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RAND's research on law, business, and government includes analyses of the criminal and civil justice systems, governments and political systems, international trade and economic development, and the banking and finance sectors. Notable studies have addressed the effects of gun policies in the United States and liability in the age of autonomous vehicles.

  • Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine labels, March 19, 2021, photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters

    Commentary

    Vaccine Patents Debate Risks Becoming a Sideshow

    May 17, 2021

    As COVID-19 cases continue to surge around the world, the debate is raging over whether patents on existing vaccines should be waived. But the global community could view patent waivers as just one of many available tools for speeding up vaccine delivery worldwide.

  • People take part in the celebrations for the National Liberation Day near the Arch of Reunification in the city of Pyongyang, North Korea, August 14, 2005, photo by Yuri Maltsev/Reuters

    Report

    From Hermit Kingdom to Open for Business

    May 25, 2021

    When the situation in North Korea becomes conducive to foreign investment and development, what might it take to kick-start the country's economy?

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  • Large group of people making a virus shape, photo by NiseriN/Getty Images

    Commentary

    The Impact of the Pandemic on Demographic Trends

    Key demographic trends in fertility, mortality, and migration are responsible for shifts in the overall structure of any population. COVID-19 has affected each of these, with potentially important implications.

    Apr 12, 2021

  • A scientist working late in a laboratory, photo by SolStock/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Scientific Research Integrity Demands Transparency—the Law Should Require It Too

    China pays U.S. scientists for their innovations in exchange for money and access to research laboratories and speaking and publication opportunities. They require the researchers to keep these agreements secret from their employers or the U.S. government. Perhaps it is time to codify scientific transparency into law.

    Apr 12, 2021

  • Report

    Report

    Examining Career and Technical Education in National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs

    The authors examined career and technical education opportunities for participants in the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16-18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school.

    Apr 12, 2021

  • Nurse Nicole McCurrach draws up COVID-19 vaccinations at Richmond raceway in Richmond, Virginia, March 4, 2021, photo by Julia Rendleman/Reuters

    Commentary

    Target Vaccine to 'High-Contact' People

    Actively seeking out people with lots of contacts for vaccination could bring the epidemic under control much more quickly than vaccinating people at random. Vaccinating just 15 percent of the population would be enough to crush the epidemic—so long as it was the right 15 percent.

    Apr 9, 2021

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Psychometric Evaluation of the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Disenrollment Reasons Survey

    To develop and assess the reliability and validity of composite measures of reasons for disenrollment from Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans.

    Apr 9, 2021

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Nursing Home Responses to Performance-based Accountability: Results of a National Survey

    We describe quality improvement changes that skilled nursing facilities reported making in response to CMS performance measurements and whether reported QI changes were associated with better performance on CMS performance measures.

    Apr 9, 2021

  • A statue of Lady Justice wearing a face mask, photos by Ulf, Honcharuk/Adobe Stock; design by Peter Soriano/RAND Corporation

    Report

    Lessons Learned from the Justice System's Pandemic Response

    Incarcerated populations, corrections staff, court personnel, and law enforcement were hit hard by COVID-19. At the same time, national protests after the killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans increased pressure for criminal justice reform. Insights from this time could help the justice system prepare for future challenges.

    Apr 8, 2021

  • United States Postal Service workers load mail into delivery trucks outside a post office in Royal Oak, Michigan, August 22, 2020, photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters

    Commentary

    The USPS Is a Public Service, Not a Business

    As Congress and the White House debate how to assist the Postal Service, it will be important to understand the effects of proposed cost-cutting measures on mail delivery of vital services, smaller and rural communities, low-income communities, and the USPS's broader public safety and security functions.

    Apr 6, 2021

  • A schoolgirl works through a textbook with her teacher in elementary class, in Hexham, Northumberland, photo by SolStock/Getty Images

    Commentary

    What Factors Affecting Retention Matter Most to Teachers?

    Maintaining an adequate supply of teachers is a challenge and an area of significant concern. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, a set of interventions developed to target the preferences and expectations of specific groups of teachers is likely to be most effective.

