Research Library

Truth-in-taxation measures, which are intended to serve taxpayers, have failed to constrain the property tax burden in Texas, write Jennifer Rabb and Lebena Varghese of the McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth. They argue that it is incumbent upon the government to make tax rate notices clear, relevant and above all truthful.

Morocco’s Party of Justice and Development offers the authors a rare opportunity to evaluate an Islamist party’s approach to the economy that can counter its own policies.

By: Lourdes Ampudia Rueda, Visiting Scholar, Baker Institute Mexico Center In this research paper, the author explores public policy issues related to the increasing elite involvement in urban development and privatization in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. https://doi.org/10.25613/ayg5-qp17

Who speaks for Islam and who holds religious authority in the Middle East? These questions strike at the heart of the relationship between religion and politics in the Muslim world, for whoever can legitimately claim religious authority has an opportunity to shape the extent to which religion is politicized in the region. Our study examines this issue by identifying the channels of influence between religious leaders who claim to hold Islamic authority and individual Muslims across the region. The findings depict a complex religious space in the Middle East that reflects its citizens’ nuanced approach toward religion and the religion-politics relationship.

The author describes how Texas legislators can bring the power of the digital age to the property tax process.

The authors examine a unique and anonymized dataset of complaints about government corruption in an urban Mexico district. The trends they found are transferable to other urban districts across the country and Latin America, they write, and may help anticorruption agencies in Mexico and beyond direct their efforts. https://doi.org/10.25613/cqgc-xv79.

This paper reviews the membership, activities, and impact of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in the past four presidential administrations, and provides recommendations for PCAST to continue advising the president and generating science policy in the future.

The author examines the performance and impact of Mexico’s Programa Frontera Sur, an effort designed to deter unauthorized migration of Central Americans through Mexico’s southern border.