Noreen Clancy

Noreen Clancy
Senior Policy Researcher; Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND Pardee Graduate School; Associate Research Department Director, Global Research Talent Operations
Washington Office

Education

M.S. in environmental science and policy, The Johns Hopkins University; B.A. in criminology and law, University of Florida

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Noreen Clancy is associate research department director, Global Research Talent Operations, and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She has two primary areas of research: resilience from natural disasters and issues facing the financial services sector.

Her natural disaster work includes issues related to flooding and flood insurance and the equitable distribution of pre- and post-disaster funding. Most recently, she has studied post-disaster events and the right balance of risk-sharing across federal, state, and local governments. She has also explored the extent to which the public sector can transfer some of that risk to the private sector in the form of insurance or other financial instruments such as catastrophe bonds. In her current work, she is helping FEMA think about how best to incorporate issues of risk and equity into its mitigation grant program for communities (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities). In her past work she contributed to the long-term recovery plan for Puerto Rico, specifically addressing housing recovery efforts. After Hurricane Sandy, she assessed the risks of flooding in New York City, the implications of an expanded flood map, and the rising cost of flood insurance, and developed policy options for providing assistance to homeowners who will have trouble affording the higher premiums. She was also co-PI of a grant in the Gulf of Mexico examining the community resilience attributes of areas heavily impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Regarding financial services, Clancy's two prime interests relate to the legal and regulatory challenges posed by cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies and issues dubbed Green Swans. Green Swans are climate related risks (physical and transition risks) that have the potential to be extremely financially disruptive. Her earlier financial services research included coauthoring a study of hedge funds and systemic risk, examining the regulatory structure of broker dealers and investment advisors for the SEC and evaluating how assets are valued (historical cost vs. mark-to-market accounting) and whether that led to risk accumulation problems or market distortion during the financial crisis.

Prior to joining RAND, Clancy worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. She holds an M.S. in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Selected Publications

Clancy, N., M. Finucane, J. Fischbach, D. Groves, D. Knopman, K.V. Patel, L. Dixon, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Mitigation Grant Program: Incorporating Hazard Risk and Social Equity into Decision Processes, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA (RR-A1258-1-DHS), 2022

Dixon, L., J.T. Barnosky and N. Clancy, Insuring Public Buildings, Contents, Vehicles and Equipment Against Disasters, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA (RR-A332-1-DHS), 2020

Finucane, M.L., M. Blum, R. Ramchand, A.M. Parker, S. Nataraj, N. Clancy, G. Cecchine, A. Chandra, T. Slack, G. Hobor, R. Ferreira, K. Luu, A. Lesen & C. Bond, " Advancing community resilience research and practice: moving from "me" to "we" to "3D.”," Journal of Risk Research, 23(1), 2020

Miller, B., L. Dixon and N. Clancy, "Reasonable and Risk Based? Replacing NFIP Generally Subsidized Rates with a Means-Tested Subsidy," Southern Economic Journal, 85(4), 2020

Clancy, Noreen, Lloyd Dixon, Daniel Elinoff, Kathryn Kuznitsky, and Sean McKenna, Modernizing Puerto Rico's Housing Sector Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria: Post-Storm Challenges and Potential Courses of Action, RAND Corporation (RR-2602-DHS), 2020

Dixon, Lloyd, Noreen Clancy, Benjamin M. Miller, Sue Hoegberg, Michael M. Lewis, Bruce Bender, Samara Ebinger, Mel Hodges, Gayle M. Syck, Caroline Nagy, and Scott R. Choquette, The Cost and Affordability of Flood Insurance in New York City: Economic Impacts of Rising Premiums and Policy Options for One- to Four-Family Homes, RAND Corporation (RR-1776-NYCEDC), 2017

Hung, A., N. Clancy, J. Dominitz "Investor Knowledge and Experience with Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers," in ed. Olivia S. Mitchell and Annamaria Lusardi, Financial Literacy: Implications for Retirement Security and the Financial Marketplace, Oxford University Press, 2011

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