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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  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 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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  Small Unmanned Aerial System Certification and Traffic Management Systems 2017

  Kenneth Kuhn

  In this Perspective, we consider potential regulations for small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) design, including aircraft certification requirements and more-novel, flexible risk-based standards. We also consider the unique challenges of air traffic control for sUAS traffic and describe roles that could be played by the Federal Aviation Administration, operators, and manufacturers, particularly with regard to safety and efficiency.

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  The Effects of Iowa's Proposed Stopgap Measure on Health Insurance Costs and Coverage 2017

  Sarah A. Nowak, Preethi Rao, Jodi L. Liu, Christine Eibner

  This report uses RAND's COMPARE microsimulation model to estimate the effects of a 1332 waiver application from the state of Iowa. The waiver is designed to stabilize Iowa's Affordable Care Act individual market through a series of modifications. We estimate that the application would increase the federal deficit, but would decrease federal spending per enrollee on the ACA-compliant market.

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  The Energy Implications of Drones for Package Delivery: A Geographic Information System Comparison 2017

  Timothy R. Gulden

  Delivery drones may become widespread over the next five to ten years, particularly for small, light items. In the future, drones could augment, or even replace, truck fleets and could have important implications for energy consumption, air traffic management, road congestion, urban planning, and consumption patterns in urban areas. In this report, we use a geographic information system analysis to compare truck versus delivery drone energy use.

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  Design Perspectives on Delivery Drones 2017

  Jia Xu

  To better understand the short-term technical viability and future prospects of delivery drones, we developed and exercised a delivery drone performance model. The model is sensitive to key vehicle design parameters of delivery drones, such as aerodynamic, structural, and propulsive efficiencies; battery density; and mission and operating assumptions.

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  The Promise of Community Citizen Science 2017

  Ramya Chari, Luke J. Matthews, Marjory S. Blumenthal, Amanda F. Edelman, Therese Jones

  Community citizen science involves individuals actively leading and carrying out research, exerting a high degree of control and ownership over scientific activities and tends to involve action-oriented research to support interventional activities or policy change. This Perspective examines the transformative potential of community citizen science for communities, science, and decisionmaking.

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  Autonomous Vehicles and Federal Safety Standards: An Exemption to the Rule? 2017

  Laura Fraade-Blanar, Nidhi Kalra

  We examine changes being considered to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) exemption process that are aimed at facilitating deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs). We find that the proposed solution -- an adaption of the existing exemption process -- is not well suited to AVs because traditional methods of evaluating vehicle safety as a precondition to granting exemptions are largely inapplicable.

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  When the Islamic State Comes to Town: The Economic Impact of Islamic State Governance in Iraq and Syria 2017

  Eric Robinson, Daniel Egel, Patrick B. Johnston, Sean Mann, Alexander D. Rothenberg, David Stebbins

  This report leverages remote sensing data and satellite imagery to assess the impact that Islamic State control and governance have on local economies in Iraq and Syria. It paints a bleak picture of life under the Islamic State. Although the group was able to maintain stable conditions in parts of Mosul and Raqqah, conditions in other cities deteriorated under poor governance and an inability to hold territory in the face of military opposition.

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  What's the Buzz? The City-Scale Impacts of Drone Delivery 2017

  Andrew J. Lohn

  This report examines the developing technology for using drones to deliver packages and attempts to identify the societal impacts. In particular, the author estimates the potential effects on energy consumption, infrastructure requirements, aerial congestion, privacy, and noise for a range of cities and operating conditions.

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  Russian Strategy in the Middle East 2017

  James Sladden, Becca Wasser, Ben Connable, Sarah Grand-Clement

  The authors seek to identify the important elements of Russian interests in the Middle East beyond Syria, to define the nature of Russian engagement in the region, and to describe the contours of a Russian strategy in the Middle East. Russia's regional strategy is an approach of ways and means, where broad principles take the place of prescribed ends; it is constantly seeking to improve its short-term economic, military, and political advantages.

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  Hazing Prevention and Response: Training for Military Leaders 2017

  Kirsten M. Keller, Miriam Matthews, Kimberly Curry Hall, Melissa Bauman

  This instructor guide provides content for leading Hazing Prevention and Response: Training for Military Leaders, an adaptable, interactive class to help with hazing prevention and response efforts. The class defines hazing, gives examples of hazing in a military context, and summarizes several hazing misconceptions. It also describes hazing-related policies and discusses strategies for leaders to help prevent and respond effectively to hazing.

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  Making Victory Count After Defeating ISIS: Stabilization Challenges in Mosul and Beyond 2017

  Shelly Culbertson, Linda Robinson

  This report investigates humanitarian and stabilization needs in Iraq, through a case study of Mosul, and offers recommendations for actions for stabilization after liberation from ISIS. The research team examined humanitarian needs, security implications, infrastructure and services, and governance and reconciliation. All of these activities will affect the immediate stabilization of Iraq and Mosul more specifically, including whether civilians can return home.

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  Informing Pittsburgh's Options to Address Lead in Water 2017

  Linnea Warren May, Jordan R. Fischbach, Michele Abbott

  This Perspective reviews the use of lead in Pittsburgh's water system and the policy options for remediation currently being weighed by local decisionmakers. We review the costs, regulatory barriers, and feasibility of the various options under consideration, including the city's new Safe Water Program and multiple pipe replacement options. We conclude with recommendations to reduce the public and private costs of full line replacement.

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