How does policy support science and how does science in turn support policy? What works in terms of funding science and in maximizing academic, social and economic 'payback' from investment in science? RAND Europe is a leader in understanding the returns from different kinds of investment in science and research.
The application and appeals process for Social Security Dissability Insurance (SSDI) can take months if not years, during which time applicants are not allowed to work more than a limited amount. Understanding the true application costs of SSDI can help quantify the total wefare impact of the program.
Policymakers are facing new challenges as they implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). RAND COMPARE is a modeling tool that simulates the impact of implementation decisions on insurance coverage, premiums, and health care spending.
Part of the RAND Center on Quality Policing, the Police Recruitment and Retention Clearinghouse is a web-based resource that serves as a "one-stop-shop" for information about recruitment and retention specifically designed for the law enforcement community in order to promote evidence-based personnel planning.
The Southern California Metropolitan Water District sought advice determining which trends are most useful to monitor to implement its adaptive management strategy. RAND supported Metropolitan's Blue Ribbon Commission to develop recommendations for a new business model to help the agency meet its goals over the next fifty years.
The 2010 Integrated Resource Plan Update developed by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District (MWD) includes a preferred resource mix as well as an adaptive management approach to monitor key trends and modify the resource mix as necessary. RAND helped the MWD determine which trends are most useful to monitor.
The RAND Center for the Study of Aging has conducted objective, independent, interdisciplinary research on aging and the elderly for more than 20 years. It improves public policy through primary data collection as well as secondary data analysis.
RAND Texas is a subscription-based service that provides access to more than 110 databases of statistics on industry and occupational wages, prison and parolee populations, teacher demographics, greenhouse gas emissions, and more. Much of the data is available at the national, state, county, and city levels.
The standard model of educational decisions predicts no (or minimal) effects of deferral on educational attainment, but this model may not tell the whole story. A study of those who were not accepted by lottery to a Mexican college shows that labor market effects must also be considered.
Does one's level of education influence one's patience? A study examining the time preferences of students accepted by lottery to a Mexican college, compared to those of individuals who were not accepted, indicates that more educated individuals do tend to be more patient.
The sustained ability of a community to withstand and recover from adversity, at both the infrastructure and human levels, is a key policy issue. This project asks, what are the key levers for building and strengthening community resilience and what specific activities can communities undertake?
The Wellcome Trust's African Institutions Initiative funds consortia to build sustainable, independent health research capacity at African universities and research organisations. RAND Europe is evaluating the consortia's efforts to promote research collaboration and train individuals for research careers in Africa.
The European Commission's eGovernment benchmarking encourages excellence in government performance. The continuous collaboration of country representatives and the EC has created an atmosphere of friendly competition, shared learning, and benchmarked action amongst participants.
Many displaced workers suffer near-permanent losses in earnings capacity, especially during economic downturns. Understanding the relationship between labor market shocks and the decision to claim disability or retirement benefits can help policymakers prepare for future recessions.
The RAND Center for Disability Research aims to better understand the social and economic causes and consequences of disability. Research themes include examining the roles of employers, health-care markets, knowledge networks, and social insurance programs.
The RAND Health project "Helping Families Raise Healthy Children" seeks to improve identification and services for families who have a risk of experiencing caregiver depression and early childhood developmental delays.
The RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center (ISDP) analyzes changes in the international political, strategic, economic, and technological environment and helps DoD develop policies to shape the environment and advance U.S. interests.
The RAND Intelligence Policy Center (IPC) assists clients as they confront today’s rapidly evolving intelligence environment. The Center helps decisionmakers identify and define emerging threats, such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which are more fragmented than the threats of the past. The Center´s research provides a strong foundation on foreign political, cultural, and military developments.
The RAND Forces and Resources Policy Center (FRP) investigates policies to preserve the quality of U.S. forces and to make optimum use of personnel and defense resources.
To understand what policies and incentives influence the decisionmaking patterns of middle-aged and elderly Mexicans, RAND researchers used panel data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study to compare the retirement behavior of non-migrant Mexicans with those who had migration spells to the United States and later returned to Mexico.
Not enough is known about the economic effects of changing the legal status of undocumented immigrants in the United States. This project estimates the causal effects of legalization to inform future U.S. immigration reform proposals.
The RAND Acquisition and Technology Policy Center (ATP) addresses how accelerating technological change will influence the revolution in world affairs and transform the U.S. military establishment.
