Research Centers

Many of the studies conducted in Labor and Population reside in one of four centers. The issues studied include the economic position of minorities, changes in the female labor force, wealth and income disparities, welfare reform, the causes and consequences of family formation and fertility trends, child health and development, health and fertility in developing countries, and the health and functioning of older people, among others.

Current Centers

Center for Chinese Aging Studies, James P. Smith, Director
The Center for Chinese Aging Studies was founded in 2007 with a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and support from RAND's Internal Research and Development. Its goal is to facilitate collaborative research with Chinese scholars on issues of population aging in China.
Center for Latin American Social Policy (CLASP), Arie Kapteyn, Director
The Center for Latin American Social Policy (CLASP) was founded in 2008 with RAND's internal funding support, and is housed in RAND Labor and Population. The Center's main goal is to promote research in Latin America and on the Latin American population in the United States in the areas of aging, social determinants and consequences of health, saving for retirement, social security coverage, labor market dynamics, and migration. The aim is to have interdisciplinary research groups conducting high quality scientific research to support and improve social policies and to alleviate poverty in Latin America.
Center for the Study of Aging, Michael D. Hurd, Director
The RAND Center for the Study of Aging conducts objective, independent, behavioral research on the elderly population. The Center's interdisciplinary research staff aims to help improve public policy through both primary data collection and secondary data analysis. Its research agenda focuses on the interrelationships among health, economic status, socioeconomic factors, and public policy.
Population Research Center, Michael Rendall, Director
This Center is dedicated to the scientific advancement of population studies in a period when demographic changes are creating especially complex theoretical and public policy issues.
Roybal Center for Financial Decision Making , Arie Kapteyn, Director
This Center aims to better understand how people reach decisions about issues that affect their economic status in old age and inform how public policy can educate or otherwise help people align decisions with their long-term objectives.
Roybal Center for Health Policy Simulation, Dana Goldman, Director
This Center will develop better models to understand the consequences of biomedical developments and social forces for health, health spending, and health care delivery. It will build on a large body of research at RAND, including a multi-year effort to identify and forecast the consequences of medical breakthroughs over the next 30 years.

Past Centers

Center for the Study of the Family in Economic Development, Julie DaVanzo, Director
This work has included studies on economic growth and income distribution, fertility and contraception, infant mortality, child nutrition, education, health care, intrafamily resource allocation, migration, and aging.
Center for the Study of Social Welfare Policy, Jacob A. Klerman, Director
This Center aims to provide non-partisan research and analysis on social welfare policy, including welfare reform, with research focusing on the key issues to refine and change those programs.
Population Matters, Julie DaVanzo, Director
The goals of the Population Matters program are to highlight the importance of population policy issues, and to supply a more scientific basis for public debate over population policy questions.
Statewide CalWORKs Evaluation, Jacob A. Klerman, Director
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.