembly, 2012, pp. 33-85.

Wolman et al. (7 co-authors), “Economic Shocks and Regional Economic Resilience,” in Pindus, N.; Weir, M., Wial, H., and Wolman, H. (editors)Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects: Building Resilient Regions, V. 4, Brookings Institution Press, 2012, pp. 193-274.

Wolman, H.; McManmon, R.; Bell, M.; and Brunori, D., “Comparing Local Government Autonomy Across States,” in M. Bell, D. Brunori, and Youngman, J (eds.), The Property Tax and Local Autonomy, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Press, 2010, pp. 69-114.

Blumenthal, P., Wolman, H., and Hill, E., “ Understanding the Economic Performance of Metropolitan Areas in the United States,” Urban Studies, March, 2009, pp. 605-627.

Wolman, H., Hill, E., Blumenthal, P., and Furdell, K., “Understanding Economically Distressed Cities,” in R. McGahey and J. Vey (eds.),Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America’s Industrial Regions, Brookings Institution Press, 2008 pp. 151-178.

Wolman, H., National Fiscal Policy and Local Government During the Economic Crisis. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: German Marshall Fund, Urban Policy Paper Series 2014. 2014.

Wolman, H. and Hincapie, D. , National Fiscal Policy and Local Government During the Economic Crisis: Country Profiles Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: German Marshall Fund, Urban Policy Paper Series 2014. 2014.

GWIPP-Related Research Publications and Papers Since 2012

Weir, M.; Pindus, N.; Wial, H., and Wolman, H. (editors) Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects, V. 4, (Brookings Institution Press, 2012)

Wolman, H. and Hincapie, D., “Clusters and Cluster Policy,” Economic Development Quarterly, Forthcoming, 2014.

Wolman, H., “What Cities Do: How Much Does Urban Policy Matter?” Oxford Handbook of Urban Politics, edited by Karen Mossberger, Susan Clarke, and Peter John. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 415-441.

Wolman, H., National Fiscal Policy and Local Government During the Economic Crisis. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: German Marshall Fund, Urban Policy Paper Series 2014. 2014.

St. Clair, T., Wial, H., and Wolman, H., “Chronically Distressed Metropolitan Areas,” paper given at the Urban Affairs Association conference, Pittsburgh, April 18, 2012.

Wolman, H., “A Review of GWIPP Research on Distressed Cities and Regions,” invited talk given at Chicago Federal Reserve’s Industrial City Initiative Symposium, Chicago, Feb. 28, 2012.

Research

Wolman's current research interests are in the areas of regional economic resilience and growth, urban fiscal problems, and the structure of local government within metropolitan areas.

Publications

Clusters and Cluster-Based Development Policy

Contexts for Neighborhood Revitalization: A Comparative Overview

Coping with Adversity: Regional Economic Resilience and Public Policy

The Effects of Beneficiary Targeting on Public Support for Social Policies

Looking at Regional Governance Institutions in Other Countries as a Possible Model for U.S. Metropolitan Areas: An Examination of Multipurpose Regional Service Delivery Districts in British Columbia

Manufacturing Job Loss in U.S. Deindustrialized Regions -- Its Consequences and Implications for the Future: Examining the Conventional Wisdom

Research Areas

Fiscal & Economics Policy

International Policy

Social Policy

Urban Policy