Jason M. Ward

@jason_m_ward on Twitter

Associate Director, RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness in Los Angeles; Associate Economist; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, University of Illinois; M.A. in economics, University of Illinois; B.A. in economics, University of Illinois

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

Jason Ward is associate director of the RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness in Los Angeles, an associate economist at the RAND Corporation, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His work uses the tools of applied microeconomics to study housing, labor markets, education, health, and links between these domains. Recent research led by Ward includes a study of population trends and housing needs among unsheltered individuals in three Los Angeles neighborhoods, a study assessing the potential for the adaptive reuse of commercial real estate to address the housing crisis in Los Angeles, a study of the effect of restrictive labor agreements on the production of affordable housing in Los Angeles, and a study documenting changes in veterans educational outcomes across recent decades. Past research has assessed the effect of four-day school weeks on academic achievement, the effect of parental involvement laws on abortions to minors, the effects of performance-based state higher education funding systems on student outcomes, the nature of geographic variation in health care utilization, and the association between education and health over the life course. Ward received his Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Research Focus

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: KPCC-FM; WGN-TV

Commentary

Residential Housing

Senate Bill 9's Underwhelming First Year Shouldn't Be a Surprise; It Was by Design
In 2021, the California state Legislature passed legislation allowing a streamlined pathway for homeowners to produce duplexes and split lots. But a year after the law took effect, the resulting housing production pipeline looks to be trivial. Why has the law that some were convinced would make the sky fall barely registered?
Feb 10, 2023
Los Angeles Times
Residential Housing

Measure ULA Reflects the Wrong Lessons from Proposition HHH
Los Angeles voters approved the so-called “mansion tax,” Measure ULA, which proponents suggested will raise funds for about 26,000 new units of affordable housing over the next decade. But a key labor provision casts doubt on that optimistic projection.
Nov 28, 2022
Los Angeles Daily News
Housing Markets

Santa Monica's 'Builder's Remedy' Experiment Holds Lessons for the Region
More than 124 municipalities across Southern California are struggling to meet their state housing allocations. When Santa Monica fell out of compliance with state housing law, this triggered what is known as the ”builder's remedy“ and created a revealing natural experiment.
Nov 8, 2022
Santa Monica Daily Press
Urban Planning

How Can Commercial Buildings Become Needed Housing?
Adaptive reuse has tremendous promise for making a dent in Southern California's housing shortage, but realizing its full potential will require thoughtful and timely policymaking.
Jun 6, 2022
Santa Monica Daily Press
Homelessness

Camping Bans and Group Shelters Unlikely to Solve Homelessness Crisis
Should Los Angeles continue to direct most resources toward creating permanent housing with services? Or should it try to rapidly add more group shelters and shared tiny homes which would allow the city to enforce camping bans in certain areas? There are compelling arguments for both approaches.
May 23, 2022
Santa Monica Daily Press
Housing Markets

California Needs 1.2 Million New Homes. How Will It Get There?
Voluntary incentives foster increased production of affordable housing, while mandates alone increase the cost of producing housing, dampening both market-rate and affordable housing production. It is well past time to acknowledge the evidence and focus on the adoption of voluntary programs that incentivize the rapid creation of dense, infill housing available at both affordable and market rents.
May 13, 2022
CalMatters
Educational Equity

Teleworking During the COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights Educational Inequity
The ability to telework is associated with both reduced risk of COVID-19 infection and with significantly lower risk of job loss. There are large disparities in who is able to telework by race and ethnicity—but even larger ones by educational attainment.
Dec 23, 2020
The RAND Blog
Workforce Management

The Lopsided Telework Revolution
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a transition to telework, protecting the jobs and the health of those whose work can be performed remotely. Creative policies in a post-pandemic world are needed to help more broadly distribute the benefits of increased remote work.
Nov 16, 2020
Route Fifty
Los Angeles

Industry Mix in L.A. Area Helps Explain Recent Record Unemployment Rates
The Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area reported more than 270,000 job cuts between March and early August. Considering which industries have cut jobs may provide a window into the area's unique labor market and help explain how the area currently has among the highest unemployment in the nation.
Aug 25, 2020
The RAND Blog
Employment and Unemployment

L.A. Has the Nation's Highest Unemployment. For Some Groups, It's Even Worse Than That.
Los Angeles and its neighboring counties are among the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 recession. The shockingly high average unemployment rates only tell part of the story, however. For the poor and some racial and ethnic groups, the jobs picture is far worse.
Aug 6, 2020
The RAND Blog
Housing Markets

Declining Commercial Real Estate Demand May Provide an Opportunity to Help Address California's Housing Crisis
The pandemic has led to an estimated 175,000 business closures this spring. And an estimated 40 percent of employed people are working from home full-time. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reallocate portions of the built environment toward the urgent demand for affordable housing.
Jul 20, 2020
CalMatters
Workforce Management

To Preserve Jobs, America's Employers May Have to Get Creative
With about 38.6 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance benefits since the end of February, it is clear that COVID-19 has turned the world of work upside down. One way to reduce the economic damage may be job-sharing, an approach that focuses on maximizing jobs by reducing workers' hours rather than resorting to layoffs or furloughs.
May 26, 2020
CNN
Residential Housing

