Malcolm K. Sparrow
Malcolm K. Sparrow is Professor of the Practice of Public Management at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is Faculty Chair of the School's Executive Program, "Strategic Management of Regulatory & Enforcement Agencies."
His current research interests relate to the risk-control functions of government, and to the special managerial challenges which confront agencies of social regulation and law enforcement.
He is also a patent holding inventor in the area of automated fingerprint identification systems [AFIS], and dead serious at tennis. A mathematician by training, he joined the British Police Service in 1977, serving for ten years and rising to the rank of Detective Chief Inspector. He left the police to take up a faculty appointment at Harvard in 1988.
July 2026
"The Modern Regulator," an online Executive Seminar hosted by the Australia & New Zealand School of Government
Professor Sparrow will present an executive workshop, online over two half-days, on July 29th & 30th, 2026. "The Modern Regulator" explores a range of contemporary ideas about what it means to be a "Risk-Based Regulator," and is hosted annually by the Australia & New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). Information and registration details can be found here.
An interview with Professor Sparrow, explaining the value of this seminar for regulatory professionals, is available here.
September 2026
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Program "Strategic Management of Regulatory & Enforcement Agencies" (in person, at Harvard)
SMREA is a one-week executive program focusing on the distinctive strategic and managerial challenges that surround government agencies' regulatory and enforcement functions. The course will be offered (for the 50th time) in person at Harvard from Sunday 20th to Friday 25th September 2026. Professor Sparrow chairs the course, with other Kennedy School faculty as guest speakers. Here you may view the Course Details & Description, obtain brochures and apply online.
The next online offering of SMREA is scheduled for 22nd to 26th February 2027.
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April 2026
"Core Issues in Regulatory & Risk-Control Practice," a 4-part seminar, hosted by The Hatchery, Australia (online)
From Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th April 2026, as part of The Hatchery's ongoing series of seminar offerings for professional regulators throughout Australasia, Professor Sparrow presented a 4-part half-day online seminar entitled "Core Issues in Regulatory & Risk-Control Practice" (CIRRP).
The Hatchery, based in Sydney, Australia, provides a series of webinars and other events for regulatory practitioners. You can find The Hatchery's schedule of upcoming events here.
February 2026
"They Stole Your Umbrella: Why Health Care Professionals Should Support Stronger Fraud Controls" by Malcolm Sparrow, published by Missouri Medicine, The Journal of the Missouri Medical Association, [January/February 2026, Volume 123:1, pp 4-11]
Professor Sparrow's invited article was released publicly (open access) on 20th February 2026. This essay argues that fraud and abuse in the U.S. health care system is mostly “invisible” by nature and more widespread and pernicious than routine audit figures suggest; and that control investments at current levels are dwarfed by the magnitude and pervasive nature of the threat.
Thirty years ago, Harvard Professor Malcolm Sparrow, in his book “License to Steal,” provided the first comprehensive structural analysis of fraud in the US healthcare system, explaining why prevailing controls routinely failed. Missouri Medicine invited Professor Sparrow to provide an updated assessment of “how goes the war on fraud and abuse,” noting especially the commitment of the current administration to ramp-up controls.
This commentary shows how current measurement programs (e.g., the PERM and CERT annual studies for Medicaid and Medicare) provide only a partial and patchy picture of the issues, and how individual perpetrators often manage to submit hundreds of millions of dollars in false claims, and criminal networks submit billions, before control systems respond to shut them down. Sparrow also shows how perverse incentives in managed care and capitated systems create fresh vulnerabilities. It is time, he says, for control investments to match the scale of the problem.
This commentary is specifically addressed to medical practitioners and their professional associations, who have historically shown at best tepid support for tougher fraud controls. This essay highlights the ways in which rampant fraud hurts patients, erodes trust, and diverts hundreds of billions of dollars away from legitimate medical care. Sparrow urges the provider community to get on board and play their part in support of more vigorous control efforts.
This commentary rests on an underlying understanding of the art of risk-control especially as it pertains to invisible or hidden risks. The analysis reframes health care fraud and abuse as an under discovered, under resourced threat that siphons hundreds of billions of dollars away from legitimate medical care.
