RAND Social and Economic Well-Being Commentary

Commentary from RAND researchers on topics related to social and economic well-being.

Law Enforcement
What Support Do Officers Need to Perform at Their Peak?
Jun 14, 2022
Bob Harrison

Police1's second annual survey on “What Cops Want” shows both major strengths and substantial challenges in the profession. Law enforcement leadership can use the findings to better support and engage their officers.
Crime and Violence Prevention
States Have Leading Role to Play in Preventing Mass Shootings
Jun 13, 2022
Katya Migacheva, Jordan R. Reimer @Jordan_R_Reimer

As the United States grapples with how to prevent mass shootings, state governments might be best positioned to take the lead on long-term, sustainable efforts that prevent targeted violence.
Drug Policy and Trends
What Chesa Boudin's Replacement Can Do About Open-Air Drug Dealing
Jun 10, 2022
Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer

Successfully addressing open-air drug dealing in San Francisco will likely require transparency about consequences that drug dealers face; a rethinking of how such crimes are sanctioned; and collaboration between prosecutors, police, and the community.
Opioids
Synthetic Opioids Are an Everything Problem
Jun 9, 2022

Illegally manufactured synthetic opioids have accelerated the opioid crisis. These drugs have created new challenges across a wide range of policy areas. That's why this crisis warrants new strategies and a comprehensive response.
Urban Planning
How Can Commercial Buildings Become Needed Housing?
Jun 6, 2022
Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward

Adaptive reuse has tremendous promise for making a dent in Southern California's housing shortage, but realizing its full potential will require thoughtful and timely policymaking.
Gun Policy
The Gun Laws That Work, and the Gun Laws That Don't
May 27, 2022
Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral

Are certain gun laws and regulations likely to improve or worsen public safety? At a time when many Americans are searching for solutions to our country's intolerably high rates of gun violence, social scientists can help provide answers.
Homelessness
Camping Bans and Group Shelters Unlikely to Solve Homelessness Crisis
May 23, 2022
Sarah B. Hunter, Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward

Should Los Angeles continue to direct most resources toward creating permanent housing with services? Or should it try to rapidly add more group shelters and shared tiny homes which would allow the city to enforce camping bans in certain areas? There are compelling arguments for both approaches.
Environmental and Natural Resource Management
How Could the United States Incentivize Investors to Decarbonize the Economy?
May 12, 2022
Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, Nihar Chhatiawala, et al.

While mandatory climate-related disclosure may improve information and decisionmaking for investors, it alone is unlikely to accelerate investment in decarbonization at the rate needed. To motivate private investment in climate mitigation, policymakers could explore additional policies.
Substance Use Harm Reduction
Fentanyl Makes an Already Dangerous Drug Market Deadlier Than Ever
May 2, 2022
Bryce Pardo @brycepardo, David Luckey

Failure to recognize and respond to how rapidly illegal drug markets have changed with the arrival of illegally manufactured synthetic opioids will continue to put many Americans at risk of exposure to fentanyl, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands more for years to come.
Incarceration
What Programs Can Help Parents in Prison and Their Children?
May 2, 2022

Around 2.3 million people live in U.S. jails and prisons, and most of them are parents. What are prisons doing to help them be better parents when they get out? It's more than just a policy question—it's a social justice question.
Big Data
Tracking Migration Amid War and Disease
Apr 28, 2022

Researchers from RAND and RAND Europe have been working on a way to better track migrant numbers, country by country and state by state, in almost real time. They do it by tapping into one of the largest information-gathering operations on the planet, Facebook.
Global Climate Change
Amid Climate Change, These Tech and Policy Experts See Reason for Optimism
Apr 18, 2022
Robert J. Lempert @RobertLempert, Elisabeth Gilmore

To slow climate change and adapt to the damage already underway, the world will have to shift how it generates and uses energy, transports people and goods, designs buildings, and grows food. That starts with embracing innovation and change.
Social Services and Welfare
The Marriage Plot
Apr 4, 2022
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist

