Applications of Risk Analysis to Public Policy

This course introduces concepts of risk analysis and tools that can be used in all stages of risk analysis. The methods of risk analysis provide tools and processes for helping policy makers decide what problems to address, how to address them, and in which order to do so. They have been applied across diverse topics that are reflected in RAND research including environmental management, public health, infrastructure resilience, disaster preparedness, research and development management, and national and homeland security.

Tools will be introduced using policy relevant case studies as examples. The goal is to prepare students to be better consumers of risk analysis and/or have a starting point to dive deeper into an area through subsequent policy-focused research and analysis.