Rand Corporation: 374 books

Performance-based accountability systems (PBASs) link incentives to measured performance to improve services to the public. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little is known about PBASs' effectiveness at achieving their performance goals. This document explores the design...

Between 2000 and 2011, younger veterans were more likely to be unemployed than younger non-veterans. This difference falls rapidly with age and time. The evidence supports the hypothesis that veteran unemployment reflects engagement in job search. There is little evidence that veterans are disadvantaged...

During the past decade, arts advocates have relied on an instrumental approach to the benefits of the arts in arguing for support of the arts. This report evaluates these arguments and asserts that a new approach is needed. This new approach offers a more comprehensive view of how the arts create...

This report presents strategic choices America faces regarding the international economy over the term of the next U.S. administration, focusing on policy choices in the areas of maintaining and improving the rules-based international economic system; working with China and better integrating it into...

This report presents the results of a conference of 38 national experts in nutrition and public health who met to develop performance standards that could guide restaurants toward facilitating healthier choices among consumers and that local communities or states could use as a model for developing and implementing either voluntary or mandatory certification programs.

It has become clear that Stuxnet-like worms pose a serious threat even to critical U.S. infrastructure and computer systems that are not connected to the Internet. However, defending against such attacks involves complex technological and legal issues. In particular, at the federal level, different organizations...

Federal spending on surface-transportation infrastructure outpaces federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. Increasing fuel efficiency means that fuel-purchase expenditures have dropped, so real revenue generated from these taxes has declined. A percentage tax on crude oil and imported refined-petroleum products consumed in the United States could fund U.S. transportation infrastructure.

The increase in suicides among military personnel has raised concern. This book reviews the current evidence on suicide epidemiology in the military, identifies state-of-the-art suicide-prevention programs, describes and catalogs suicide-prevention activities in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)...

The Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) currently runs three in-theater hospitals for severely injured or wounded personnel. Part of the practioners' preparation was treating DoD beneficiaries for a broad range of injuries and illnesses. Opportunities for this preparation are not as numerous "in house"...

In this report, the authors use the Wounded Warrior Project’s 2013 survey of its members (alumni) to understand the physical, mental, and economic challenges that Wounded Warriors face. The researchers find that at least half of alumni reported dealing with mental health conditions such as depression...

This paper reviews data on the prevalence of sexual assault among servicemembers, predictors of disclosure, efforts to improve disclosure, victim needs and DoD efforts to provide necessary resources in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault. The authors compared civilian and DoD guidelines for care...

As a step toward improving its health information technology (IT) interoperability, the Military Health System is seeking to develop a research roadmap to better coordinate health IT research efforts, address IT capability gaps, and reduce programmatic risk for its enterprise projects. This report identifies...

For three school years, from 2007 to 2010, about 200 high-needs New York City public schools participated in the Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program, whose broad objective was to improve student performance through school-based financial incentives. An independent analysis of test scores, surveys,...

Internet-based surveys, although still in their infancy, are becomingincreasingly popular because they are believed to be faster, better,cheaper, and easier to conduct than surveys using more-traditional telephoneor mail methods. Based on evidence in the literature and real-life casestudies, this...