The availability of low-price, high-strength alcohol is associated with crime, disorder, and antisocial behavior. The British Home Office has developed alcohol pricing policy options, which RAND Europe is evaluating to determine their likely effects on consumers and producers, the UK economy, and the black market.
Cost-of-crime and police effectiveness research can be used to measure how changing the size of police departments will affect overall crime costs to society.
Through the Diversity Management Project, RAND Labor and Population will examine how best to achieve and harness workplace diversity, a growing priority for U.S. companies and government agencies who want their workforces to reflect the evolving racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and generational makeup of American society and meet the challenges of the global market place.
The challenge of international development requires thinking beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, and RAND Europe excels in providing interdisciplinary expertise and policy-oriented perspectives. By cutting across team-based expertise and knowledge, the International Development programme addresses complex problems with tailored methodologies and appropriate and innovative perspectives.
By drawing on RAND's tradition of considering the future through new lenses, RAND Europe's Futures Analysis and Long-Term Planning group offers innovative, tailored approaches based on qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including scenario thinking, modeling and forecasting, gaming, road-mapping and Delphi.
The California Preschool Study sought to understand achievement gaps among the state's children, whether existing preschool education programs is adequate, and what efficiencies could be achieved through public funding of early childhood education.
Chile, Colombia, and Mexico each have fully-funded, defined-contribution social security systems, yet there are significant differences in system design and incentive that may affect individuals' participation. The research team compared the differences of individual coverage in the three countries' systems.
RAND conducted an evaluation of California's implementation of welfare reform under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. The project was conducted under contract from the California Department of Social Services.
Research conducted by the Center for Public Health Systems and Preparedness seeks to minimize the population's risks from public health emergencies by improving the capability of public health systems to anticipate and respond to such emergencies.
RAND brings together cross-disciplinary research teams to evaluate the complex issues surrounding water resources management and planning; apply innovative methods that tackle problems from multiple perspectives and address uncertainty that is often ignored; and recommend solutions that are innovative, effective, and enduring.
Recognizing that robust information on health systems in other countries can provide valuable lessons for the British National Health Service, the Department of Health has commissioned a team of researchers at RAND Europe and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to create the "On-Call Facility" for International Healthcare Comparisons.
This joint project from RAND Health and Harvard Medical School's Partners HealthCare focuses on making Clinical Decision Support better adapted to the requirements of electronic health record systems.
Many cash transfer programmes designate women and mothers as transfer recipients, on the assumption that doing so will lead to better outcomes. RAND Europe is undertaking a systematic review for the UK Department for International Development to assess whether transferring cash to women rather than men in low- and middle-income countries has a greater impact on household well-being.
This web-based mapping tool from RAND can help health care decisionmakers in Missouri identify community-level hotspots where suboptimal health care exists, in particular when it is related to low health literacy.
RAND Europe's Evaluation and Performance Audit program helps decision- and policymakers improve the analysis underlying their choices. The research team works across a range of topical disciplines and uses mixed methods of inquiry involving both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
The new Displaced New Orleans Residents Survey examines the current location, well-being, and plans of people who lived in the City of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005.
RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) is the product of visionary thinking that led to a RAND-Air Force partnership now approaching its sixth decade. PAF's mission is to conduct an integrated program of objective analysis on issues of enduring concern to Air Force leaders.
RAND Europe's "Choice Modelling and Valuation" group provides specific expertise in using discrete choice modeling methods to understand and predict choice behavior as a result of policy intervention. This work is frequently undertaken in the transport sector, but expertise is increasingly applied in sectors including health and social care, post and communications, and provision of regulated consumer services.
The RAND Palestine Initiative, a multidisciplinary team of experts from the RAND Corporation that has been working with Palestinians, Israelis, and the international community, presents key aspects of "The Arc," options for strengthening the physical infrastructure for a new Palestinian state.
The RAND Intelligence Policy Center (IPC) assists clients as they confront today’s rapidly evolving intelligence environment. The Center helps decisionmakers identify and define emerging threats, such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which are more fragmented than the threats of the past. The Center´s research provides a strong foundation on foreign political, cultural, and military developments.
To help ensure the adequacy and modernisation of the British police workforce, the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) has requested that RAND Europe investigate the relationship between the demand for policing services, the risk that the demand will not be met, and the resources required to ensure that the demand is met. The RAND Europe project team is examining police force labour economic issues and where gaps may exist, with a goal to assisting the NPIA in its workforce planning efforts.
