Decisionmaking

  • Man loooking at chalked stars on a wall, photo by anyaberkut/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Assessing Confidence in “What Works” in Social Policy

    Policy decisions are increasingly informed (or expected to be informed) by research evidence. Making the process as systematic, transparent and explicit as possible provides users with ways to understand, question and contribute to the eventual policy recommendation, and gives policymakers and practitioners confidence in its credibility.

    Mar 21, 2019

  • A screen capture from the Decision Support Tool for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Levee Investment Strategy

    Tool

    Decision Support Tool for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Levee Investment Strategy

    The Delta Stewardship Council commissioned the development of a risk modeling framework and decision support tool (DST) to aid in the formulation of a Delta Levees Investment Strategy.

    Mar 7, 2019

  • An aerial view of the San Francisco Bay delta, photo by Andrei / Adobe Stock

    Report

    Decision Support Tool for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Levees Investment Strategy

    The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta faces complex and varied flood risks. Possible investments to mitigate these risks are numerous, and they will affect Delta risks differently. The decision support tool aided the Delta Stewardship Council in developing a Delta Levees Investment Strategy.

    Mar 7, 2019

  • Skyline of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, illustration by Malte Muller

    Essay

    Resilience and Adaptation Strategies Can Address the Impacts of Climate Change

    With climate change already generating storms, heat waves, and droughts beyond historical norms, local governments need to do more to prepare. A decisionmaking framework developed by RAND allows communities to stress-test ideas, weigh the trade-offs, and plan for a range of possible futures.

    Feb 26, 2019

  • Report

    Report

    Science-Based Scenario Design: A Proposed Method to Support Political-Strategic Analysis

    How can nonmilitary factors be used in defense planning? The authors distinguish between political-strategic and military decisions and discuss recent findings regarding crisis and war variables to create science-based structured scenarios.

    Feb 18, 2019

  • Man stacking blocks to indicate idea, build, implement, photo by marchmeena29/Getty Images

    Brochure

    RAND's Impact: Year in Review 2018

    RAND President and CEO Michael Rich offers a year-end assessment of RAND's impact, highlighting ways in which the organization's findings and recommendations are helping to improve the health, security, and prosperity of individuals and communities throughout the world. This Year in Review reflects on RAND's achievements in 2018.

    Feb 1, 2019

  • Aswan High Dam, photo by Cliff Hellis/Flickr

    Journal Article

    Resilience of the Eastern African Electricity Sector to Climate Driven Changes in Hydropower Generation

    This study developed a framework consisting of long-term models for electricity supply and water systems management, to assess the vulnerability of potential electricity infrastructure expansion plans to the effects of climate change in Africa.

    Jan 29, 2019

  • A boy on a bicycle cools off from the extreme heat from an opened fire hydrant in Brooklyn, New York, July 2, 2018

    Commentary

    Triaging Climate Change

    There are many opportunities to manage climate risk around the world, but not everything can be saved. Delaying triage of climate damages could leave societies making ad hoc decisions instead of focusing on protecting the things they value most.

    Jan 23, 2019

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Identifying Climate Service Production Constraints to Adaptation Decision-Making in Sweden

    This paper draws on semi-structured interviews across climate service production environments in Sweden and finds that climate service producers experience multiple constraints related to the production and dissemination of actionable information.

    Jan 4, 2019

  • Tool

    Better Policing Toolkit

    The Better Policing Toolkit is a resource to help law enforcement agencies identify and implement the most effective strategies for different crime problems.

    Dec 14, 2018

  • Color blocks in a a square with four separated out

    Commentary

    Evidence Synthesis—Behind the Scenes

    The Royal Society and RAND Europe recently published an evidence synthesis on the impacts of ammonia emissions from agriculture on biodiversity. As well as aiming to provide a useful summary of the evidence to inform ongoing policy discussions, the study was intended to test the Royal Society's recently developed principles for good evidence synthesis for policy.

    Nov 30, 2018

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Hidden-Model Processes for Adaptive Management Under Uncertain Climate Change

    This paper proposes a set of optimization procedures based on the Markov decision process (MDP) framework to support decision making depending on the assumed learning rate.

    Nov 27, 2018

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Preparing For Local Adaptation: A Study of Community Understanding and Support

    We surveyed 1385 Pittsburghers on: (1) beliefs and knowledge about stormwater, (2) drivers of events, (3) support for green and gray infrastructure, and (4) the factors that explain their support.

    Nov 27, 2018

  • Melting icebergs by the coast of Greenland

    Report

    Deep Decarbonization as a Risk Management Challenge

    Deep decarbonization is the idea of reducing net human greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the 21st century. There are three concepts that help explain the full scope of deep decarbonization as a risk management challenge.

    Oct 22, 2018

  • Dissertation

    Dissertation

    Harmonizing Discretionary Policy Choice with Fiscal Rule Making: Mexico after Fiscal and Energy Sector Reforms

    Studies the long-term effectiveness and vulnerability of a diverse set of fiscal policies, which propose lump-sum transfers and different consumption tax exemptions.

    Sep 14, 2018

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    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.

    Sep 5, 2018

  • Dissertation

    Dissertation

    Choose Wisely: A Study of College Major Choice and Major Switching Behavior

    This dissertation explores the college major decision-making process, both for initial and subsequent major choices, and analyzes the associations between major choice behaviors and student outcomes such as time to degree and probability of graduation.

    Aug 31, 2018

  • RAND researcher Anna Elizabeth 'Nancy' Nimitz, September 1, 1958

    Content

    A Brief History of RAND

    RAND was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in 1948. From its early years to the present, RAND research is characterized by its objectivity and nonpartisanship, its quality and scientific rigor, and its dedication to improving policymaking on the most pressing issues of the day.

    Aug 3, 2018

  • Eco-friendly law and eco balance concept

    Commentary

    Suggestions to Help EPA Successfully Implement Retrospective Reviews

    The EPA's interest in including a systematic retrospective review element in new regulation has the potential to provide a transparent and well-structured method for assessing which decisions worked well and which didn't. If successful, it could serve as a role model for other regulatory agencies.

    Jul 19, 2018

  • Dissertation

    Dissertation

    Value of Information for Policy Analysis

    This dissertation considers the viability of applying Value of Information methods in complex systems for policy analysis, concluding that these methods can be applied, but that different methods are appropriate in different cases.

    May 15, 2018