RAND work in law, business, and regulation includes analyses of alternative dispute resolution, asbestos litigation, workers' compensation, insurance, and other civil justice matters. This research often has implications for the private sector, such as entrepreneurs facing legal and regulatory hurdles, or multinational corporations dealing with corporate ethics and governance issues.
RAND research conducted in the late 1990s documented differences in rates of promotion and retention among male, female, white, and minority officers in the U.S. military. This volume updates the earlier RAND study, using data from January 1988 through September 2010. It also examines the career progression of women serving in military occupations that are partially closed to them.
The area between the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia is a key hub of terrorist and related criminal activity in Southeast Asia. The Coast Watch System was designed to improve maritime domain awareness in the region but has some issues to overcome.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 mandated a review of gender-based assignment restrictions. To support this effort, RAND researchers analyzed service data to describe and quantify the military occupations that are closed to women, as well as occupations that are open with some positions that are closed.
Testimony presented before the California State Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on May 9, 2012.
The fraction of American households that have no bank accounts has long been a concern for policymakers. Estimates from a nationally representative sample, RAND's American Life Panel, suggest that in 2011: 15.5 percent of the population is unbanked; socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals are more likely to be unbanked; unbanked respondents cite financial barriers and personal preference as reasons for not having a bank account.
Police workforce readiness requires careful and consistent personnel development to ensure that needed skills and knowledge are recognized, appropriately utilized, and fostered. A RAND methodology developed for the U.S. Air Force may be applicable to law enforcement agencies, too.
Historically, police agencies have measured their performance against a restricted set of crime-focused indicators, but modern police officers must be prepared to take on a wide variety of roles. Performance measures should be multidimensional to capture this complexity. This report describes some key considerations in designing measures to evaluate law enforcement agencies and includes a detailed review of some international best…
The partnership between China and Iran presents challenges to U.S. interests, including dissuading Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. An analysis of the factors driving Chinese-Iranian cooperation offers policy options for influencing this partnership to meet U.S. objectives.
Some argue that the confidentiality of the civil justice system keeps it working efficiently and fairly; others argue that the public is being denied information about hazards that may cause harm. A balanced approach to increasing transparency can improve the system, raise public confidence, and protect litigants' privacy.
When enacting, implementing, and evaluating health care reform, policymakers should consider potential spillover effects on workers' compensation insurance. The experience of Massachusetts's heath care reform suggests that reform may reduce medical costs.
The authors look at four trade policy options for Japan and the United States. They evaluate each option for each country based on its impact on international relations and economic growth and its political and practical feasibility and conclude that the best option for both nations is to move forward cooperatively with the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
The 2007 expansion of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program increased employment among disabled veterans by 2 percentage points in 2007 and 2008, representing roughly 32,000 jobs each year.
This binational reference for U.S. and Mexican policymakers presents the interrelated issues of Mexican immigration to the United States and Mexico's economic and social development. Differences in economic growth, wages, and the employment situation between two countries are critical determinants of immigration, and migration of labor out of Mexico, in addition to economic and social policies, affects Mexico's development.
Companies could lower the high cost of large-scale electronic discovery in lawsuits by using a computer application known as predictive coding to reduce the number of documents requiring human review.
Congestion within the U.S. freight system has increased dramatically in the past few decades, costing travelers, consumers, and businesses billions of dollars each year. A federal policy is offered to address the challenges faced by the U.S. freight network in an environment dominated by declining revenues and public resistance to increasing taxes.
Though consistency in applying disability assessment criteria is intended, it is not easily achieved in practice. For many SSDI applicants, whether they are allowed or denied benefits depends upon the examiner to which their application is assigned.
A preliminary assessment of the impact of the financial crisis on the civil justice system finds that litigation demands on some parts of the system have increased, that funding for state courts may be trending downward, and that there have been disruptions in the legal services economy, in the provision of legal aid, and in the operation and staffing of courts.
In 2002, the Air Force initiated a program called Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), which seeks to manage relationships with suppliers to reduce the total cost of logistics operations and improve their performance. This report reviews the literature on best practices in SRM, assesses how the Air Force has implemented SRM, and recommends actions, based on lessons from the private sector, that the Air Force could take to improve its…
To summarize trends and identify factors contributing to bid protest activity and outcomes in Air Force procurements, the authors assembled data from Air Force administrative databases on procurement activity and protests and developed statistical models to analyze bid protests.
Recent bid protests have caused large disruptions in resource and operational planning in the Air Force, even leading to the cancellation of the Combat Search and Rescue helicopter program. Some tactics that the Air Force could use to counter such protests in the future include simplifying and clarifying selection criteria and priorities, explaining how its cost estimates are developed, and involving attorneys in external review of bids.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2012 RAND Corporation.