The RAND Roybal Center for Health Policy Simulation developed better models to understand the consequences of biomedical developments and social forces for health, health spending, and health care delivery, particularly for the elderly.
The Financial Literacy Center brings together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in order to develop educational tools and programs that help individuals prepare for their long-term financial stability, including those with low to moderate incomes, young employees, women, people with disabilities, and seniors.
California's dirty air caused more than $193 million in hospital-based medical care from 2005 to 2007 as people sought help for problems such as asthma and pneumonia that are triggered by elevated pollution levels.
Since 2003, Ofcom has overseen the broader UK communications market as a converged communications regulator. At the request of the National Audit Office, RAND Europe is evaluating Ofcom's performance compared with that of other international regulators that are dealing with similar challenges, such as next generation access networks and access to emergency services using voice-over-internet protocol.
The RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy (CAPP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, multidisciplinary research center within RAND. CAPP's mission is to improve policy by providing decision-makers and the public with rigorous, objective, cutting-edge research on critical policy challenges facing Asia and U.S.-Asia relations.
Science, technology and innovation can drive economic growth and lie at the heart of efforts to create better societies. RAND Europe's Innovation and Technology team works with public and private sector decisionmakers to help inform key decisions on science, technology and innovation policy in Europe and globally.
The Flu Vaccine Survey from RAND is a project that reviews nationally representative samples of adults to collect data on the receipt of seasonal influenza vaccine in the United States.
The Homeland Security and Defense Center conducts analysis to prepare and protect communities and critical infrastructure from natural disasters and terrorism and is a joint effort of the RAND National Security Research Division and RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment.
This policy forum event, hosted by the Promising Practices Network (PPN), RAND Corporation, and Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families, featured a panel of leading national experts to discuss the latest research related to assessing the quality of child care and the implications for policymakers.
Today's global challenges demand RAND's innovative analysis. Old patterns of state-to-state and bloc-to-bloc relations are now eclipsed by global concerns that cut across functional disciplines and regional boundaries. Complex issues such as international security, transnational trade and investment, education, health care, information technology, and energy and environment are all topics that benefit from the multidisciplinary, uncompromising analytic approach of researchers in International Programs at RAND.
To understand better the challenges for businesses and Local Authorities participating in the Primary Authority Scheme—an effort to clarify regulations, reduce inconsistencies, and introduce effective dispute resolution mechanisms for businesses operating across multiple local authority boundaries—the Local Better Regulation Office has asked RAND Europe to review the costs and benefits of participation.
The RAND Center for Global Risk and Security reflects the need for a focal point for crosscutting, multidisciplinary research and analysis on the increasingly complex issue of global security. It draws on the unparalleled breadth of related RAND expertise—from strategy and health to technology and criminal justice—and expands upon the long history of RAND excellence in informing security policy by exploring innovative new areas of inquiry that cut across traditional perspectives. Led by an advisory board of distinguished individuals with rich and varied experiences in the areas of security and risk, the Center's mission is to develop a better understanding of the variety of security threats, and then decide on deeper research dives where the special range of RAND competences can make a difference in framing categories of possible response.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is considering moving toward a more integrated employee health system that includes occupational safety and health for active-duty service members. RAND compiled extensive information about the current system and requisite elements for such integration.
RAND Health's Center for State and Local Health Policy represents RAND's efforts to support the work of state and local health policymakers in improving the health care and public health systems in their jurisdictions.
RAND Arroyo Center is the United States Army’s sole Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC). Arroyo’s mission is to conduct objective analytic research on major policy concerns emphasizing mid- to long-term policy issues, help the Army improve effectiveness and efficiency, provide short-term assistance on urgent problems, and be a catalyst for needed change.
The Allegheny County Maternal Depression and Child Health Care Initiative helped to promote healthy lifestyles and positive health outcomes, reduce preventable disease and environmental health risks, eliminate health disparities, and ensure access to quality care for young children, mothers, and families.
Continuing a tradition of seminal research and analysis, the RAND Center for Russia and Eurasia (CRE) provides policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and citizens with an in-depth understanding of developmental processes in Russia and the New Independent States in Eurasia.
Part of RAND Project AIR FORCE, the Strategy and Doctrine Program seeks to increase knowledge and understanding of geopolitical and other problems in the national security environment that affect Air Force operations. PAF maintains expertise in defense strategy; regional analysis; the objectives and tasks of evolving joint operations; and the potential contributions of air and space power to joint operations, defense planning, and requirements for force development.