    Apr 5, 2021

  • Elderly Asian woman on wheelchair at home with daughter taking care of her, photo by Toa55/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Rescue Plan Help for Family Caregivers Is a First Step

    Unpaid caregivers have been a critical part of the functioning U.S. economy, serving as the backbone of the health system, since long before the pandemic started. Adding them to the American Rescue Plan was an important step, but even after the pandemic is over, their financial security will need long-term protection.

    Apr 5, 2021

  • Report

    Report

    Streamlining Cost Estimation for Large Department of Defense Organizations

    Researchers created a prototype tool using data from the Full Cost of Manpower model to help manpower decisionmakers produce consistent and repeatable cost estimations to understand the budget implications of alternative total force mixes.

    Mar 31, 2021

  • People are silhouetted as they hold mobile devices in front of a screen projected with a binary code and a Russian flag, in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 29, 2014, photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters

    Report

    PSAs Might Prevent Foreign Disinformation from Taking Hold

    Tests with focus groups suggest that Americans are vulnerable to Russian-made memes. The participants responded positively to a public service announcement about foreign election interference, especially after they learned that they had just viewed content from Russia designed to breed dissension.

    Mar 29, 2021

  • Blog

    Supporting Asian Americans, U.S. Gun Policy, Climate Migrants: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on how to support Asian Americans, the U.S. gun policy debate, the education “arms race,” and more.

    Mar 26, 2021

  • A Venezuelan refugee with his daughter on his shoulders asks for help at a traffic light in Medellin, Colombia, February 11, 2019, photo by David Himbert/Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

    Commentary

    Colombia's Trailblazing Model for Refugees

    Colombia recently announced it will give temporary protection status to a million undocumented Venezuelan refugees, with permission to live and work in the country for 10 years. In doing so, it created a new model for managing its own refugee situation and perhaps others elsewhere.

    Mar 26, 2021

  • A woman reads the news on her phone, photo by fizkes/Getty Images

    Project

    Truth Decay: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions

    The United States is experiencing an era of "Truth Decay"—the line between fact and fiction is becoming blurred. What's causing this phenomenon? And what can be done to counter it?

    Mar 26, 2021

  • Army Sgt. 1st Class Cory Christiansen, a member of the Para-Commandos, U.S. Special Operations Command’s parachute team, jumps out of an HC-130J Combat King II aircraft over Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Nov. 15, 2019, photo by Air Force Airman 1st Class Dwane Young/U.S. Department of Defense

    Testimony

    Special Operations Forces Culture and Climate

    What the nation asks of its special operations forces shapes who they are and what they do. Two decades of counterterrorism focus have led to an unbalanced and overused force. How can policymakers and military leaders rebalance the force to meet changing demands and address systemic issues such as its lack of diversity?

    Mar 26, 2021

  • L-R: Bahrain Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., September 15, 2020, photo by Gripas Yuri/ABACA/Reuters

    Commentary

    Abraham Accords Offer Historic Opportunity to Spur Mideast Growth

    The Abraham Accords have heralded a dramatic shift in the relationship between Israel and the Muslim nations of the world. While these accords represent a major political breakthrough, they also represent a possible new chapter in the region's development: away from conflict and toward a shared economic vision of prosperity.

    Mar 25, 2021

  • Graduates of The City College of New York stand at their commencement ceremony in Manhattan on May 31, 2019, photo by Gabriela Bhaskar/Reuters

    Report

    Fortifying Education as a Pathway to the Middle Class

    Education levels in the United States have been rising for 50 years, including large gains for many demographic groups. Adults with college degrees have higher incomes than their less-educated peers. But declining public support for higher education and increasing costs are making it harder to obtain degrees.

    Mar 25, 2021

  • Report

    Report

    Evaluation of IPS Grow: Final report

    IPS supports people with serious mental illness into employment. This evaluation examines the uptake and perceptions of support from IPS Grow by IPS services. We also examine the impact that different support had on different services.

    Mar 24, 2021

  • An illustration of human hands holding various smart devices, image by zubada/Getty Images

    Project

    Explore Truth Decay Research and Commentary by Topic

    From how disinformation spreads online to Americans' trust in democratic institutions, RAND researchers are studying a wide range of topics related to Truth Decay—the diminishing role of facts in U.S. public life.

    Mar 23, 2021

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