Research Library

How do urban redevelopment and revitalization projects impact a community’s small businesses? A new report by Alisha Small, scholar for economic growth, and co-author Lebena Varghese details survey results from business owners in Houston’s Third Ward, a historically African American community experiencing economic and demographic change.

Although the media often portrays migration at the U.S.-Mexico border as a “crisis,” experts Kelsey Norman and Ana Martín Gil argue that this depiction lacks nuance and sidesteps possible solutions. This report provides a more realistic view of the situation and offers key policy recommendations.

As foreign interference and the prevalence of disinformation test our democratic processes, election administrators must work across the aisle to demonstrate a shared commitment to healthy election systems at all levels of government. This report provides a framework for effective bipartisan policies that balance the linchpins required equitable access and integrity of the results.

Any substantial reduction in gun violence will require a comprehensive approach to the issue, write the authors of a report on the reality of firearm violence in the Houston area.

In this report, fellow Tony Payan examines three recent U.S. criminal cases involving high-ranking Mexican officials. These cases point to a new “policy” by Washington to use its long-arm jurisdiction to arrest, prosecute and punish Mexican officials who have committed crimes that harm U.S. interests, he writes.

As climate change continues to alter the outlook for water abundance in the Rio Grande River Basin, what mechanisms currently exist and what additional mechanisms are needed if Mexico is to comply with the requirements of the 1944 Water Treaty? Nonresident scholar Stephen Mumme and co-author Oscar Ibáñez explain.

As climate change becomes an increasingly prominent driver of migration, this report investigates possible pathways to ensure that “climate refugees” receive adequate legal protection.

The authors review the rating systems used to assign state unemployment insurance (SUI) tax rates to businesses, focusing on the reserve ratio and benefit ratio methods, and examine suggested alternatives.

The authors show how new immigration policies can help maintain a strong economy as a growing number of older Americans leave the workforce.

A Dec. 2018 workshop on money laundering in Mexico, held at Tecnológico de Monterrey and co-sponsored by the Baker Institute Mexico Center, resulted in the executive report below. It is written in Spanish.