The Q-DART project uses innovative approaches to highlight gaps in quality of care and health outcomes in diverse populations in order to help health plans, public health organizations, and others concerned about improving the care that people receive allocate scarce resources more wisely.
RAND Gulf States, created to assist in the long-term recovery efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama following Hurricane Katrina, has launched an in-depth study due out in 2010. The Displaced New Orleans Residents Survey will examine the current location, well-being and plans of former residents of the city.
Part of the RAND Project AIR FORCE, the Resource Management Program analyzes policies and practices in the areas of logistics and readiness; outsourcing, privatization, and contracting; the industrial base; planning, programming, and budgeting; infrastructure; and weapon-system cost estimating. The goal of this program is to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of Air Force operations in a resource-constrained environment.
In 1999, RAND researchers and Los Angeles education officials and experts created CBITS to provide school-based mental health screening and therapy for children dealing with violence. The Support for Students Exposed to Trauma program provides a manual for teachers and school counselors on providing therapeutic lessons.
The Special Needs Populations Mapping tool can help public health agencies develop appropriate strategies for incorporating special needs populations into public health preparedness and response planning.
RAND Health can assess the health care systems and capacities of counties and population centers. As communities become increasingly diverse and the economic climate shifts, policymakers need dependable data and analysis to help understand and plan for the health of residents.
To inform the current debate on migrant selection, RAND analyzed the composition and migration flows of return migrants from the United States to Mexico from 1993 to 2004, based on data from the EMIF (Encuesta sobre Migración en la Frontera Norte de México).
RAND Summer Institute, a Labor and Population Center for the Study of Aging program, consists of two annual conferences on aging. This year the conferences are sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and will convene in Santa Monica.
The RAND Pardee Center pursues ambitious objectives: to improve our ability to think about the longer-range future – from 35 to as far as 200 years ahead – and to develop new methods of analyzing potential long-range, global effects of today's policy options in order to design sound policies that are sensitive to those effects.
Part of the RAND Project AIR FORCE, the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program concentrates on questions about workforce size and composition and about the best ways to recruit, train, pay, promote, and retain personnel. PAF's research encompasses the total workforce: active duty, guard, reserve, civilian, and contractor personnel.
Ongoing research at the Center for Financial and Economic Decision Making (CFED) addresses the process of financial decision making over the life-cycle, in particular assessing how people collect information; how they think about risks, and probabilities; and how well they match their decisions to their preferences and interests.
RAND Health has launched COMPARE (Comprehensive Assessment of
Reform Efforts) to help provide policymakers and interested parties with a unique way of understanding and evaluating the effects and unintended consequences of health care reform proposals certain to be introduced in the new 111th Congress and beyond.
RAND engages in significant research in the regions of Latin America and Africa. RAND Latin America work began during the Cold War era with in-depth analysis of U.S.-Cuban relations and has expanded to include issues related to health, education, economics, demographics, and political reform. RAND work covering sub-Saharan Africa encompasses many critical issues related to health, education, and political reform in the developing world.
In mid-November, RAND conducted a survey of nearly 4,000 U.S. adults on whether they had received a flu shot in order to inform public health officials about midseason progress on vaccinations while action can still be taken to improve uptake. The results reveal that the majority of those who should have been vaccinated had not.
This evaluation of arts education in grades K-12 in Pittsburgh public schools finds strengths in the school district's program hampered by uneven access and weak partnerships with community arts organizations, both perhaps due to the lack of a comprehensive district-wide arts education policy.
Project CHOICE is a weekly confidential after-school program for Los Angeles teenagers to discuss alcohol, cigarette, and drug use, and to get information on teenage substance use, its consequences, and how to avoid it.
Public safety officers have much higher incidence and cost of injuries that result in disability retirement than other public employees. RAND research helped the Commission on Health and Safety Workers' Compensation and the California legislature in their efforts to provide adequate workers' compensation and disability benefits.
Recent data suggest that the rate of LBW infants born in the United States has reached its highest level in almost 30 years. In a current project of RAND's Promising Practices Network, readers are invited to submit questions to three leading child and maternal health experts about dealing with this serious public health challenge.
Some workers' compensation insurers offer discounts to firms that have safety plans. While an evaluation of the voluntary Pennsylvania Certified Safety Committee (CSC) program found that compliance did reduce injuries, most participants did not comply with CSC requirements.
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