Benjamin M. Miller

Economist; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Washington Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, University of California, San Diego; B.S. in economics, Purdue University

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

Benjamin Miller is an economist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He conducts economic assessments that improve public systems, including infrastructure systems, regulatory systems, and financial systems. Miller is currently leading evaluations assessing U.S. aviation infrastructure finance policies; modeling the resilience of the security, suitability, and clearance process to disruptions; and documenting and measuring the contribution of federal research programs to the standards development process and societal benefits at large. Prior works identify courses of action for public buildings in Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, suggest revisions to the national flood insurance program, clarify the opportunities and challenges associated with the U.S. regulatory budget, provide a vision for U.S. infrastructure finance policy, and assess the sustainability of the U.S. blood supply market.

Miller’s research has been funded by a wide array of government agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Performance Accountability Council. His work has been published in academic journals, RAND reports, and textbooks, and has been cited by major news outlets such as the New York Times and Politico.

Miller holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, San Diego and a B.S. in economics from Purdue University.

Research Focus

Pardee RAND Graduate School Courses

Advanced Econometrics II: Applied Non-Linear Modeling

Selected Publications

Miller, Benjamin M., Debra Knopman, Liisa Ecola, Brian Phillips, Moon Kim, Nathaniel Edenfield, Daniel Schwam, and Diogo Prosdocimi, U.S. Airport Infrastructure Funding and Financing: Issues and Policy Options Pursuant to Section 122 of the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, RAND (RR-3175), 2020

Benjamin Miller, Lloyd Dixon, and Noreen Clancy, "Reasonable and Risk-Based? Replacing NFIP Generally Subsidized Rates with a Means-Tested Subsidy," Southern Economic Journal, 2019

Benjamin Miller, "The Not-So Marginal Value of Weather Warning Systems," Weather, Climate, and Society, 10(1), 2018

Benjamin Miller, Frank Camm, Marjory Blumenthal, Jesse Lastunen, and Kenneth Miller, Inching Toward Reform: Trump’s Deregulation and Its Implementation, RAND (PE-241), 2017

Debra Knopman, Martin Wachs, Benjamin Miller, Scott Davis, and Katherine Pfrommer, Not Everything Is Broken: The Future of U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Funding and Finance, RAND (RR-1739-RC), 2017

Alan Smart, Andrew Coote, Benjamin Miller, and Richard Bernknopf "A Review of Socioeconomic Evaluation Methods and Techniques," in Jamie Kruse, Joep Crompvoets, and Jay Pearlman, GEOValue: The Socioeconomic Value of Geospatial Information, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017

Benjamin Miller, David Metz, Troy Smith, Jesse Lastunen, Eric Landree, and Christopher Nelson, Understanding the Economic Benefit Associated with Research and Services at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, RAND (RR-2256), 2017

Andrew Mulcahy, Kandice Kapinos, Brian Briscombe, Lori Uscher-Pines, Ritika Chaturvedi, Spencer Reynolds Case, Jakub Hlavka, and Benjamin Miller, Toward a Sustainable Blood Supply in the United States. An Analysis of the Current System and Alternatives for the Future, RAND (RR-1575), 2016

Commentary

Progress on Infrastructure, but the Devil May Be in the Details
Negotiations are underway between the White House and Congress about the scope of investment in infrastructure and how to pay for it. But reaching a compromise on spending may not be enough to ensure that the spending will produce results as intended.
May 21, 2021 The Hill
The Social Distancing Economy: Q&A with RAND Experts
Congress and the White House are weighing economic policies to help people acutely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Here are insights from RAND experts on what might be effective in terms of fiscal policy, stimulus spending, and emergency relief to affected workers.
Mar 18, 2020
Suggestions to Help EPA Successfully Implement Retrospective Reviews
The EPA's interest in including a systematic retrospective review element in new regulation has the potential to provide a transparent and well-structured method for assessing which decisions worked well and which didn't. If successful, it could serve as a role model for other regulatory agencies.
Jul 19, 2018 Legal Planet