The article is available:
- through a link to Missouri Medicine online journal, which opens the complete January/February 2026 Journal edition in its own viewer.
- online from National Library of Medicine.
- from this website as a downloadable pdf file [Journal cover, table of contents, featured essay]
Health Care Fraud: Recent media accounts featuring Malcolm Sparrow or citing his work include:
April 2, 2026: City Journal: "Gavin Newsom's Empire of Fraud" Christopher F. Rufo et al.
April 15, 2022: AARP: "Criminals Target Medicare Benefits to Reap Millions" Joe Eaton
September 13, 2021: The Harvard Law Record: "Land of the Lawless: How Power in America has turned the rule of law into a mere myth" Ralph Nader
July 30, 2021: Nader.Org: "Collapsing Federal Corporate Crime Enforcement" Ralph Nader
July 17,2021: Eurasia Review: "The Power Structure For Deadly Lag And The Prophetic Work Of Unsung Heroes" Ralph Nader
March 4, 2021: Nader.Org: "Reporter's Alert" (Nominated Issue Number 1 - Health Care Fraud), Ralph Nader
August 15, 2019: The Atlantic: "Why Some Doctors Purposely Misdiagnose Patients" Olga Khazan
May 30, 2019: Common Dreams: "Society is in Decay-When the Worst is First & the Best is Last" Ralph Nader
April 19, 2019: Politifact: "$50 Billion in Medicare Waste" Tom Kertsher
February 4, 2019: New Yorker: "The Personal Toll of Whistle-blowing" Sheelah Kolhatkar
October 25, 2018: PBS: "Playing by the Rules: Ethics at Work. (S2E3) Taking Advantage" Brian Myers. Examines the corporate use of exaggerated diagnoses and inflated risk scores in the Medicare Advantage Program.
March 29, 2018: AARP Bulletin: "Medicare Under Assault from Fraudsters" Joe Eaton
January 10, 2018: The Litchfield Country Times: "Corporate Coercion & the Drive to Eliminate Buying with Cash" Ralph Nader
July 2, 2017: National Review: "The Great American Rip-Off: We Must Get Control of Entitlement Fraud" Kevin D. Williamson
June 30, 2017: Forbes: "Reality Check: The Obama Medicaid Expansion Is Not Saving Lives" Chris Conover
June 22, 2017: The Economist: "An Improper Mess: Why cutting even wasteful spending is so hard" Doug Dowson
February 16, 2017: Legal News Online: "Abbott's move to exit Alere merger could set precedent" Tabitha Fleming
December 2, 2016: Dallas Morning News: "Bled Dry: How a hospital died under the direction of a Texas doctor" Miles Moffeit
August 10, 2016: Corporate Crime Reporter: "Why Corporate Fraud Demands Criminal Time" Robert Tillman
June 25, 2016: NPR: "The Ralph Nader Radio Hour" with Professor Sparrow as guest to discuss Health Care Fraud
June 22, 2016: NPR Marketplace: "Feds Make Arrests in Alleged Medicaid, Medicare Scheme" Dan Gorenstein
June, 2016: AARP Bulletin: "The War on Medicare Fraud: Medicare loses $60 billion each year to con artists. Here's why" Joe Eaton
March 31, 2016: Center for Investigative Reporting: "How California's health care system for workers forgot about fraud" Christina Jewett
January 11, 2016: Pacific Standard Magazine: "Glitch in the Machine" Joe Eaton
February/March 2026
Canadian Community of Federal Regulators (CFR), "Red Tape: What’s Real, What’s Noise, and What’s Next" and "Disruptive Innovation & Regulatory Response"
On Thursday 19th February 2026, Professor Sparrow delivered the closing Keynote Address at CFR's "Learning Day" conference on Red-Tape Reduction.
On Wednesday 18th March 2026, he delivered a workshop on regulatory responses to disruptive innovation and fast moving technological change. Both online events were hosted by CFR.
November 2025
Risk-Based Regulation Conference, Canberra, Australia
Professor Sparrow delivered the opening Keynote speech at the 5th Annual Risk-Based Regulation Conference, hosted by The Hatchery, held in Canberra on 19th and 20th November 2025.
