Opportunities to Address Health Disparities in Performance-based Accountability and Payment Programs
Featured Publications by RAND Economists
Journal Articles
2021
2020
2019
2018
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Measuring Subjective Probabilities: The Effect of Response Mode on the Use of Focal Responses, Validity, and Respondents' Evaluations
Improved measurement of people's probability judgments should benefit probability elicitation efforts relevant to risk analysis, decision making, and risk communication.
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The Impact of Changing Wildfire Risks on California's Residential Insurance Market
This study identifies the challenges faced by California residential insurance markets in areas with high wildfire risk. It also examines how climate change is expected to change wildfire risk and the potential implications for insurance markets.
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The Effect of Eliminating the Individual Mandate Penalty and the Role of Behavioral Factors
Under alternative assumptions about consumer responses, we find that enrollment falls by 2.8 million to 13 million people nationwide and premiums for bronze plans increase by 3 percent to 13 percent when the mandate penalty is removed.
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The Impact of Worksite Clinics on Teacher Healthcare Utilization and Cost, Self-Reported Health Status, and Student Academic Achievement Growth in a Public School District
Teachers who used school-based health care clinics as the source of primary care were significantly more likely to have fewer inpatient admissions and lower annual health care cost, and were less likely to be absent from work.
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Perceived Peer Norms, Health Risk Behaviors, and Clustering of Risk Behaviors Among Palestinian Youth
Prevention education programs for Palestinian youth should be structured to deal with a range of connected risk behaviors& for which certain youth may be at risk, not just single behaviors such as drug use.
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Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Breastfeeding Outcomes
When new mothers have affordable access to lactation support services and breast pumps, they are more likely to breastfeed until their infants are ready to transition to solid foods.
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Dementia Prevalence in the United States in 2000 and 2012: Estimates Based on a Nationally Representative Study
The prevalence of dementia in the U.S. among those 65 or older decreased between 2000 and 2012, although less rapidly than reported in other studies.
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The Affordable Care Act, Breastfeeding, and Breast Pump Health Insurance Coverage
Viewpoint on the Affordable Care Act, breastfeeding, and breast pump health insurance coverage.
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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.
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Neighborhood Environments and Physical Activity: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents in a Natural Experiment
Adolescence is a time when the decline in physical activity and increase in obesity is dramatic, highlighting the need to identify opportunities to address obesogenic behaviors for this age group.
2017
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Text Messaging for Improving Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence: No Effects After 1 Year in a Randomized Controlled Trial Among Adolescents and Young Adults 2017
Short text reminders to HIV-positive young adults in Uganda did not improve their adherence to antiretroviral therapy regimens, in contrast to prior interventions that used reminder messages.
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Home Visiting and Use of Infant Health Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial 2017
Home visits delivered by a nurse-parent educator team reduced children's health care use in the first year of life.
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Text Messaging for Improving Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence: No Effects After 1 Year in a Randomized Controlled Trial Among Adolescents and Young Adults 2017
Short text reminders to HIV-positive young adults in Uganda did not improve their adherence to antiretroviral therapy regimens, in contrast to prior interventions that used reminder messages.
RAND Publications
2021
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Cutting the College Price TAG: The Effects of New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant on College Persistence and Completion 2021
RAND researchers studied more than 450,000 recipients of New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant to explore whether larger amounts of grant aid led to higher graduation rates for students at varying income levels and types of institutions.
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Managing Risk in Globalized Supply Chains 2021
This report addresses the challenges the U.S. Air Force faces in mitigating the risks associated with an increasingly globalized weapon supply chain and suggests ways to improve how it addresses such risks.
2020
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The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Changing Nature of Work: Lose Your Job, Show Up to Work, or Telecommute? 2020
This report examines how much the ability to work from home has mitigated the economic effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The data were collected through the RAND American Life Panel as part of an ongoing analysis.
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Building Community Resilience to Large Oil Spills: Findings and Recommendations from a Synthesis of Research on the Mental Health, Economic, and Community Distress Associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2020
In this report, the authors explore how communities, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and scientists can build community resilience to large oil spills.
