M. Rebecca Kilburn

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Director, Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School; Senior Economist
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Education

Ph.D. and M.A. in economics, University of Chicago; B.A. in economics, Kenyon College

Overview

Biography

M. Rebecca Kilburn is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation and director of the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities (www.promisingpractices.net), a website project that identifies, screens, and presents information about effective interventions for children and families. She is also a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Kilburn's research focuses on the effects of public and private investments in children. Kilburn coauthored Investing in Our Children, RAND's pathbreaking 1998 report that contained some of the original cost-benefit analysis of early childhood interventions. Subsequent publications synthesized evaluations of early childhood interventions, including home visiting programs, to generate estimates of pooled effect sizes, identify features of effective programs, and estimate costs and government savings produced by these interventions. A recent project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), tested economic hypotheses regarding whether parents invest more in children with relatively higher endowments or lower endowments and the relative effect of early parental investments in children on children's later achievement scores and other outcomes. Kilburn is currently conducting a study of home visiting in New Mexico on features that promote successful start-up of home visiting sites across the state and a randomized trial impact evaluation of a home visiting program in Santa Fe County. Another ongoing NIH-funded study examines the relationship between state laws requiring booster seat use for children over age 4 and rates of auto injuries and fatalities for children. Kilburn received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

  • Effects of Booster Seat Laws on Childhood Fatalities and Injuries
  • New Mexico Home Visiting Randomized Trial Evaluation
  • Analysis of Disparities in Outcomes for Young Men

Selected Publications

Datar, Ashlesha, M. Rebecca Kilburn, and David Loughran, "Endowments and Parental Investments in Infancy and Early Childhood," Demography, 2010

Davis, Lois M., M. Rebecca Kilburn, and Dana Schultz, Reparable Harm: Assessing and Addressing Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California, RAND Corporation (MG-745-TCE), 2009

Kilburn, M. Rebecca, Lynn A. Karoly, The Economics of Early Childhood Policy: What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children, RAND Corporation (OP-227-CFP), 2008

Honors & Awards

  • Promising Practices Network named Finalist, Harvard's innovation in American Government Awards

Economics

Biography

M. Rebecca Kilburn is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation and director of the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities (www.promisingpractices.net), a website project that identifies, screens, and presents information about effective interventions for children and families. Her research focuses on the effects of public and private investments in children. Kilburn coauthored Investing in Our Children, RAND's pathbreaking 1998 report that contained some of the original cost-benefit analysis of early childhood interventions. Subsequent publications synthesized evaluations of early childhood interventions, including home visiting programs, to generate estimates of pooled effect sizes, identify features of effective programs, and estimate costs and government savings produced by these interventions. A recent project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), tested economic hypotheses regarding whether parents invest more in children with relatively higher endowments or lower endowments and the relative effect of early parental investments in children on children's later achievement scores and other outcomes. Kilburn is currently conducting a study of home visiting in New Mexico on features that promote successful start-up of home visiting sites across the state and a randomized trial impact evaluation of a home visiting program in Santa Fe County. Another ongoing NIH-funded study examines the relationship between state laws requiring booster seat use for children over age 4 and rates of auto injuries and fatalities for children. Kilburn received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.

Recent Projects

  • Effects of Booster Seat Laws on Childhood Fatalities and Injuries
  • Analysis of Disparities in Outcomes for Young Men
  • New Mexico Home Visiting Randomized Trial Evaluation

Selected Publications

Datar, Ashlesha, M. Rebecca. Kilburn, and David Loughran, "Endowments and Parental Investments in Infancy and Early Childhood," Demography, 2010

Davis, Lois M., M. Rebecca Kilburn, and Dana Schultz, Reparable Harm: Assessing and Addressing Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California, RAND Corporation (MG-745-TCE), 2009

Kilburn, M. Rebecca, Lynn A. Karoly, The Economics of Early Childhood Policy: What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children, RAND Corporation (OP-227-CFP), 2008

Honors & Awards

  • Promising Practices Network named Finalist, Harvard's Innovation in American Government Awards

