Featured Pardee RAND Research

Pardee RAND students and faculty — and even some alumni — contribute to RAND research. This page features selected reports and projects to which the Pardee RAND community has contributed.

How Are Americans Paying Their Bills During the Pandemic?
Jun 3, 2020

About one-third of U.S. households have experienced a decline in income as a result of COVID-19. Professors Katherine Carman and Shanthi Nataraj find that roughly 30 percent of these households—especially low-income, black, or Hispanic households—are having difficulties paying their bills.
Alum: How Would a Public Option on Health Insurance Affect Costs and Coverage?
May 28, 2020

Interest in a government-sponsored health insurance plan with publicly determined provider rates is growing. An analysis by Jodi Liu (cohort '12) and RAND colleagues looked at four such "public option" plans and found that lower provider payment rates would lower premiums. But the impact on enrollees would also depend on tax credits, and changes to the number of uninsured would be small.
Student Examines How Small Businesses Are Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 22, 2020

Small-business owners are facing many challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Diana Gehlhaus (cohort '15) helped research what kinds of policies might help them and what will they need to thrive once the immediate public health crisis has passed.
Student Helps to Demystify the Belt and Road Initiative
May 13, 2020

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to connect its partner countries domestically and globally. Though the project appears to address a critical shortage of infrastructure in developing countries, it has been widely criticized. Keren Zhu (cohort '17) and colleagues explore what is at the heart of these critiques.
Student Examines How to Track and Disrupt the Looted Antiquities Trade
May 12, 2020

The sale of stolen cultural property provides an important funding source for terrorist organizations and rogue states. Bilyana Lilly (cohort '16) helped to compile new evidence from numerous open sources that shows how the illicit antiquities market operates and ways law enforcement might be able to disrupt it.
Alum and Prof Evaluate 24/7 Sobriety Program at Individual Level
May 7, 2020

24/7 Sobriety combines frequent alcohol testing with swift, certain, and modest sanctions for those who test positive for alcohol or miss a test. Alum Greg Midgette and Prof. Beau Kilmer used an instrumental variables approach for this study and found 24/7 reduced the probability a participant was rearrested or had probation revoked at 12 months by 49%.
A Natural Experiment to Test the Effect of Sanction Certainty and Celerity on Substance-Impaired Driving: North Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety Program
May 7, 2020

Over half of participants ordered to abstain from substance use complete 24/7 Sobriety without a detected substance use event. At the county level, the program is associated with a 9% reduction in substance-impaired driving arrests.
Students Offer Hospitals Critical Care Surge Capacity Strategies for Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 5, 2020

Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and Hamad Al Ibrahim ('18) worked with RAND researchers to present methods for creating critical care surge capacity in hospitals to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students Help Develop Tool for Policymakers to Manage COVID-19 Responses
May 4, 2020

State and local officials implemented a range of interventions to slow the spread of COVID-19, such as social distancing and school closures. Pedro Lima, Lawrence Baker, Keren Zhu, Michelle Priest, and Lynn Hu helped to develop a web-based tool to help leaders weigh both the public health and economic consequences of different approaches to lifting some of these measures.
The Impact of the Air Force's Space Launch Acquisition Decisions
Apr 28, 2020

How could potential U.S. Air Force decisions in the near term affect domestic launch providers and the market in general? New launch market forecasts and vignettes illuminate potential strategies for U.S. firms.
Students Help Develop Interactive Tool for Strategizing Hospital Critical Care Capacity
Apr 17, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is placing extraordinary strains on the U.S. medical system, especially hospitals. Hamad Al-Ibrahim (cohort '18) and Karishma Patel ('17) worked with Prof. Chris Nelson and RAND colleagues to develop an interactive tool hospitals can use to estimate their current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it.
Student Explores What Digital Materials Teachers Use
Apr 16, 2020

Digital materials for lesson planning and instruction are becoming an increasingly important resource for teachers. Ashley Woo (cohort '18) and RAND colleagues surveyed English language arts, mathematics, and science teachers across the United States for insights on which materials they use and what they consider barriers to use.
Alum and Student Examine Security Risks of China's Investments in Israel
Apr 7, 2020

