All Pardee RAND students complete a policy-relevant dissertation aimed at tackling the most pressing policy issues facing the world. Many Pardee RAND dissertations are partially- or fully-funded through endowed dissertation awards and other prizes.
Dissertations by Date
2010
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Child Care Choices of Hispanic Families: Why Aren't Families Using Center Care? January 25, 2010
Explores why Hispanic children are enrolled in preschools and early childhood centers in lesser proportions than children of other races and ethnicities.
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Family Factors and Student Outcomes January 19, 2010
Examines the effects of family process variables (specific things families do) and family status variables (who families are) on the academic achievement and nonacademic outcomes of students, both in the United States and internationally.
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Between Slogans and Solutions: A Frame-Based Assessment Methodology for Public Diplomacy January 7, 2010
Examines an assessment methodology treating public diplomacy not as a series of discrete programs, but as a coordinated system of producing USG-preferred frames emphasizing or de-emphasizing specific elements of current or future U.S. policies.
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Three Essays on Hypertension Prevention and Medical Product Safety in China and the United States January 7, 2010
Addresses hypertension prevention and medical product safety in China and the United States.
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A Vehicle for Change: PNGV, An Experiment in Government-Industry Cooperation January 1, 2010
Assesses the effectiveness of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) in improving relationships among its members.
2009
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Self-Employment among Older Workers: Assistance Programs, Liquidity Constraints and Employment Patterns October 19, 2009
Examines self-employment among older workers.
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Three Essays on Health Behaviors and the Need for New Policy October 15, 2009
Three essays, each on one emerging public health issue that calls for new policy making.
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Essays on Government Policy and Pharmaceutical Innovation September 23, 2009
Investigates two mechanisms by which governments may influence pharmaceutical research and development priorities: (1) public funding for life sciences research; and (2) prescription drug insurance, as in Medicare Part D.
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Defining and Evaluating Reliable Options for Overseas Combat Support Basing September 21, 2009
Identifies a robust set of facility locations for the Air Force to place combat support basing materiel that will cover a broad range of potential missions (e.g., training, humanitarian, and major combat operations) that may occur around the world.
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Evaluating the Long-term Impacts of AmeriCorps Service on Participants September 18, 2009
Evaluates the long-term impacts of AmeriCorps service on participants, particularly in the areas of civic engagement, future volunteerism, appreciation of diversity, and a number of other job and life skills.
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Finding Needles in a Haystack: A Resource Allocation Methodology to Design Strategies to Detect Terrorist Weapon Development August 10, 2009
Presents a methodology to design strategies for detecting terrorist weapon development and shows how it might be used to detect development of improvised explosive devices and radiological dispersal devices.
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The Effect of Knowledge Management Systems on Organizational Performance: Do Soldier and Unit Counterinsurgency Knowledge and Performance Improve Following "Push" or "Adaptive-Push" Training? June 24, 2009
Reports the results of two studies to determine how best to increase soldier knowledge and unit performance using a network-centric, knowledge repository designed to increase Stryker Brigade soldier knowledge and unit performance.
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Preserving Health among Vulnerable Populations: Three Essays June 23, 2009
This dissertation consists of three stand-alone essays that focus on the economics of preserving health among vulnerable population, specifically chronic ill and elderly population.
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Selection, Wear, and Tear: The Health of Hispanics and Hispanic Immigrants in the United States June 22, 2009
Discusses issues surrounding the health of Hispanics in general, and of Hispanic immigrants in particular.
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Value of Pharmaceutical Innovation: The Access Effects, Diffusion Process, and Health Effects of New Drugs April 29, 2009
Examines the effects and benefits of the introduction of new drugs.
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Retirement Decisions of Women and Men in Response to Their Own and Spousal Health April 29, 2009
Examines the impact of individual and spousal health on the retirement decisions of both spouses in dual-earner families.
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Financial Resources, Living Arrangements, and Private Transfers April 27, 2009
Analyzes the caregiving behavior of adult children toward elderly parents in the United States and China.
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No Bullies Allowed: Understanding Peer Victimization, the Impacts on Delinquency, and the Effectiveness of Prevention Programs April 22, 2009
Uses a large, nationally representative panel dataset and a propensity score matching technique to assess the impact of bully victimization and the success of intervention programs.
2008
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The Place We Live, the Health We Have: A Multi-Level, Life Course Perspective on the Effects of Residential Segregation and Neighborhood Poverty on Health and Racial Health Disparities October 27, 2008
Investigates the relationship between metropolitan-level segregation measures and individual-level health outcomes and estimates the causal impact of neighborhood disadvantage on health.
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Economic Determinants of Obesity Among Older Americans October 14, 2008
Addresses the long-term effect of physical activity on body weight and the effect of food price on body weight among Americans between ages 50 and 73.
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Improving Cost-Effectiveness and Mitigating Risks of Renewable Energy Requirements October 13, 2008
Assesses the social welfare implications of a policy of requiring 25% of electricity and motor vehicle transportation fuels supplied to U.S. consumers to come from renewable energy sources, such as wind power and ethanol, by 2025.
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Adolescent Mothers Involved in the Child Welfare System in Los Angeles: Who are They and How Can We Help Them? October 13, 2008
Addresses the reunification of maltreated children with the adolescent mothers who maltreated them.
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The Effect of Personnel Stability on Organizational Performance: Do Battalions with Stable Command Groups Achieve Higher Training Proficiency at the National Training Center? September 26, 2008
Tests the assumptions behind the U.S. Army's personnel management system that personnel stability leads to higher unit cohesion, which leads in turn to increased unit effectiveness.
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Effects of Deployments on Spouses of Military Personnel September 12, 2008
Examines the effect of military deployment on spousal labor force participation and household well-being.
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Considering a Cadre Augmented Army July 20, 2008
Analyzes the attractiveness and feasibility of integrating a new type of unit into the Army from three perspectives: budgetary, operational, and historical.