Welcome back to the Research Review, a newsletter highlighting some of the latest studies from USC Price School faculty and students.

In this edition, researchers explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the federal workforce, reveal that liberalizing cannabis likely won't reduce cannabis- or opioid-related deaths, and demonstrate how self-reported cognitive decline predicts the onset of dementia – plus more.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape – rather than replace – jobs within the federal government, according to a study co-authored by Associate Professor William Resh and PhD students Brandon De Bruhl and Yi Ming.

• What they researched: Resh and colleagues investigated the near-future impacts of generative AI technologies – a type of AI that learns from existing data and creates new content – on how jobs are performed across the federal government.
  
  
• What they found: Preliminary findings suggest some significant shifts in the skills and knowledge that workers will need, as well as the potential vulnerability of certain roles to AI-driven changes. The findings highlight the folly of assuming widespread replacement of human employees, revealing instead a more complex reality in which AI reshapes roles rather than rendering them obsolete.
  
  
• Why it matters: As AI becomes more prevalent, the study aims to inform strategic workforce planning and policy development within federal agencies and demonstrates how this approach can be replicated across other large employment institutions and labor markets.

Read the study in arXiv.

Liberalizing cannabis policy is unlikely to help reduce cannabis or opioid involvement in suicides and deaths of undetermined intent, according to a study co-authored by Professor Rosalie Liccardo Pacula.

• What they researched: Pacula and colleagues researched the relationships between changing cannabis policies and cannabis-involved and opioid-involved suicide deaths.
  
  
• What they found: The prevalence of cannabis involvement in opioid-involved suicide deaths steadily increased from 2003 to 2018, when many states liberated their policies. However, states that did not liberalize or weaken their regulations experienced declines in cannabis-involved deaths with or without opioids, while states that loosened regulations toward cannabis experienced increases in both.
  
  
• Why it matters: These findings do not support the idea that cannabis policy liberalization and/or cannabis use are likely to be useful strategies to reduce cannabis or opioid involvement in deaths of suicide of undetermined intent.

Read the study in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Self-reported decline in cognitive ability predicts the onset of dementia in older adults, according to a study co-authored by Professor Julie Zissimopoulos.

• What they researched: Zissimopoulos and colleagues evaluated whether self-reported decline in cognitive ability, something known as subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), affects dementia risk in older adults in the U.S. The study looked at data drawn from an 8-year period.

• What they found: Researchers concluded that SCI predicts dementia onset and inversely affects mortality.

• Why it matters: This study suggests that SCI could be used to make more timely interventions aimed at delaying or preventing dementia. 

Read the study in Journal of Aging and Health.

Helping cognitive health: Associate Professor Emma Aguila and colleagues investigated the relationship between cognitive ability and a person’s level of education, as well as the mental demands of their jobs, among Mexican adults aged 50 or older. This study highlighted a significant effect of educational attainment on cognitive function. Read in Population Health

Community-shared decisions: Professor Jason Doctor and colleagues published an article analyzing the benefits of community-shared decisions in medicine. Among other things, they conclude that patients and clinicians may be less resistant to interventions when the community has decided on cooperative action. Read in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine

The downside of accountability: Associate Professor Peter Robertson explored how accountability systems can negatively affect public employee well-being, such as aggravating job stress and health. Read in Public Management Review

Constraining the executive branch: Associate Professor Pamela McCann and a colleague examined the circumstances under which Congress manipulates a federal agency’s exposure to judicial review. Read in Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons

Costs of Electrification: Distinguished Professor Genevieve Giuliano and a colleague estimated the economic impact of electrifying cargo handling equipment at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. They estimate a net present value loss of about $7.4 billion in gross state product. Read in Research in Transportation Business & Management

COVID-19 Racial Disparities: Research Scientist Johanna Thunnell, Professor Julie Zissimopoulos and a colleague found that Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 faced higher out-of-pocket healthcare costs than white and Asian persons. Read in Handbook on Inequality and COVID-19

Air Ambulance Disputes: Assistant Professor Erin Duffy and a colleague found that air ambulance providers won most payment dispute cases against insurers, requiring insurers to pay more in these cases. Read in JAMA Network Open

• Associate Professor Geoff Boeing gave an invited talk titled "Generalizing and Localizing the Science of Urban Networks" at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Ciudad de México campus, in Mexico City.

• Research Professor Adam Rose served on a panel on the Los Angeles Wildfires and Housing at a March 11 meeting of the San Diego Chapter of the Land Economics Society.
  
  
• Assistant Professor Santina Contreras was invited to participate in the National Academy of Sciences' 35th annual Kavli Frontiers of Science symposium on March 6 to 8.

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