Philanthropically Supported Research

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.

Philanthropic contributions support our ability to take the long view, tackle tough and often-controversial topics, and share our findings in innovative and compelling ways. RAND's research findings and recommendations are based on data and evidence, and therefore do not necessarily reflect the policy preferences or interests of its clients, donors, or supporters.

Featured Research

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  Low-Cost Options for Airborne Delivery of Contraband into North Korea 2018

  Richard Mason

  Various activist groups in South Korea are looking for improvements in the balloons they use to carry political, religious, and humanitarian materials across the border into North Korea. This report reviews open-source reporting to assess the technical state of balloons and drones as means of delivering material into North Korea and assesses plausible technological developments that might improve the airborne delivery of contraband.

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  Participatory Modeling of Climate Change Impacts on Public Health in Long Beach, California: Discussion from a Workshop Hosted by the RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition 2018

  Laura Schmitt Olabisi, Gulrez Shah Azhar, Michele Abbott, Robert J. Lempert

  Participatory modeling, using causal loop diagramming (CLD), was employed to understand the potential effects of climate change on public health in Long Beach, California. Stakeholders constructed CLDs depicting the impacts of climate change on public health to identify public health issues; examine connections between climate change and public health; and identify feedback loops to understand how climate change impacts public health.

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  What's the Buzz? The Drones Are Here 2018

  Andrew J. Lohn, Timothy R. Gulden, Jia Xu, Therese Marie Jones, Kenneth Kuhn, William Welser IV

  This brief examines the developing technology for using drones to deliver packages and attempts to identify the societal impacts, including potential effects on aerial congestion, noise, privacy, and other outcomes.

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  The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States 2018

  This report synthesizes the available scientific evidence on the effects of various firearm policies on firearm deaths, violent crime, the gun industry, participation in hunting and sport shooting, and other outcomes. Based on this synthesis, the authors highlight policies whose effects are better supported by evidence and areas where more and better information could contribute to establishing fair and effective gun policies.

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  The Magnitude and Sources of Disagreement Among Gun Policy Experts 2018

  Andrew R. Morral, Terry L. Schell, Margaret Tankard

  This report, part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, describes the results of a survey in which gun policy experts estimated the likely effects of 15 gun-related policies on 12 societally important outcomes. Researchers use the results to identify where experts agree and disagree and where disagreements concern facts about the effects of gun policies that could possibly be resolved with better scientific information.

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  Gun Policy Comparison Tool: Predicted Effects of U.S. Gun Policies Based on a Survey of Policy Experts 2018

  Part of the RAND Gun Policy in America initiative, this tool allows users to explore how outcomes would change in each state and nationally if different combinations of gun policies were enacted or repealed nationwide.

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  Neither Deportation nor Amnesty: An Alternative for the Immigration Debate Building a Bridge Across the Deportation–Amnesty Divide 2018

  Douglas C. Ligor

  This Perspective examines the debate over individuals present in the United States without lawful immigration status. The political, legal, and policy questions surrounding this population have made progress challenging. We propose that minor changes in existing immigration law offer a compromise solution for millions, averting the necessity for either side of the immigration debate to abandon their principles.

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  Incentivizing Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders: What Policies Are Most Effective? 2018

  Priscillia Hunt, Rosanna Smart, Lisa Jonsson, Flavia Tsang

  To inform efforts aimed at improving employment rates and earnings potential for ex-offenders, RAND researchers examined employer preferences of policy options designed to incentivize employment of individuals with felony criminal records

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  Truth Decay: A Threat to Policymaking and Democracy 2018

  Jennifer Kavanagh, Michael D. Rich

  RAND has begun to investigate the causes and consequences of the phenomenon it calls Truth Decay — the diminishing role of facts and data in American public life — and invites others to join in continued research to help counteract it.

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  Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life 2018

  Jennifer Kavanagh, Michael D. Rich

  Political and civil discourse in the United States is characterized by "Truth Decay," defined as increasing disagreement about facts, a blurring of the line between opinion and fact, an increase in the relative volume of opinion compared with fact, and lowered trust in formerly respected sources of factual information. This report explores the causes and wide-ranging consequences of Truth Decay and proposes strategies for further action.

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  Breaking Down Barriers: Experiments into Policies That Might Incentivize Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders 2018

  Priscillia Hunt, Rosanna Smart, Lisa Jonsson, Flavia Tsang

  The rate of criminal punishment in the United States has had far-reaching economic consequences, in large part because people with criminal records are marginalized within the labor market. To inform policies and programs aimed at improving employment rates for ex-offenders, we examined employer preferences regarding policy options targeted to incentivize hiring individuals with one nonviolent felony conviction.

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  Does the U.S. No-Concessions Policy Deter Kidnappings of Americans? 2018

  Brian Michael Jenkins

  This paper looks at the history of kidnapping over the past 45 years to examine whether the U.S. policy of not paying ransom to terrorists holding Americans hostage is an effective deterrent. Earlier research found little empirical evidence to support the assertion. More-recent research also casts doubt on the deterrence value, although one study says that U.S. ransom payments would have prompted more kidnappings.

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  After Brexit: Alternate forms of Brexit and their implications for the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States 2017

  Charles P. Ries, Marco Hafner, Troy D. Smith, Frances G. Burwell, Daniel Egel, Eugeniu Han, Martin Stepanek, Howard J. Shatz

  RAND explored eight plausible post-Brexit trade scenarios involving the UK, EU and U.S. after Brexit. Game theory insights were also used to create a better understanding of how different factors might affect the outcome of Brexit negotiations. The UK was found to be economically worse-off outside of the EU under most scenarios, particularly leaving the EU with no trade deal. It is in the UK's best interests to achieve a trade deal post-Brexit.

