Featured Publications

This list is a guide to MIT research on topics that have been of interest to ILP member companies. The reports vary from formal to more informal formats. The list includes reports from 2009 to present and is updated regularly.

Survey of MIT research covering such topics as:

Bacteria * ancient microbial genome evolution * marine microbial environment * metagenomics * prochlorococcus cells * microbial processing of marine organic matter * biogeochemical cycles * phytoplankton * phylogenomics ...




Please note that not all ILP research reports are posted online. The main ILP RESEARCH REPORT LIST serves as a guide to MIT research on topics that have been of interest to ILP member companies. The reports vary from formal to more informal formats. The list includes reports from 2009 to present and is updated regularly.

Running since 1997 and continuing today, the Townsend Thai Project has tracked millions of observations about the economic activities of households and institutions in rural and urban Thailand. The project represents one of the most extensive datasets in the developing world. Chronicles from the Field offers an account of the design and implementation of this unique panel data survey. It tells the story not only of the origins and operations of the project but also of the challenges and rewards that come from a search to understand the process of a country’s economic development.

The book explains the technical details of data collection and survey instruments but emphasizes the human side of the project, describing the culture shock felt by city-dwelling survey enumerators in rural villages, the “surprising, eye-opening, and inspiring” responses to survey questions, and the never-ending resourcefulness of the survey team. The text is supplemented by an epilogue on research findings and policy recommendations and an appendix that contains a list and abstracts of published and working papers, organized by topic, using data from the project.

Social and economic policies are too often skewed by political considerations. The Townsend Thai Project offers another basis for policy: accurate measurement based on thoroughly collected data. From this, a clear template emerges for understanding poverty and alleviating it.



About the Authors:

Robert M. Townsend is Elizabeth & James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. In 2012 he was awarded the Frisch Medal by the Econometric Society for his research on the village economies of Thailand, becoming the only two-time winner of this prize.

Sombat Sakunthasathien is Director of the Thai Family Research Project. Rob Jordan is an award-winning journalist and writer.

Land use decisions affect our lives profoundly, but until recently, urban planning was the arcane craft of technocrats. This insightful book shows how you and other citizens can be involved at every step of the process with the help of free and inexpensive mapping and statistical applications. You'll learn how planning works, from early question setting to final decision making to later evaluation, and how you can use these new tools to make your own contributions to the process.

Shape Your Neighborhood demonstrates how and why the citizen input leads to more flexible decision-making and, ultimately, a richer, more responsive experience in many communities.


About the Author:
Ezra Haber Glenn is a Lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, where he teaches courses in Quantitative Reasoning and Statistical Methods and the Practice of Community Development.

Prior to this position he worked in local government in Massachusetts, including service as Director of Community Development for the City of Lawrence, Director of Planning and Development for the City of Somerville, and over five years as a land use planning consultant working in zoning, community planning, affordable housing, and environmental protection.

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