July 2025
"Organising around Risks," a 2-part seminar, hosted by The Hatchery, Australia (online)
On Thursday 17th and Friday 18th July 2025, as part of The Hatchery's ongoing series of seminar offerings for professional regulators throughout Australasia, Professor Sparrow presented a 2-part half-day online seminar entitled "Organising around Risks."
The Hatchery, based in Sydney, Australia, provides a series of webinars and other events for regulatory practitioners. You can find The Hatchery's schedule of upcoming events here.
February 15th 2025
"Gambling Damages: Governing Games of Chance" by Jordan Smith
Harvard Magazine features Professors Malcolm Sparrow, Rachel Volberg (University of Massachusetts Amherst) and Jurgen Rehm (University of Toronto)--members of the Lancet Commission on Gambling.
February 11th 2025
VIDE New Year's meeting "Supervision in the 21st century: What have we learned?", Amsterdam
On Tuesday 11th February 2025 Professor Sparrow addressed the New Year's Meeting of VIDE, the Dutch professional association for professionals in the fields of supervision, inspection, enforcement, and evaluation. The acronym "VIDE" stands for "Vereniging van Inspecteurs, Toezichthouders en Evaluatoren," which translates to "Association of Inspectors, Supervisors, and Evaluators."
January 2025
"Implementing Problem-Centric Work, & Special Categories of Risk," a 2-part seminar hosted by the "Community of Federal Regulators," Canada (online)
On Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th January 2025, Professor Sparrow presented a 2 x half-day seminar for Canadian Regulatory Executives, hosted by the Canadian Community of Federal Regulators.
November 2024
HKS "PolicyCast" (podcast) "Legalized gambling is exploding globally. What policies can limit its harms?" released 21st November 2024
In this episode of the HKS PolicyCast series, Professor Sparrow--a member of the Lancet Commission on gambling--is interviewed by Ralph Ranalli.
Also, listen to Professor Sparrow's live interview on Canada's CBC Radio show "The Current", with Matt Galloway, broadcast 13th November 2024. "Online gambling like a racetrack in my pocket 24/7, says recovering addict."
October 2024
"The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling" published 24th October 2024
Professor Sparrow is a member of the Lancet Commission on gambling, and co-author of the study. The Commission report was presented and released publicly in conjunction with the Lisbon Addictions 2024 conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal from 23-25 October 2024.
The full Commission report, published online on 24th October 2024, is available for download:
- through The Lancet (with accompanying infographics and a Lancet Journal editorial on release of the report): here.
- through Elsevier ScienceDirect: here.
- from this website, report with front cover: here
- the Commission Report's Appendices can be downloaded here.
September 2024
"Managing Regulation, Enforcement & Compliance", an Australia & New Zealand School of Government Executive Program
From 8th to 13th September 2024, in Sydney, Professor Sparrow chaired the ANZSOG one week executive program, "Managing Regulation, Enforcement & Compliance" [MREC]. This program is run by the Australia & New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). A listing of upcoming ANZSOG executive education offerings is available here.
July 2024
"Implementing Problem-Centric Work & Special Classes of Risk," a 2-part seminar, hosted by The Hatchery, Australia (online)
On Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st July 2024, as part of The Hatchery's ongoing series of seminars on current issues facing regulators, Professor Sparrow presented a 2-part half-day online seminar entitled "Implementing Problem-Centric & Special Classes of Risk." The Hatchery, based in Sydney, Australia, provides a series of webinars and other events for regulatory practitioners throughout Australasia. You can find The Hatchery's schedule of upcoming events here.
June 2024
"The Modern Regulator," an online Executive Seminar hosted by the Australia & New Zealand School of Government
Professor Sparrow presented an executive workshop, online over two half-days, on June 18th & 19th June 2024. "The Modern Regulator" explores a range of contemporary ideas about what it means to be a "Risk-Based Regulator," and is hosted annually by the Australia & New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).
September 2023
National Regulators' Community of Practice (in Australia), Annual Forum in Melbourne featured Professor Sparrow as Keynote Speaker
During his September visit to Melbourne, Professor Sparrow delivered ANZSOG's five-day MREC course and the one-day "The Modern Regulator" introductory seminar. He also delivered the Keynote presentation at the National Regulators' Community of Practice annual conference. Information about NRCoP and their activities/events can be found here. Information about the Australia & New Zealand School of Government, and their upcoming events, can be found here.