From Lockdown to Locked Out: Coronavirus and the Looming Crisis in Rental Housing
Housing security is vital to individual and collective well-being. It's also a key component in the nation's economic performance. The looming coronavirus eviction crisis suggests the need to address the systemic problem of housing affordability and security now.
Apr 30, 2020
Dallas Morning News

Publications

Report
Recent Trends Among the Unsheltered in Three Los Angeles Neighborhoods: An Annual Report from the Los Angeles Longitudinal Enumeration and Demographic Survey (LA LEADS) Project
This report presents findings from a study of unsheltered homelessness in three areas of Los Angeles: Hollywood, Skid Row, and Venice. The results indicate growth in the number of Angelenos experiencing unsheltered homelessness over 2021 and 2022.
Jan 26, 2023
Research Brief
Food Insecurity in the U.S. Military: Responses to Eight Topics Raised by Congress
In response to a congressional query, RAND researchers examined the extent of food insecurity among military service members, their participation in food assistance programs, and the advisability of a basic needs allowance.
Jan 3, 2023
Report
Food Insecurity Among Members of the Armed Forces and Their Dependents
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 directed the Secretary of Defense to report on food insecurity among service members and their dependents. RAND researchers examined this directive and recommended other topics for analysis.
Jan 3, 2023
Tool
Permanent Supportive Housing in Los Angeles County: A Map-Based Tool
This tool is a comprehensive attempt to combine financing data, land use, and service operation records for permanent supportive housing projects in Los Angeles County into a publicly available map-based database.
Sep 27, 2022
Report
Recent Trends Among the Unsheltered in Three Los Angeles Neighborhoods: An Interim Report on the Los Angeles Longitudinal Enumeration and Demographic Survey (LA LEADS) Project
The researchers present interim results from a longitudinal study in which they are conducting counts of unsheltered individuals in Los Angeles and surveying them on their demographics, history of homelessness, and housing needs and preferences.
May 4, 2022
Report
Can Adaptive Reuse of Commercial Real Estate Address the Housing Crisis in Los Angeles?
The authors estimate the number of residential units that could be produced through the adaptive reuse of underutilized commercial properties in the Los Angeles area and provide evidence on the financial feasibility of creating these units.
Apr 6, 2022
Report
The Role of Education Benefits in Supporting Veterans as They Transition to Civilian Life: Veterans' Issues in Focus
There is evidence that military education benefits have a positive impact on veterans' transitions to civilian life and educational attainment, but few studies have looked at who uses them, their transition experiences, or their long-term outcomes.
Jan 10, 2022
Journal Article
CPS Nonresponse During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Explanations, Extent, and Effects
This paper examines survey nonresponse in the CPS at the start of the pandemic and estimates to what extent nonresponse led to an underestimate of the unemployment rate.
Dec 21, 2021
Report
Increasing Efficiency and Incentives for Performance in the Army's Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB) Program
This report documents research and analysis whose purpose was to help the Army determine how to best increase incentives for higher performance among enlisted members and to more efficiently achieve Army retention objectives.
Oct 5, 2021
Report
Transforming the Housing Choice Voucher System in California: A Path to Universal Housing?
In this Perspective, the authors review the impact and shortcomings of the housing choice voucher (HCV) program and outline three pathways to transform the HCV system in California that could significantly reduce homelessness across the state.
Sep 29, 2021
Report
The Effects of Project Labor Agreements on the Production of Affordable Housing: Evidence from Proposition HHH
Proposition HHH is a $1.2 billion bond fund for permanent supportive housing in Los Angeles. Evidence indicates that the inclusion of a project labor agreement affected both project size and construction costs of HHH-funded developments.
Aug 2, 2021
Journal Article
Associations Between Individual Demographic Characteristics And Involuntary Health Care Delays As A Result Of COVID-19
We provide the first evidence on associations between individual characteristics and the propensity to experience an involuntary care disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 1, 2021
Journal Article
The Effect of Large-scale Performance-Based Funding in Higher Education
We analyze the effect of large-scale, high-stakes performance funding programs in Ohio and Tennessee. Using a difference-in-differences identification strategy along with a synthetic control approach, we find no evidence that these programs improve key academic outcomes.
Jan 26, 2021
Journal Article
Do Supply-Side Forces Explain Geographic Variation in Health Care Use?
We provide new evidence on causal factors behind geographic variation in health care utilization by examining changes in health care use for the near-elderly as they transition from being uninsured into Medicare.
Jan 26, 2021
Report
The Composition and Employment of Software Personnel in the U.S. Department of Defense: An Initial Analysis
The authors identify and characterize a subset of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD's) software workforce, the types of software developed within DoD, and the variety of methods DoD programs use when employing that workforce to develop software.
Dec 24, 2020
Report
Setting the Level and Annual Adjustment of Military Pay
In support of the Thirteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, this report provides analysis and recommendations on setting the level of military pay and the annual adjustment to military pay.
Dec 17, 2020
Journal Article
Education and Health Over the Life Cycle
We extend the Grossman (1972) model of the demand for health and use it to analyze the effect of education on health at different ages.
2020
Journal Article
The Impact of Parental Involvement Laws on the Abortion Rate of Minors
We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the effect of parental involvement laws on the incidence of abortions to minors in the United States.
2020