Research

The USC Price Center for Social Innovation brings an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to social innovation research. Through relevant, rigorous research, Price Center faculty explore a variety of topics that seek to inform and advance new models of equity and opportunity for low-income children and families.

Highlights

Do hybrid firms out-provide traditional business structures? An examination of prosocial behavior in North Carolina firms

Dr. Alexandra Graddy Reed

The methodological challenges of measuring student outcomes in higher education

Tatiana Melguizo

Evaluating Teachers in the Big Easy: How Organizational Context Shapes Policy Responses in New Orleans

Julie Marsh

Walking to School: The Experiences of Children in City Heights

Tridib Banerji

Research Areas

Pathways to Opportunity

The zip code in which one grows up is a primary determinant of life outcomes. Developing successful cradle to career pathways for families and children living in low-income communities is a critical component of the Price Center’s mission. The Price Center develops and disseminates research that explores new approaches to increasing opportunity for low-income residents through education, jobs, housing, and transportation.

New Models to Deliver Social Impact

New models to advance social impact include new organizational forms, financing models, public-private collaborations, and technologies. The Price Center seeks to advance the understanding and application of these models, including how technological innovation can be used to improve social outcomes.

Evaluation Frameworks

Strong models exist to evaluate innovation in both the public and private sectors. Currently, there are no analogous models to evaluate social innovations that account for risk and allow for successes and failures to be evaluated in trusted frameworks. The Price Center develops and disseminates research to advance new models of evaluating social innovations across a variety of organizational structures.