Workforce | Penn IUR

Podcasts December 5, 2025 Special Briefing on AI in Government—More Efficiency but Fewer Workers? The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 sparked an “AI arms race” with trillions of dollars in investment and profound implications for productivity and employment. Join William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel as we discuss how generative AI and related technologies are reshaping public sector operations, workforce needs, and infrastructure planning. Panelists include Jon Hartley, Policy Fellow, Hoover Institution; Leigh Palmer, Vice President, Google Public Sector LLC; Megan Kilgore, City Auditor, City of Columbus, Ohio; Howard Neukrug, Executive Director, The Water Center at Penn and Professor of Practice, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania; and Thomas Sanchez, Professor, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University. Jon Hartley Leigh Palmer Megan Kilgore Howard Neukrug Thomas Sanchez State & Local Finance

Article October 21, 2025 Exploring the Impact of Anchor Institutions A new graduate course, “Anchor Institutions as Agents of Change: Past, Present and Future,” explores economic impacts of anchor institutions. Eugénie L. Birch Anthony (Tony) Sorrentino Anchor Institutions

Nov 20 2025 Past Event Special Briefing: AI in Government—More Efficiency but Fewer Workers? Speakers: William Glasgall Susan Wachter Jon Hartley Megan Kilgore Howard Neukrug Leigh Palmer Thomas Sanchez State & Local Finance

News March 12, 2025 How COVID-19 Changed the World Penn IUR Co-Director Susan Wachter comments in Knowledge at Wharton on how COVID-19 reshaped cities & real estate—permanently. Urban Development

Faculty Fellow Katharine Strunk

Dean, and George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education

State & Local Finance Anchor Institutions

Faculty Fellow Sanya Carley

Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy & City Planning, Weitzman School of Design Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director, The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Climate Change & Resilience

Publication September 17, 2024 Scholarly Voices Series To mark 20 years of urban research, Penn IUR launched its Scholarly Voices Series, featuring its Faculty Fellows. Dennis Culhane Gilles Duranton Jessie Handbury John MacDonald Laura Perna Megan Ryerson Erick Guerra Shane Jensen Jere Behrman Urban Development

Fellow in Urban Leadership Hannah Sung

August 26, 2024 Doom or Boom? David Stanek's paper about doom and boom loops in cities was featured in The Pennsylvania Gazette. Urban Development

Article May 15, 2024 Localizing International Manufacturing Companies in the U.S. - Examining Successful Labor Practices What labor practices have international manufacturing companies implemented to successfully localize in the US post-COVID-1 9? Zou's research focuses on comprehending the driving factors behind localization efforts, the alterations in labor practices, and the overall ramifications of these adaptations on both the workforce and the industry at large. State & Local Finance

Podcasts November 30, 2023 Special Briefing: Public Pensions - Still a Crisis? Many states, counties, and cities emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession with record cash reserves following the US government's injection of $5 trillion to revive the economy and prop up local government budgets. But even after the unprecedented federal support, states and municipalities have been left with more than $1.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities for public employee pension benefits that were promised but are not fully funded. Join our panel of experts as they discuss strategies that state and local governments are adopting to reduce this pension burden and whether they may have to reduce spending for education, infrastructure, and other critical public services to make room for increasing retirement contributions.Our panel of experts will include Liz Farmer, public finance journalist and co-host of the Public Money podcast; Vedanta Goenka, senior municipal strategist, Citigroup; Merl Hackbart, professor emeritus, Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky; Shoaib Khan, director, New Jersey Treasury Division of Investment; Anthony Randazzo, executive director, Equable Institute; and Les Richmond, vice president and actuary, Build America Mutual. William Glasgall Susan Wachter Liz Farmer Vedanta Goenka Dr. Merl Hackbart Shoaib Khan Anthony Randazzo Les Richmond State & Local Finance

Nov 30 2023 Past Event Special Briefing: Public Pensions - Still a Crisis? State & Local Finance

Affiliated PhD Student Heidi Artigue

Doctoral Student, Applied Economics, Wharton

Housing State & Local Finance

Jul 21 2022 Past Event Special Briefing on Vulnerable Cities Facing Work from Home Realities State & Local Finance

May 19 2022 Past Event Special Briefing on the Deployment of the $1 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by States and Localities State & Local Finance

Article February 16, 2022 Getting the Education and Workforce Training Our Nation Needs Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Laura W. Perna discusses the broad potential impacts of federally funded tuition-free community colleges in the United States. Laura Perna Anchor Institutions

Sep 24 2021 Past Event The Employment Paradox: High Job Openings and the Undocumented Latinx State & Local Finance

Article December 16, 2020 Unemployment Still at Double Digits in Major Cities Trends in unemployment rates by metro and “city-counties” since the onset of COVID-19, compared to the Global Financial Crisis. State & Local Finance

Article November 18, 2020 Monitoring Recovery in Employment in New York City Losses in employment in selected industries in New York City between February 2020, just before the effects of the coronavirus pandemic were first felt in the city, and September 2020. Urban Development

Publication May 18, 2020 Commuting and Innovation: Are Closer Inventors More Productive? My dissertation, which is composed of three papers, looks at how geography and housing markets affect economic outcomes at the individual, firm, and industry levels, both within and across regions. Urban Development

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