On June 27, 2022, from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Beijing time, the "Editor in Chief Face to Face" Special Lecture Series in Economics presented its fourth lecture featuring Nathaniel Hendren, Chief Co Editor of the Journal of Public Economics and a notable public economist from Harvard University. Hosted by the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University and co-organized by Elsevier Group and the Economic Management Home Forum, the lecture was streamed live to 1708 viewers across platforms like Zoom and Bilibili.

Professor Hendren, an esteemed professor at Harvard University, is not only at the helm of the Journal of Public Economics but also an associate editor at the American Economic Review: Insights. He has been recognized with the US President's Youth Science and Technology Award (PECASE) and is a Sloan Fellowship laureate. His lecture, "Unifying Welfare Comparisons Using the Marginal Value of Public Funds," provided a fresh perspective on evaluating the welfare effects of public policies. He introduced the Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF) as a unifying metric for comparative analysis across various policies. His empirical work demonstrates the significant benefits of investing in the health and education of low-income children.

Professor Wang Yacan from the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University presided over the lecture, and esteemed guest reviewers, Professor Fu Shihe from Xiamen University and Associate Professor Shi Xinzheng from Tsinghua University, offered their commentary. They acknowledged the significance of Professor Hendren's MVPF in policy resource allocation and extended the discussion to potential applications and implications in various policy areas, including education and state-owned enterprises.

Professor Hendren engaged in an interactive discussion with the reviewers, addressing their insights and considering the future applications of the MVPF in welfare measurement. The event provided participants with a comprehensive understanding of MVPF's significance, calculation, and implications for policy evaluation, enriching the ongoing academic conversation in public economics. The series continues to encourage scholarly interaction and provide learning opportunities for the economics community.