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
2019
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The Criminal Justice System and More Lenient Drug Policy: Three Case Studies on California's Changes to How Its Criminal Justice System Addresses Drug Use April 15, 2019
Explores California's recent liberal policies, mostly associated to drug-related crimes, to provide implications for future policymaking.
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Three Essays on Health Financing in Sub-Saharan Africa: Health Shocks, Health Insurance Uptake, and Financial Risk Protection April 12, 2019
Series of three essays on health financing in Sub-Saharan Africa using quantitative and comparative case study methods.
2018
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Three Essays in Health Economics: Towards Alternative Payment Models for High-Value, High-Cost Medical Treatments December 17, 2018
Tests how two different payment models could help address the uncertainty about clinical benefits and the high upfront cost of some emerging therapies.
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Improving Health Decisions and Outcomes for Chronic Diseases: The Impact of Incentives and Information October 11, 2018
Assesses the impact of policies designed to address the treatment and prevention of chronic using a range of causal inference and quantitative methods.
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Three Essays on Economic Growth and Human Welfare October 11, 2018
Examines the influence of macroeconomic factors on individual welfare.
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Preventing Deviations from Presidential Term Limits in Low- and Middle-Income Democracies October 11, 2018
Examines the broader theme of deviations from presidential term limits.
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Ammonia Emissions from Industrial Hog Farming: Efficacy of Voluntary Control Strategies October 1, 2018
This dissertation explores the externality of ammonia emissions from the Iowa hog industry and investigates the possible impact of voluntary environmental policies to encourage ammonia control technology adoption.
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Long-Term Effects of Wartime Sexual Violence on Women and Families: The Case of Northern Uganda September 21, 2018
This dissertation studies the enduring effects of wartime sexual violence on Ugandan women and explore its ripple effects on families.
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Treatment Not Custody: Process and Impact Evaluation of the Santa Monica Homeless Community Court September 18, 2018
This dissertation is a process and impact evaluation of the Santa Monica Homeless Community Court.
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Harmonizing Discretionary Policy Choice with Fiscal Rule Making: Mexico after Fiscal and Energy Sector Reforms September 14, 2018
Studies the long-term effectiveness and vulnerability of a diverse set of fiscal policies, which propose lump-sum transfers and different consumption tax exemptions.
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Choose Wisely: A Study of College Major Choice and Major Switching Behavior August 31, 2018
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.
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Financial Education among Financially Vulnerable Populations in the United States August 29, 2018
Examines if state-mandated financial education improves debt-related and college-going behaviors among economically vulnerable young adults.
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Strengthening Federal Capacity to Conduct Evaluations to Inform Future R&D Program Planning June 21, 2018
This dissertation identifies for strengthening the Federal Government's capacity to evaluate its research and development programs using insights identified from philanthropic foundations.
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Three Essays on Value in Health Care: Workplace Wellness Program Return on Investment, Effectiveness of Monetary Penalties for Tobacco Cessation Non-Participation, and Physician Perceptions of Their Use of Time and Appropriateness of Care Provided June 12, 2018
This dissertation, in a three paper format, examines three policy levers for improving health care value.
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Value of Information for Policy Analysis May 15, 2018
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.
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Finding the Force of the Future: Improving Air Force Officer Outreach through an Investigation of School and Community Attributes April 17, 2018
Seeks to improve understanding of the factors indicative of applications to the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps' High School Scholarship Program.
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Using the National Training Center Instrumentation System to Aid Simulation-Based Acquisition March 22, 2018
This dissertation uses the National Training Center instrumentation system to aid simulation-based acquisition.
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Regional Economic Growth and International Capital Flows: The Case of Ukraine February 26, 2018
This dissertation examines divergent economic paths between regions in several countries and recommends specific steps for Ukraine's regional and overall economic policy.
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The Impact of Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Regulations in Primary Care February 14, 2018
The dissertation assesses the impact of nurse practitioner scope-of-practice regulations in primary care.
2017
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Increasing Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders: Estimating Costs, Supply, and the Effects of Insurance Expansions August 14, 2018
This dissertation measures access to buprenorphine, the fastest growing form of medication-assisted treatment, and the effects of demand side interventions aiming to tackle the opioid problem in America.
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Deterring Space War: An Exploratory Analysis Incorporating Prospect Theory into a Game Theoretic Model of Space Warfare December 21, 2017
This dissertation uses a game theoretic model of space war to examine how sentiments in multiple dimensions impact state decisions regarding whether to expand a ground war into the space domain.
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Labor Market Outcomes of Youth and Women in Newly Industrialized and Developing Countries December 4, 2017
This dissertation examines the effects of exogenous shocks and labor market policies on employment, wages, and human capital development of youth and women.
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I Hear What You Are Saying: Analysis of USAF Rated Officer Comments from the 2015 Military Career Decisions Survey November 20, 2017
Using data from the USAF 2015 Active Duty Career Decisions Survey, this dissertation employs a range of qualitative data analysis techniques to examine the open-ended response questions related to a pilot's decision to remain or depart the service.
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Accelerating the Transition of Technologies Created through the U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Program November 16, 2017
This dissertation gains to understand the contextual effects on the success of the transition of technologies generated through the U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research program.
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Contextual Effects and Child Health and Cognition September 25, 2017
This dissertation examines how the local environment contexts contribute to children's health and cognition.