May 2023
Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), Annual Conference 2023, Minneapolis
Professor Sparrow delivered the opening Keynote Presentation at the FSMB's annual conference in Minneapolis on the morning of Thursday 4th May. His talk was entitled "Defining and Measuring Success: The Art of Performance Measurement in a Risk-Control setting. Why “Customer-Service” isn’t quite it!"
November 2021
Release of the Thai language translation of Professor Sparrow's book: "Fundamentals of Regulatory Design"
Professor Sparrow's 9th book, designed for regulatory practitioners, has now been translated into the (Central) Thai language.
The translation work was done by Pongpit Pinsai, Assistant Director of Thailand's Securities & Exchange Commission. Produced by Skybooks Co., Ltd., the translation is now available through the Khon Kahn University Bookshop in electronic and printed form. A high-resolution image of the full cover design is available here.
November 2020
Webinar: Professor Sparrow talks about his new book "Fundamentals of Regulatory Design"
Professor Sparrow described his book in an online webinar hosted by the Australian Regulators' Community of Practice (RCoP), first broadcast live on 27th October 2020. An edited version is available through the RCoP YouTube channel.
Professor Sparrow made a similar presentation for the HKS Center for Business & Government's Regulatory Policy Program, on 17th September 2020, now available on the HKS RPP YouTube channel.
August 2020
Professor Sparrow publishes his 9th book: "Fundamentals of Regulatory Design"
Full details are available here.
This book is designed primarily for regulatory practitioners, but will be relevant for other professionals whose roles include risk-management and harm-reduction. In the public sector, this includes law-enforcement and public-safety organizations, as well as security and intelligence agencies. In the private sector it includes compliance managers, safety officers and risk-managers. In the not-for-profit sector this includes any organization that takes on, or contributes to, harm-reduction missions.
This book is designed, in the context of a pandemic, to substitute for five core lectures/discussions that would normally be delivered face-to-face in executive-level courses and workshops. Professor Sparrow offers these lectures here in a comfortably accessible and conversational style. Each chapter describes a different dimension of choice, inviting readers to assess their own organization's history and habits as a precursor to figuring out whether, looking forward, some adjustment is warranted or desirable.
October/November 2019
Professor Sparrow hosted by ANZSOG in Australia and New Zealand.
Professor Sparrow chaired the Australia & New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) 1 week executive program Managing Regulation, Enforcement & Compliance in Canberra, Australia. Professor Sparrow also conducted seminars for the New South Wales Natural Resource Access Regulator, Agriculture Victoria (Biosecurity Division), the Victorian Legal Services Board & Commission, the (Australian) National Disability Insurance Scheme Qualilty & Safeguards Commission, and New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority.
August 2019
GRumbler Update: 21st August 2019. New version available for download.
Notice for MAC users (August 2019):
MAC users, using MAC OFFICE 2016 (versions 16.xx) have recently reported some compatability issues with earlier versions of the GRumbler. Error messages appear when launching the macro "Prepare Group Lists and Master List," which creates "Results" files containing group lists generated by a search. The GRumbler, and the GRumbler instructions file, have been updated to take care of these issues, and new versions (August 2019) posted on the GRumbler page of this website, along with more detailed explanation of these issues.
Please continue to let me know of any compatibility issues or error messages you encounter. Thanks, and Happy GRumbling. (malcolm_sparrow@harvard.edu).
June 2018 Professor Sparrow delivered the Jerry Lee Lecture at the Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Sweden
On Thursday June 14th 2018, Professor Sparrow delivered the Jerry Lee Lecture, the capstone event of the annual Stockholm Criminology Symposium.
An edited version of the speech, “Problem-oriented policing: matching the science to the art” has been published (29th October 2018) in Crime Science (2018) 7:14.
The 2018 Stockholm Prize in Criminology was awarded during the 3-day Symposium to Professor Herman Goldstein, University of Wisconsin Law School, USA--widely regarded as the father of problem-oriented policing.