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A Framework for Integrating Family Caregivers into the Health Care Team 2020
The authors of this report describe several barriers and facilitators to integrating family caregivers into the health care team and provides a blueprint for next steps to implementing policy solutions.
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From Consensus to Conflict: Understanding Foreign Measures Targeting U.S. Elections 2020
Russia might try to manipulate and divide U.S. voters via social media during the U.S. political campaign season of 2020. This first report in a series of four reviews research on foreign actors targeting local, state, and national elections.
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Examining Interventions to Address Infant Mortality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 2021
The authors use predictive models and a causal inference framework to understand the effectiveness of infant-mortality interventions in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, where poor birth and infant outcomes and pronounced racial disparities persist.
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Systemic Risk: It's Not Just in the Financial Sector 2020
After a decade of focus on financial firms, new analysis using an innovative approach and new dataset shows that firms in a diverse range of sectors, such as technology and telecommunications, pose a systemic risk to the economy at large.
2019
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Effects of the Blended Retirement System on United States Army Reserve Participation and Cost 2019
Analysis of the new Blended Retirement System (BRS) finds that it can sustain U.S. Army Reserve participation relative to the legacy system. The analysis also predicts continuation-pay cost and the percentage of reservists opting in to the BRS.
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Principal Pipelines 2019
This report describes the implementation of The Wallace Foundation's Principal Pipeline Initiative and its effects on student achievement, other school outcomes, and principal retention.
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Human Smuggling and Associated Revenues 2019
The authors examine the structure, operations, and financing of actors that engage in human smuggling along routes from Central America to the United States and develop a preliminary estimate of revenues associated with human smuggling.
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A Wage Differential Approach to Managing Special and Incentive Pay 2019
The authors review special and incentive pays and the potential to convert some into a wage differential, finding pays with an incentive to select a longer military obligation more cost-effective and possibly more beneficial than a wage differential.
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Who Settles in Workers' Compensation? 2019
The authors explore how the expected value of workers' compensation benefits affects the likelihood of a settlement. They review the settlement process and analyze the relationship using a policy change to permanent disability benefits in Oregon.
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Options for Improving Timely Access to Care Reporting in California 2019
The state of California has developed standards for monitoring timely access to health care, but health plans face challenges in collecting and reporting the information. This report documents these challenges and identifies potential solutions.
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Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements 2019
The authors analyze how U.S. Coast Guard servicemembers serving on major cutters respond to various levels of personnel tempo, as well as the effects of working conditions on these responses.
2018
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Can Restorative Practices Improve School Climate and Curb Suspensions? An Evaluation of the Impact of Restorative Practices in a Mid-Sized Urban School District 2018
This study of Pittsburgh Public Schools' implementation of restorative practices represents one of the first randomized controlled trials of the effects of restorative practices on classroom and school climates and suspension rates.
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How Can Workers' Compensation Systems Promote Occupational Safety and Health? Stakeholder Views on Policy and Research Priorities 2018
A report from RAND explores the views of key workers' compensation stakeholders. The study presents challenges and priorities to be addressed in reforming workers' compensation systems to promote occupational safety and the well-being of workers.
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The Road to Zero: A Vision for Achieving Zero Roadway Deaths by 2050 2018
Imagine that, in 2050, not a single person in the United States dies in a traffic crash. This report describes how changes in policy, technology, and social norms can substantially improve road safety, leading to zero roadway deaths by 2050.
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The Welcome Baby Program: An Implementation and Outcomes Evaluation 2018
This report presents the findings from an evaluation of First 5 LA's Welcome Baby home visitation program.
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Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification 2018
California's Return-to-Work Supplement Program provides a $5,000 payment to some workers who cannot return to work after a permanently disabling workplace injury. RAND researchers evaluated program performance and identified options for improvement.
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Resources Required to Meet the U.S. Army's Enlisted Recruiting Requirements Under Alternative Recruiting Goals, Conditions, and Eligibility Policies 2018
The project sought to enhance efficient use of Army recruiting resources and policies by optimizing required resource levels and mix to support recruiting under varying recruiting requirements and environments and recruit eligibility policies.