Publications

Testimony
Funding and Financing Infrastructure at U.S. Airports: Overview of the 2020 RAND Report Recommendations
Testimony presented before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation on June 23, 2021.
Jun 23, 2021
Report
Measuring the Value of Invention: The Impact of Lemelson-MIT Prize Winners' Inventions
This report uses the inventions of Lemelson-MIT Prize winners as examples to illustrate the scientific, technological, economic, and social impacts that inventions can have on society.
Feb 11, 2021
Report
Public Buildings in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria: Prestorm Challenges, Hurricane Damage, and Suggested Courses of Action for Recovery
HSOAC presents a summary of hurricane damage to public buildings in Puerto Rico and 12 courses of action to repair damage and modernize public building infrastructure for increased resilience, improved energy efficiency, and improved user experience.
Sep 30, 2020
Journal Article
Reasonable and Risk-Based? Replacing NFIP Generally Subsidized Rates with a Means-Tested Subsidy
Our results suggest that the savings associated with replacing subsidies with our proposed means-tested subsidy would be $183 million per year if all households in the study area hold NFIP policies, or a savings of approximately $3800 per policy.
2019
Report
Measuring Power, Power Cycles, and the Risk of Great-Power War in the 21st Century
How should we measure national power? Which states are gaining or losing it? The authors illustrate a quantitative, scenario-based approach for policymakers, assess the impact of shocks, and identify periods when shifts could portend conflict.
Apr 15, 2020
Report
U.S. Airport Infrastructure Funding and Financing: Issues and Policy Options Pursuant to Section 122 of the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act
Passenger air travel is at an all-time high, and airports are investing in the infrastructure needed to meet demand. This report contains a comprehensive review of the role of the federal government in airport infrastructure funding and financing.
Jan 14, 2020
Report
U.S. Airport Infrastructure Funding and Financing: Issues and Policy Options Pursuant to Section 122 of the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act: Executive Summary
Passenger air travel is at an all-time high, and airports are investing in the infrastructure needed to meet demand. This document summarizes the full report's review of the federal government's role in airport infrastructure funding and financing.
Jan 14, 2020
Report
Deterring Attacks Against the Power Grid: Two Approaches for the U.S. Department of Defense
The Defense Department increasingly relies on electric power to accomplish critical missions. This report explores two approaches for deterring attacks against the U.S. power grid: deterrence by denial and deterrence by cost imposition.
Jan 6, 2020
Report
Selecting and Evaluating Case Studies of the Economic Benefits of Research and Services at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Case Studies on Personal Dust Monitors for Coal Miners, Improved Ambulance Design, and Amputation Surveillance
In this report, the authors define a process for selecting case studies of the economic benefits of research and services at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and evaluate benefits associated with three selected cases.
Jan 6, 2020
Report
Incorporating Resilience into Transportation Planning and Assessment
RAND researchers explore how to better incorporate principles of resilience into the decisionmaking process for long-term transportation planning.
Oct 16, 2019
Report
Valuing Air Force Electric Power Resilience: A Framework for Mission-Level Investment Prioritization
This report addresses the U.S. Air Force's need for a systematic way to value the risk to missions associated with electric power--related disruptions and accordingly set priorities among investments in power resilience.
Jun 3, 2019
Draft
Estimating Future Water Demand for San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District
Evaluates the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District's Regional Urban Water Management Plan and an alternative approach to calculating future water demand in their service area.
Dec 28, 2018
Journal Article
Renewing America's Infrastructure: An Agenda for Federal Transportation and Water Policy
This paper addresses policies that promote and deter investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.
Aug 21, 2018
Report
Practice Expense Methodology and Data Collection Research and Analysis
This report proposes alternative methodologies for determining the practice expense (PE) component of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule in order to avoid misvalued payment rates. A main concern is the allocation of indirect practice costs.
Apr 11, 2018
Journal Article
The Not-So-Marginal Value of Weather Warning Systems
This paper uses conditional variation in the initial broadcast dates of NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) transmitters to produce cross-sectional and fixed effects estimates of the causal impact of expanding the NWR transmitter network.
Jan 4, 2018
Report
Understanding the Economic Benefit Associated with Research and Services at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: An Approach and Three Case Studies
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) asked the RAND Corporation to develop an approach for estimating the economic benefit of NIOSH research, using three case studies. A new report details findings and recommendations.
Jan 2, 2018
Research Brief
Fixing U.S. Infrastructure's Ills Requires an Accurate Diagnosis
This brief examines how the federal government can better promote investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.
Dec 5, 2017
Report
Not Everything Is Broken: The Future of U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Funding and Finance
This report identifies policies that promote and deter investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.
Dec 5, 2017
Report
Air Force Installation Energy Assurance: An Assessment Framework
This report presents a framework that mission owners and civil engineers at Air Force installations can use to assess their level of energy assurance.
Nov 6, 2017
Report
Inching Toward Reform: Trump's Deregulation and Its Implementation
This Perspective considers how well Executive Order 13771 addresses concerns of supporters of regulatory reform and how agencies and the Office of Management and Budget can best face the challenges and opportunities of implementing regulatory reform.
May 18, 2017
Report
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
This report examines flood insurance cost in New York City and homeowners' ability to afford it. It develops and evaluates several different approaches for assisting households that have difficulty affording flood insurance.
Mar 27, 2017
Research Brief
How Affordable Is Flood Insurance in New York City and What Can Be Done to Address Affordability Issues?
This research brief examines the affordability of flood insurance in New York City and what can be done to address the affordability issue.
Mar 27, 2017
Research Brief
Building a More Sustainable U.S. Blood System
Describes trends affecting the U.S. blood system, presents insights into its sustainability, and offers recommendations for how policymakers can ensure the safety and sustainability of the blood supply.
Nov 28, 2016
Report
Toward a Sustainable Blood Supply in the United States: An Analysis of the Current System and Alternatives for the Future
This report aims to describe the U.S. blood system, identify and discuss potential threats to the functioning and sustainability of the blood system, and describe recommendations with the potential to improve the sustainability of the blood system.
Nov 21, 2016