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  Potential Economic Effects of Brexit: Implications for the United Kingdom, European Union, and United States 2017

  Charles P. Ries, Marco Hafner, Troy D. Smith, Frances G. Burwell, Daniel Egel, Eugeniu Han, Martin Stepanek, Howard J. Shatz, Lee Floyd, Monica Hertzman, et al.

  How Brexit affects the economies of the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States will depend on the outcomes of the ongoing negotiations and decisions made about trade and investment. This calculator allows users to examine how the negotiations are likely to affect these three economies in the 10 years after Brexit negotiations conclude.

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  The Risks of Artificial Intelligence to Security and the Future of Work 2017

  Osonde A. Osoba, William Welser IV

  This Perspective explores potential policy challenges ahead as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more central in the private, commercial, and public spheres. It explores the implications of AI prevalence on two key policy-relevant areas: security and employment. Our focus was on highlighting the potential vulnerabilities and inequities that the use of AI imposes on these two dimensions of society.

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  International Commercial Drone Regulation and Drone Delivery Services 2017

  Therese Marie Jones

  As unmanned aerial vehicles rapidly evolve, regulators around the world are scrambling to keep up with new uses, capabilities, and technology. The United States has found itself scrambling to satisfy the regulatory relaxation requested by commercial drone companies. The author summarizes the rapidly changing body of commercial drone regulations worldwide and highlights the primary obstacles to delivery drone use in each country.

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  Fixing U.S. Infrastructure's Ills Requires an Accurate Diagnosis 2017

  Debra Knopman, Martin Wachs, Benjamin M. Miller, Scott G. Davis, Katherine Pfrommer

  This brief examines how the federal government can better promote investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.

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  Not Everything Is Broken: The Future of U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Funding and Finance 2017

  Debra Knopman, Martin Wachs, Benjamin M. Miller, Scott G. Davis, Katherine Pfrommer

  The nation's transportation and water infrastructure needs are diverse, as are the reasons for maintenance backlogs and delays in rebuilding and modernization. This report examines current policy on U.S. transportation and water infrastructure and considers possible improvements.

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  Emerging Trends in Compensation for Widespread Losses 2017

  Lloyd Dixon, Kathryn Kuznitsky

  In a consumer society, the procedures for providing compensation to many claimants are very important, especially as litigation becomes more public due to 24/7 news and the Internet. During this May 19, 2017, conference, participants explored issues that affect compensation speed, efficiency, and fairness. These conference proceedings explore stakeholder observations on the changing roles of regulators, the impact of liens, and claim aggregation.

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  A Peace Plan for Syria IV: A Bottom-Up Approach, Linking Reconstruction Assistance to Local Government Formation 2017

  James Dobbins, Philip Gordon, Jeffrey Martini

  In this fourth paper in a series addressing Syria's conflict, RAND researchers argue that an approach to reconstruction offered on a community-by-community basis could foster a bottom-up political process, help consolidate the peace, reduce the regime's reliance on Russia and Iran, and make the reemergence of a terrorist movement less likely.

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  Assigning Responsibility Following a Catastrophe: Alternatives to Relying Solely on Traditional Civil Litigation 2017

  Nicholas M. Pace, Lloyd Dixon

  This report reviews various alternatives to relying exclusively on traditional civil litigation to assign responsibility for the human causes of a catastrophe and to determine the types of losses that a designated responsible party must reimburse. It also reviews examples of circumstances in which statutory substitutes for the traditional tort system have been adopted for dealing with at least some of the consequences of widespread harm.

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  The Origins of America's Jihadists 2017

  Brian Michael Jenkins

  The U.S. homeland faces a multilayered threat from terrorist organizations. The United States has invested significant resources in preventing terrorist attacks, and authorities have been able to uncover and thwart most of the terrorist plots. This Perspective identifies 86 plots to carry out terrorist attacks and 22 actual attacks since 9/11 involving 178 planners and perpetrators.

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  The Enemy of Good: Estimating the Cost of Waiting for Nearly Perfect Automated Vehicles 2017

  Nidhi Kalra, David G. Groves

  How safe should highly automated vehicles (HAVs) be before they are allowed on the roads for consumer use? In this report, RAND researchers use the RAND Model of Automated Vehicle Safety to compare road fatalities over time under a policy that allows HAVs to be deployed when their safety performance is just moderately better than human drivers and a policy that waits to deploy HAVs only once their performance is nearly perfect.

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  RAND Model of Automated Vehicle Safety (MAVS): Model Documentation 2017

  Nidhi Kalra, David G. Groves

  This report describes a simple model of how factors shaping the diffusion and performance of highly automated vehicles may interact and result in different safety outcomes over time. Insights from the model can help users consider how policies will shape the future of road safety.

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  Enemy of Good: Autonomous Vehicle Safety Scenario Explorer 2017

  David G. Groves, Nidhi Kalra

  How safe should highly automated vehicles (HAVs) be before they are allowed on the roads for consumer use? Answering the question requires long-term thinking on how the performance and adoption of AVs change over time and how choices made today shape the future of road safety. Making projections is complicated because these forces are deeply uncertain. This tool lets users develop their own future scenarios and estimates the resulting fatalities against a future without AVs.

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