Research Interests

• Policy Areas: consumer policy | social policy | curricula in state education policy

• Fields (Economics): household behavior and family economics | financial economics | demographic economics

• Identity Axis: socioeconomic status, class, and economic standing

• Populations: low- and moderate-income individuals | young adults | economically disadvantaged students | other vulnerable populations as appropriate

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Harvey, Melody, Cliff A. Robb, and Christopher L. Peterson. 2024. “Law and Order? Associations between Payday Lending Prohibition and Alternative Financial Services Use by Degree of Enforcement.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 58, no. 2: 538-557.

Collins, J. Michael, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Melody Harvey, and Jill Hoiting. 2023. “‘If I don't have credit, I don't have anything': Perspectives on the Credit Scoring System among Mothers with Low Incomes.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 57, no. 4: 1605-1622.

Collins, J. Michael, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Melody Harvey, and Jill Hoiting. 2023. “‘I Don’t Like All Those Fees’: Pragmatism about Financial Services among Low-Income Parents.” Journal of Family and Economic Issues 44: 807-820.

Urban, Carly, and Melody Harvey. 2023. “How Confident are Personal Finance Teachers? A Survey of High School Instructors in the United States.” Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning 34, no. 2: 238-250.

Harvey, Melody, and Carly Urban. 2023. “Does Financial Education Affect Retirement Savings?” The Journal of the Economics of Ageing 24: 100446.

Harvey, Melody. 2019. “Impact of Financial Education Mandates on Younger Consumers’ Use of Alternative Financial Services.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 53, no. 3: 731-769.

Peer-Reviewed Reports

Hunter, Sarah B., Melody Harvey, Brian Briscombe, and Matt Cefalu. 2017. Evaluation of the Housing for Health Permanent Supportive Housing Program. Research Report, RR-1694-BC. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Kaufman, Julia H., Susan M. Gates, Melody Harvey, Yan Wang, and Mark Barrett. 2017. What it Takes to Operate and Maintain Principal Pipelines: Costs and Other Resources. Research Report, RR-2149-WF. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Martin, Laurie T., Nazleen Bharmal, Janice C. Blanchard, Melody Harvey, and Malcolm Williams. 2014. Barriers to Enrollment in Health Coverage in Colorado. Research Report, RR-782-COHF. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Chinman, Matthew, Sarah Beth Hunter, Jill S. Cannon, M. Rebecca Kilburn, Melody Harvey, and Mollie Rudnick. 2014. Process Evaluation of the New Mexico Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Competitive Development Grant. Research Report, RR-639-REC. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Gates, Susan M., Laura S. Hamilton, Paco Martorell, Susan Burkhauser, Paul Heaton, Ashley Pierson, Matthew Baird, Mirka Vuollo, Jennifer J. Li, Diana Lavery, Melody Harvey, and Kun Gu. 2014. Preparing Principals to Raise Student Achievement: Implementation and Effects of New Leaders Program in Ten Districts. Research Report, RR-507-NL. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Briefs & Reviews

Urban, Carly, and Melody Harvey. 2022. “High School Financial Education and Downstream Financial Behaviors: What Does the Research Say?” RetireSecure Blog (Blog). Wharton Pension Research Council, August 18.

Harvey, Melody, and Carly Urban. 2022. “Is High School the Right Time to Teach About Retirement?” Trends and Issues (Issue brief). New York: TIAA Institute.

Harvey, Melody. 2020. Effectiveness of Youth Financial Education Mandates: “Do Standardized Testing Requirements Enhance Mandate Effectiveness?” (Research brief). Research brief prepared for the 2020 CFPB Youth Financial Education Research Convening.

Harvey, Melody. 2019. “Does State-Mandated Financial Education Affect High-Cost Borrowing?” Insights: Financial Capability (Issue brief). Washington, DC: FINRA Investor Education Foundation.

O’Hanlon, Claire E., and Melody Harvey. 2017. “Doing More with Less: Lessons from Cuba’s Healthcare System.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Online).

Harvey, Melody. 2017. “Review of Game of Loans, by Beth Akers and Matthew M. Chingos.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 36, no. 3: 708-712.

Harvey, Melody. 2012. “Egypt Wrestles with Democracy: Expectations versus Realities.” Pepperdine Policy Review 5, no. 1: 5-19.

Forthcoming Works