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What's it like to work as an economist at a non-academic research institute, like RAND? This is a question I get a lot, especially during job market season. #EconTwitter
I have a new report out today that I think offers one perspective.
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https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA271-1.html
I have a new report out today that I think offers one perspective.
(thread)
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https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA271-1.html
At RAND, all my research projects have funding. Some are grant-funded (through the NIH, NSF, and others) and these will result in peer-reviewed journal articles. This is the "academia-like" part of my job. I write the question. I get the funding. I write the paper.
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(insert joke her about how that paper is published 5-10 years later 
)
)
Others are client-funded (through DOL, FEMA, and other federal, state, or local governments) and are typically some form of evaluation or implementation study.
They have a question or a problem, we help them answer it.
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They have a question or a problem, we help them answer it.
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As an economist, we are given an array of tools in research and analysis in our training. When doing non-academic research, you get to flex them a little differently.
For example, this paper.
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For example, this paper.
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It's for the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, an intervention program for youth who have experienced difficulty in high school. It's a residential education program with sites across states, similar to Job Corps, but has younger participants and is quasi-military.
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How can a Challenge program site tell if it is successful?
This is an identification nightmare. There's selection in who has difficulty in high school, who decides to apply to Challenge, who is accepted if they apply, and who starts/ finishes if they are accepted.
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This is an identification nightmare. There's selection in who has difficulty in high school, who decides to apply to Challenge, who is accepted if they apply, and who starts/ finishes if they are accepted.
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We can solve this nightmare through an RCT, but those tend to be "one and done." They validate the program model, but not ongoing program performance. Also, they're expensive.
(The Challenge RCT was over 10 years ago and found positive earnings and education results).
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(The Challenge RCT was over 10 years ago and found positive earnings and education results).
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So, back to, how can a Challenge program site tell if it is successful?
This was the question put to me.
What I did was basically build a (light) partial identification model for the program.
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This was the question put to me.
What I did was basically build a (light) partial identification model for the program.
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I started with three comparison groups for Challenge participants: high school dropouts, GED holders, and high school graduates who did not go to college. I referred to these groups as spanning the "spectrum of selection" and called them the benchmark groups.
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I then looked in the CPS, NLSY, and ELS and built a range of outcomes (using the benchmark groups) at each age from 14-29. In the report, I then related these outcomes back to the program's goals.
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Of course, the words "partial identification" do not show up anywhere in the report, but that guided my approach in what (I hope) will be a helpful tool for on-the-ground practitioners.
And that's (part of) what life is like at RAND.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA271-1.html
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And that's (part of) what life is like at RAND.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA271-1.html
/n