Chinese investments in Israeli high-tech companies and major infrastructure projects present distinct concerns for Israel and the United States, according to research by alum Shira Efron (cohort '11) and student Emily Haskell ('16). They could lead to leaks of sensitive technology and cyberespionage. And these risks could affect the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Students Contribute to New Tool to Help Health Officials Plan for COVID-19 Patient Surge
Apr 3, 2020

Hospitals are searching for ways to ramp up their surge capacity to provide critical care for the sickest COVID-19 patients. Students Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and Hamad Al-Ibrahim ('18) helped to develop a user-friendly calculator that enables decisionmakers at all levels to estimate current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it.
Students: Promising Strategies for Creating Critical Care Capacity in U.S. Hospitals
Apr 3, 2020

Hospitals can prepare for a surge of patients critically ill with COVID-19, but it will require hospital leaders, practitioners, and regional officials to adopt drastic measures that challenge the standard way of providing care. Students Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and Hamad Al Ibrahim ('18) worked with RAND colleagues to develop a tool to help estimate current capacity and explore ways to increase it.
Evaluating the WhyWeRise Mental Health Campaign
Apr 1, 2020

Interviews and a survey indicate that WhyWeRise, a community engagement mental health campaign, reached at least 30 percent of Los Angeles County youth and mobilized them to improve social support for those experiencing mental health challenges.
Alum, Student Examine Software Acquisition Workforce Initiative for the Department of Defense
Mar 31, 2020

The U.S. Department of Defense seeks to advance the ability of its software acquisition workforce to rapidly and reliably deliver complex software-dependent capabilities. Bonnie Triezenberg (cohort '14) and Lindsey Polley ('16) ask, what competencies are needed for an effective software acquisition workforce?
Evaluating A Rapid Rehousing and Employment Pilot Program for Adults on Probation
Mar 31, 2020

Breaking Barriers is a pilot program to provide adults on probation in Los Angeles County with housing support coupled with case management and employment services.
Student: Defense Industrial Base Needs a Cyber Protection Program
Mar 30, 2020

The unclassified networks of defense industrial base firms have become a target for adversaries seeking to steal sensitive data, trade secrets, and intellectual property. Student Lindsey Polley (cohort '16) and RAND colleagues examine how the U.S. Department of Defense can better secure these networks.
Student Examines How Coast Guard Can Leverage Social Media and Enhanced Cell Phone Data to Improve Emergency Response
Mar 17, 2020

A growing proportion of maritime distress calls to the U.S. Coast Guard comes indirectly through social media, 911, or cell phones. Student Sohaela Amiri (cohort '16) and colleagues suggest that better understanding of the social media and cell phone environments could help inform future Department of Homeland Security policy on using these media in response operations.
Detecting Malign or Subversive Information Efforts over Social Media
Mar 16, 2020

The United States has a capability gap in detecting malign or subversive information campaigns in time to respond before they influence large audiences. A novel method can now detect these efforts.
Alum Examines Effects of Limiting Payments to Hospitals for Out-of-Network Care
Mar 12, 2020

There is growing interest among U.S. policymakers to use out-of-network payment limits to curb surprise medical bills and as a tool to control rising health care costs. Alum Erin Duffy (cohort '15) examines how such limits might affect negotiated in-network prices and total payments for hospital care?
Student Helps Compare Army's Suicide Rate to the General Population's
Mar 10, 2020

The U.S. Army has typically compared its suicide rate with that of the general population while adjusting for age, gender, and yearly differences. But student Steven Davenport and RAND colleagues find there are additional factors related to suicide that should be considered: race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and marital status.
Student Helps Analyze the Cyber Threat from Drones
Mar 5, 2020

Unmanned aerial systems—drones—have become more common, more readily available, and more sophisticated. And they have new capabilities, such as increased data collection and autonomous behavior. Student Jalal Awan and RAND colleagues found that drones' cybersecurity implications demand a coherent strategy.
Student Helps Evaluate Impact of L.A. County Moral Injury Conference
Mar 4, 2020

In May 2019, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America hosted a three-day conference, "Moral Injury and Pathways to Recovery." Student Rebecca deGuttry and RAND colleagues evaluated the reach and impact of the conference and its goals to deepen knowledge about moral injury and effective recovery strategies and to strengthen collaborative connections.