Professor Sparrow's lecture--entitled "Problem-Oriented Policing: Matching the Science to the Art"-- examines the significance of the Problem-Oriented approach and seeks to establish the right balance among, and appropriate role for, a broad range of diverse contributions that scholars and analysts can make to support effective problem-solving. In particular he explores the distinctive contributions of experimental criminology and program evaluation, and contrasts the inquiry techniques typically employed by social scientists and by natural scientists. The goal is to usefully "round out" the role that scholars are prepared to play in advancing best problem-solving practice.
The Jerry Lee Lecture in Experimental Criminology was established in 2012 by the Swedish National Council on Crime Prevention in honor of the founding donor of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, Jerry Lee, on the occasion of its permanent endowment by the Swedish Ministry of Justice, Soderberg Foundations, and others.
Professor Sparrow's Jerry Lee lecture (and/or the published version of it) will be of interest to those concerned with “Evidence-Based Policy”, various types of science, forms of analytic support, development of the problem-solving art, the role of (and limitations of) program evaluation, and related issues. In that regard, the matters discussed are broadly applicable beyond the field of criminology/policing.
June 2017
Annual Conference for NCARB--National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
On Thursday 22nd June, 2017, Professor Sparrow delivered a keynote address and participated in workshops on regulatory strategy at the 2017 Annual Business Meeting of NCARB, held in Boston at the Fairmont Copley Plaza.
August 2016
National Council of the State Boards of Nursing: Annual Meeting, Chicago.
The NCSBN held its annual conference in Chicago, August 17th-19th. Professor Sparrow delivered the Keynote Address on 18th, entitled "What is a Risk-Based Regulator, and would you like to be one?"
August 2016
"Moving Beyond Bratton." New York Times, Op-Ed, Malcolm Sparrow, Monday 8th August 2016
Access online here or download a printable pdf version here
July 2016
National Public Radio: Professor Sparrow interviewed on Airtalk, KPCC
Listen to "Handcuffed: What's the Primary Goal of Policing?" Malcolm Sparrow interviewed on KPCC's Airtalk, with host Larry Mantle (28th July 2016). Extracts from the interview also available on the KPCC Airtalk website.
July 2016
"The ever swinging police-community pendulum." New York Daily News, Op-Ed, Malcolm Sparrow, Sunday 10th July 2016
Access online here, or download a printable pdf version here.
July 2016
New York Times Book Review of "Handcuffed: What Holds Policing Back, and the Keys to Reform" by Malcolm K. Sparrow
Listen to "Inside the New York Times Book Review," 1st July 2016 podcast with NYT Book Review Editor Pamela Paul interviewing reviewer Barry Friedman (edited to those sections of the program relating to Friedman's review of "Handcuffed")
The NYT review of "Handcuffed," 27th June 2016, is available here.
June 2016
National Public Radio: Professor Sparrow interviewed on "The Ralph Nader Radio Hour"
On June 25th 2016 Ralph Nader welcomed Professor Sparrow as a guest on his weekly radio show to discuss Health Care Fraud. You can listen to, or download, the interview here.
April 2016
“Handcuffed: What Holds Policing Back, and the Keys to Reform" published by Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC.
See Brookings Announcement: The Crisis in American Policing, by Malcolm Sparrow (25th April 2016)
Listen to "Re-Humanizing Policing," interview on Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC (16th May 2016)
Listen to "Brookings Now" Podcast interview (audio), Malcolm Sparrow with Bill Finan, Editor, Brookings Institution Press
See Salon Magazine: Why we can't reform our cops: Race, guns & the failure to police the police by Malcolm Sparrow (Sunday 1st May 2016)
See WGBH Forum Network video: (recording of the Harvard Book Store Event, Friday 20th May 2016, Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Professor Sparrow's 8th book examines the current crisis in policing, and traces its roots back to the fact that the reform ideas of community and problem-oriented policing--accepted as the conventional wisdom for police reformers in the 1990's--have failed to thrive. In this book Sparrow examines why, and lays out what needs to be done to get policing back on track.
For details, reviews, and information about placing advance orders, click here.
January 2016
"Preventing Harm--A Discussion with Malcolm Sparrow"
A video interview recorded by the Victoria Managed Insurance Authority during Professor Sparrow's visit to Australia in November 2015 is presented via YouTube.