Lynn A. Karoly

Lynn A. Karoly is a Senior Economist and Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy, part of the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs, human capital investments, social welfare policy, and labor markets. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Her work includes evaluations of programs like Head Start, California's CalWORKs welfare reforms, and cost-benefit analyses of early childhood interventions. She has served as director of RAND's Office of Research Quality Assurance and RAND Labor and Population, and as president of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis. Her research emphasizes policy impacts on child and family well-being, workforce development, and state-level immigration policies.

Key areas of study include ECCE workforce compensation, quality rating systems, and financing strategies. She has also explored the economic implications of education achievement gaps and the future of U.S. labor markets. Her recent projects include surveys on pre-K teacher resources and analyses of child care cost structures.