Publications

Lessons from the Randomized Trial Evaluation of a New Parent Program: When the Evaluators See the Glass as Half Full, and the Community Sees the Glass as Half Empty - 2012

Understanding Evidence-Based Information for the Early Childhood Field: Tips from RAND's Promising Practices Network - 2012

Cost and Outcomes Analysis of Child Well-Being - 2011

Factors that Influence Successful Start-Up of Home Visiting Sites: Lessons Learned from Replicating the First Born® Program - 2011

Hawai'i P-3 Initiative: Findings from the First Year of the Evaluation - 2011

RAND's Promising Practices Network - 2011

Endowments and Parental Investments in Infancy and Early Childhood - 2010

Priorities for Investments in Children and Families in Caddo and Bossier Parishes: Application of a Unique Framework for Identifying Priorities - 2010

Unique Framework Helps Louisiana Community Prioritize Its Investments in Children and Families - 2010

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention: Field Reports from the Field and Ideas for the Future - 2009

Reparable Harm: Assessing and Addressing Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California - 2009

Reparable Harm: Assessing and Addressing Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California, Executive Summary - 2009

The Socioeconomic, Health, Safety, and Education Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California - 2009

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States: Six Experts' Views - 2008

The Economics of Early Childhood Policy: What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children - 2008

The Response of Household Parental Investment to Child Endowments - 2008

The Response of Household Parental Investment to Child Endowments - 2008

What Does Economics Tell Us About Early Childhood Policy? - 2008

Health Endowments and Parental Investments in Infancy and Early Childhood - 2006

Children at Risk: Consequences for School Readiness and Beyond - 2005

Early Childhood Interventions: Proven Results, Future Promise - 2005

Modeling Reserve Recruiting: Estimates of Enlistments - 2005

Proven Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions - 2005

RAND Review: Vol. 29, No. 3, Fall 2005 - 2005

The Effects of State Regulations on Childcare Prices and Choices - 2004

The Interactive Effect of Birth Weight and Parental Investment on Child Test Scores - 2004

Meeting Decision Makers’ Needs for Evidence-Based Information on Child and Family Policy - 2003

Recruiting Youth in the College Market: Current Practices and Future Policy Options - 2003

Resources Devoted to Child Development By Families and Society - 2002

The Availability of Child Care Centers in China and Its Impact on Child Care and Maternal Work Decisions - 2002

Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions - 2001

Assessing Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention Programs: Overview and Applications to the Starting Early, Starting Smart Program - 2001

Assessing Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention Programs: Overview and Applications to the Starting Early, Starting Smart Program: Executive Summary - 2001

Directions for Cost and Outcome Analysis of Starting Early Starting Smart: Summary of a Cost Expert Meeting - 2001

Military Recruiting: Trends, Outlooks, and Implications - 2001

Minority and Gender Differences in Officer Career Progression - 2001

Patterns of Enlisted Compensation - 2001

What Effects Decisions to Enlist in the Military - 2001

An Assessment of Recent Proposals to Improve the Montgomery GI Bill - 2000

The Montgomery G.I. Bill: Assessing Proposed Changes - 2000

An Analysis of the Child and Adult Care Food Program in Child Care Centers - 1999

Attracting College-Bound Youth into the Military: Toward the Development of New Recruiting Policy Options - 1999

Competing with College: Developing New Recruiting Options for the Military - 1999

Enlistment Decisions in the 1990s: Evidence From Individual-Level Data - 1999

Early Childhood Interventions: Benefits, Costs, and Savings - 1998

Estimating AFQT Scores for National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) Respondents - 1998

Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know About the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions - 1998

The Effects of Changing the Staffing in Military Treatment Facilities - 1998

Assortative Mating and Family Links in Permanent Earnings - 1997

Ensuring Personnel Readiness in the Army Reserve Components - 1996

The New Fiscal Federalism and the Social Safety Net: A View from California - 1996

Intergenerational Earnings Links: Sons and Daughters - 1995

Regulating Child Care: The Effects of State Regulations on Child Care Demand and Its Cost - 1995