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Opportunities for All: Mutually Beneficial Opportunities for Syrians and Host Countries in Middle Eastern Labor Markets 2018
This report examines the labor markets in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon for Syrian migrants fleeing the civil war. Each country has its specific challenges, and recommendations are tailored to each to improve the socioeconomic environment for all.
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An Assessment of the New York Health Act: A Single-Payer Option for New York State 2018
This report assesses how the state-sponsored single-payer health program New York Health would affect health care utilization and costs in New York, estimating its effects on key outcomes and comparing them with future outcomes under the status quo.
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Health, Well-Being, and Education in an Urban School District: Baltimore City Public Schools Prior to the Implementation of the 21st Century Buildings Program 2018
This report presents findings on the relationship between student and school staff health and well-being, school climate, and student education outcomes prior to Baltimore City Public Schools undertaking school building renovations.
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Understanding the Economic Benefit Associated with Research and Services at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: An Approach and Three Case Studies 2018
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.
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Early Evidence from the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship for Military Spouses: Work, Earnings, and Retention 2018
My Career Advancement Account Scholarships are intended to help military spouses with education and employment. The percentage of eligible spouses working declined over time, but users were more likely than nonusers to be working two years later.
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At the Dawn of Belt and Road: China in the Developing World 2018
China has always felt vulnerable, and, in the 1990s, it began forming agreements with other nations, eventually culminating in the Belt and Road Initiative. The authors analyze China's engagement with the Developing World.
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Examining Consumer Responses to Calorie Information on Restaurant Menus in a Discrete Choice Experiment 2018
In light of the 2014 U.S. Food and Drug Administration final rule requiring the calorie content of food items to be clearly displayed on menus, RAND researchers designed an online survey to look at how this information affects consumers.
2017
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Postsecondary Education and STEM Employment in the United States: An Analysis of National Trends with a Focus on the Natural Gas and Oil Industry 2017
This report aims to contribute new knowledge to understanding the role that postsecondary education plays in meeting the increasing demands of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce.
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The Effects of Travel and Tourism on California's Economy: A Labor Market–Focused Analysis 2017
This report evaluates the role of travel/tourism in California's economy. It uses data on California tourism and California's labor force to provide insight about who works in tourism in California and how these individuals' careers evolve.
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Guide to the Resilience Dividend Valuation Model 2017
This guide provides an overview of and guidance on the Resilience Dividend Valuation Model, a framework designed to help policymakers and practitioners estimate the resilience dividend from projects they are considering or have implemented.
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Housing for Health: A State-of-the-Art Program for Reducing Homelessness in Los Angeles County 2017
This research brief summarizes the findings of a report on Los Angeles County's Housing for Health program and its effects on county costs and on the physical and mental health of people experiencing homelessness.
Working Papers
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Assessing the Link Between Survey Interview Technology and Survey Outcomes 2021
Documents the extent of survey attrition on the Current Population Survey due to the effects of COVID-19.
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Transitions Between Informal and Formal Employment 2018
Documents transitions between different types of formal and informal employment using retrospective job histories from a new survey in Bangladesh.
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Evidence on the Effectiveness of Heroin-Assisted Treatment 2018
This working paper is part of a series of reports assessing the evidence on and arguments made about heroin-assisted treatment and supervised consumption sites and examining some of the issues associated with implementing them in the United States.
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The state of financial knowledge in college 2018
Explores gaps in financial knowledge and the overall state of financial literacy of college students.
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Exploring Voluntary Retirement Incentives for Teachers 2018
Uses a dynamic model of teacher retention behavior to predict the number of Chicago Public Schools teachers willing to accept voluntary retirement incentive and retire.
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Imperfect Synthetic Controls 2018
Recommends a two-step synthetic control method which allows for estimation of a specification with interactive fixed effects which nests more traditional additive fixed effects models.
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Re-Evaluating the Returns to Language Skills Using Latent Trait Estimates 2017
Constructs more robust latent trait measures of language fluency using well-established psychometric methods, and re-evaluates the evidence for the wage premium.
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Drawing Down Retirement Wealth 2017
Uses Health and Retirement Study survey data matched to Social Security administrative data to study how households integrate Social Security benefits into their general retirement income plans.