Featured Publications by RAND Economists

RAND Publications

2021

• Cutting the College Price TAG: The Effects of New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant on College Persistence and Completion 2021

  Drew M. Anderson, Melanie A. Zaber

  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.

• Managing Risk in Globalized Supply Chains 2021

  Caolionn O'Connell, Elizabeth Hastings Roer, Rick Eden, Spencer Pfeifer, Yuliya Shokh, Lauren A. Mayer, Jake McKeon, Jared Mondschein, Phillip Carter, Victoria A. Greenfield, et al.

  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

• The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Changing Nature of Work: Lose Your Job, Show Up to Work, or Telecommute? 2020

  Philip Armour, Katherine Grace Carman, Kathleen J. Mullen, Shanthi Nataraj

  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.

• 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

  Melissa L. Finucane, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Andrew M. Parker, Alejandro Uriel Becerra-Ornelas, Noreen Clancy, Rajeev Ramchand, Tim Slack, Vanessa Parks, Lynsay Ayer, Amanda F. Edelman, et al.

  In this report, the authors explore how communities, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and scientists can build community resilience to large oil spills.

• A Framework for Integrating Family Caregivers into the Health Care Team 2020

  Esther M. Friedman, Patricia K. Tong

  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.

• From Consensus to Conflict: Understanding Foreign Measures Targeting U.S. Elections 2020

  Marek N. Posard, Marta Kepe, Hilary Reininger, James V. Marrone, Todd C. Helmus, Jordan R. Reimer

  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.

• Examining Interventions to Address Infant Mortality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 2021

  Dana Schultz, Susan L. Lovejoy, Evan D. Peet

  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.

• Systemic Risk: It's Not Just in the Financial Sector 2020

  Jonathan W. Welburn, Aaron Strong, Florentine Eloundou Nekoul, Justin Grana, Krystyna Marcinek, Osonde A. Osoba, Nirabh Koirala, Claude Messan Setodji

  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

• Effects of the Blended Retirement System on United States Army Reserve Participation and Cost 2019

  Beth J. Asch, Michael G. Mattock, James Hosek

  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.

• Principal Pipelines 2019

  Susan M. Gates, Matthew D. Baird, Benjamin K. Master, Emilio R. Chavez-Herrerias

  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.

• Human Smuggling and Associated Revenues 2019

  Victoria A. Greenfield, Blas Nunez-Neto, Ian Mitch, Joseph C. Chang, Etienne Rosas

  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.

• A Wage Differential Approach to Managing Special and Incentive Pay 2019

  James Hosek, Michael G. Mattock, Beth J. Asch

  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.

• Who Settles in Workers' Compensation? 2019

  Stephanie Rennane, Samantha Cherney

  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.

• Options for Improving Timely Access to Care Reporting in California 2019

  Jeanne S. Ringel, Glenn Melnick, Claude Messan Setodji, Robert Reddick, Susan M. Paddock

  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.

• Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements 2019

  Jennie W. Wenger, Maria C. Lytell, Kimberly Curry Hall, Michael L. Hansen

  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

• 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

  Catherine H. Augustine, John Engberg, Geoffrey E. Grimm, Emma Lee, Elaine Lin Wang, Karen Christianson, Andrea A. Joseph

  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.

• How Can Workers' Compensation Systems Promote Occupational Safety and Health? Stakeholder Views on Policy and Research Priorities 2018

  Michael Dworsky, Nicholas Broten

  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.

• The Road to Zero: A Vision for Achieving Zero Roadway Deaths by 2050 2018

  Liisa Ecola, Steven W. Popper, Richard Silberglitt, Laura Fraade-Blanar

  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.

• The Welcome Baby Program: An Implementation and Outcomes Evaluation 2018

  Sarah B. Hunter, M. Rebecca Kilburn, Teryn Mattox, Jill S. Cannon, Terry Marsh, Melissa Francisca Felician, Maya Buenaventura, Lauren Davis, Matthew Cefalu

  This report presents the findings from an evaluation of First 5 LA's Welcome Baby home visitation program.

• Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification 2018

  Michael Dworsky, Denise D. Quigley, Stephanie Rennane, Molly Waymouth

  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.

• Resources Required to Meet the U.S. Army's Enlisted Recruiting Requirements Under Alternative Recruiting Goals, Conditions, and Eligibility Policies 2018

  David Knapp, Bruce R. Orvis, Christopher E. Maerzluft, Tiffany Berglund

  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.

• Opportunities for All: Mutually Beneficial Opportunities for Syrians and Host Countries in Middle Eastern Labor Markets 2018

  Krishna B. Kumar, Shelly Culbertson, Louay Constant, Shanthi Nataraj, Fatih Unlu, Kathryn E. Bouskill, Joy S. Moini, Katherine Costello, Gursel Rafig oglu Aliyev, Fadia Afashe

  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.

• An Assessment of the New York Health Act: A Single-Payer Option for New York State 2018

  Jodi L. Liu, Chapin White, Sarah A. Nowak, Asa Wilks, Jamie Ryan, Christine Eibner

  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.

• 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

  Kata Mihaly, Tamara Dubowitz, Andrea Richardson, Gabriella C. Gonzalez

  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.

• 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

  Benjamin M. Miller, David Metz, Troy D. Smith, Jesse Lastunen, Eric Landree, Christopher Nelson

  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.

• Early Evidence from the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship for Military Spouses: Work, Earnings, and Retention 2018

  Laura L. Miller, David Knapp, Katharina Ley Best, Esther M. Friedman, Gabriella C. Gonzalez, Mark E. Totten, Jennie W. Wenger, Thomas E. Trail, Marek N. Posard, Ernesto F. L. Amaral

  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.

• At the Dawn of Belt and Road: China in the Developing World 2018

  Andrew Scobell, Bonny Lin, Howard J. Shatz, Michael Johnson, Larry Hanauer, Michael S. Chase, Astrid Stuth Cevallos, Ivan W. Rasmussen, Arthur Chan, Aaron Strong, et al.

  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.

• Examining Consumer Responses to Calorie Information on Restaurant Menus in a Discrete Choice Experiment 2018

  Roland Sturm, Haijing Crystal Huang, Flavia Tsang, Liisa Hiatt, Rosanna Smart, Cameron Wright, Helen Wu

  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

• 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

  Matthew D. Baird, Robert Bozick, Mark A. Harris

  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.

• The Effects of Travel and Tourism on California's Economy: A Labor Market–Focused Analysis 2017

  Matthew D. Baird, Edward G. Keating, Olena Bogdan, Adam C. Resnick

  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.

• Guide to the Resilience Dividend Valuation Model 2017

  Craig A. Bond, Aaron Strong, Nicholas E. Burger, Sarah Weilant

  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.

• Housing for Health: A State-of-the-Art Program for Reducing Homelessness in Los Angeles County 2017

  Sarah B. Hunter, Melody Harvey, Brian Briscombe, Matthew Cefalu

  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.