Michael Shepherd

Explores how big clean-energy manufacturing projects (like battery or EV plants) affect local communities—and whether they actually become integrated into local economies. Develops a framework for understanding when these investments lead to lasting local benefits versus when they remain isolated and fail to deliver broader economic gains.

Uses data on rural hospital closures from 2008 to 2020 to explore where and why hospital closures occurred as well as who–if anyone–rural voters held responsible for local closures. Findings show that despite closures being over twice as likely to occur in the Republican-controlled states that did not expand Medicaid, closures were associated with reduced support for federal Democrats and the Affordable Care Act following local closures.

Analyzes the distance to acute hospitals for 200 million Americans, revealing that lower-income and older Americans, groups that tend to have worse health overall, face the longest travel distances to hospitals—perhaps contributing to income and age-based health disparities. Findings also show that republicans have longer travels to emergency care than Democrats, adding to recent research on partisan health disparities.

Analyzes physician members of Congress (PMCs), showing they are significantly more effective at sponsoring and passing health-related legislation than their peers. Findings highlight the unique policy impact of professional background in legislative behavior.

Examines how rural hospital closures impact political participation. Results show that people living near a recently closed hospital were less likely to vote, especially older and lower-income individuals.

Examines how health-related discussions on social media became racialized during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding a sharp rise in race-related and explicitly racist language starting in March 2020. Results show that weekly increases in racist and race-related health language on Facebook are related to declines in concern for COVID-19 and heightened anti-Asian attitudes, especially for racially resentful white Facebook users.

Explores how federalism shapes public perception and voting behavior. Finds that states that expanded Medicaid saw reduced severity in the opioid epidemic and increased support for the Democratic Party. Results imply that the Republican Party performed better in places where voters did not have access to Medicaid expansion and where the epidemic worsened, demonstrating an unintended consequence of federalism on policy feedback.

Examines how congressional staffers’ future lobbying ambitions influence their behavior while still in government. Finds that staffers who later become lobbyists are linked to greater legislative productivity and increased bill sponsorship in high-demand lobbying areas like health and commerce—especially during their final terms.