Research Library

The author examines the seemingly conflicting policy outcomes that result from high unemployment and a large fiscal deficit in Saudi Arabia.

Procedural reforms can further advance the development of start-ups in Bahrain, writes the author in this evaluation of the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The author examines the key challenges and opportunities of integrating climate policies with Gulf Cooperation Council economic diversification strategies, particularly in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

In June 2018, Saudi Arabia finally put an end to its legal ban on women driving, opening the way for millions of new drivers to navigate across a country three times bigger than Texas. While the long-overdue policy shift provides relief to women who lacked freedom of mobility, the onset of so many new drivers has enormous consequences for transportation and the energy sector, as well as labor market participation and public health.

This issue brief presents the results of a dynamic model similar in nature to the macroeconomic models used by the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation in evaluating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The model shows a modest decline in wealth inequality due to the corporate tax cuts in the TCJA.

This issue brief summarizes the debate over regulatory complexity, outlines a proposal from the Federal Reserve that would simplify bank capital regulations and another from the OCC that would push the financial regulatory system toward greater complexity, and recommends reforms to help improve financial stability.

Rice faculty scholar Leslie Schwindt-Bayer shares key findings from a recently published book she edited, “Gender and Representation in Latin America," which examines the factors that help increase women’s political presence in Latin American governments.

Mexico's 18-to-35 year old demographic, the largest voting bloc in the country, could have a historic impact at the polls when voters select a new president on July 1.

In this issue brief, the authors examine the amount of growth and transactional venture capital (VC) in Houston, finding the the city lacks sufficient levels of growth VC needed to support its goals of establishing a high-growth, high technology startup ecosystem.

The list of 13 demands presented in June 2017 by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates suggests a supremely ambitious set of goals behind their embargo of Qatar, including “red lines” that touch directly upon Qatari sovereignty and that Doha will almost certainly reject. The stage is thus set for a contest of endurance, one that with every passing month looks more likely to result in favor of Qatar, writes fellow Gabriel Collins in this brief.