For more than a quarter century, the U.S. government has been sending an unmistakable message to poor, single mothers: Get married. If America genuinely wants to address poverty and achieve gender equality, this has to change.
Fossil Fuels
How We Might Better Live with Oil in California
Apr 1, 2022
Jalal Awan, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg

As California grapples with the question of balancing environmental stewardship with the recent renewed focus on “local oil,” lawmakers could look to local communities for the best answers to avoid future petro-disasters.
Discriminatory Practices
Algorithms Teach Us Why Equity Is Hard
Mar 28, 2022
Irineo Cabreros @cabrerosic

If all the shortcomings of humanity were stripped away, equity would still be an elusive goal for algorithms for reasons that have more to do with mathematical impossibilities than backward ideologies. But even if attaining equity is fundamentally difficult, seeking it is not futile.
Gun Policy
Exploring the Disagreement Among Gun Policy Experts
Mar 7, 2022

A survey asked gun policy researchers, advocates, and congressional staffers who work on gun issues for their views on policies ranging from weapon bans to stand-your-ground laws. Regardless of where they stood, they were not so dissimilar in what they thought gun policies should be trying to accomplish.
Homelessness
The Lives of Veterans Experiencing Homelessness
Feb 25, 2022

The United States pledged in 2009 to end veteran homelessness. The numbers have fallen by nearly half since then, but there are still more than 37,000 veterans living in their cars, in temporary shelters, or in makeshift camps. Researchers followed 26 of them for one year to see how they live and what keeps them on the streets.

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Researcher Spotlight

George Zuo

Associate Economist

George Zuo (pronounced "zō") is an applied microeconomist whose research focuses on improving economic mobility for low-income Americans. His research has explored topics including broadband affordability, school discipline, housing, and revitalizing low-income neighborhoods. Zuo received his…

Linnea Warren May

Associate Policy Researcher

Linnea Warren May (she/her) is an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She has worked on projects related to building a culture of health, city resilience planning, integrating data to assess well-being and social equity, workforce development, patient experience with health…

Aaron Clark-Ginsberg

Behavioral/Social Scientist

Aaron Clark-Ginsberg (he/him) is a behavioral/social scientist at the RAND Corporation who has been researching disasters for more than 10 years. His projects span the disasters gambit, with a recent focus on three primary areas of inquiry: disasters and community, disasters and health, and…

The RAND State Firearm Law Database

Giving Drug Policy Decisionmakers the Data They Need

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Civilian Casualties: Lessons from the Battle for Raqqa

RAND Remote: Informing Innovative Policy Solutions to Address L.A.'s Dual Crises

The Policy Currents Podcast

Improving Psychological Wellbeing and Work Outcomes in the UK

Managing Escalation in Crisis and War

Getting to Know Military Caregivers and Their Needs

Planning for the Rising Costs of Dementia

RAND Social and Economic Well-Being Commentary

What Support Do Officers Need to Perform at Their Peak?

States Have Leading Role to Play in Preventing Mass Shootings

What Chesa Boudin's Replacement Can Do About Open-Air Drug Dealing

Synthetic Opioids Are an Everything Problem

How Can Commercial Buildings Become Needed Housing?

The Gun Laws That Work, and the Gun Laws That Don't

Camping Bans and Group Shelters Unlikely to Solve Homelessness Crisis

How Could the United States Incentivize Investors to Decarbonize the Economy?

Fentanyl Makes an Already Dangerous Drug Market Deadlier Than Ever

What Programs Can Help Parents in Prison and Their Children?

Tracking Migration Amid War and Disease

Amid Climate Change, These Tech and Policy Experts See Reason for Optimism

The Marriage Plot

How We Might Better Live with Oil in California

Algorithms Teach Us Why Equity Is Hard

Exploring the Disagreement Among Gun Policy Experts

The Lives of Veterans Experiencing Homelessness

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