Research Library

The energy transition process depends on investments in clean technologies to cut down carbon emissions in various sectors of the economy. In a new working paper, visiting research fellow Osamah Alsayegh focuses on Arab Gulf states as a case study and proposes policies to mitigate the potential negative impacts of the transition process on affected sectors.

Concerns over a potential flood of low-priced electric vehicles are growing, both within the Biden administration and in Congress. In a new working paper, Will Clayton Fellow in Trade and International Economics David A. Gantz discusses the current situation, along with remedial legal and practical measures likely to be applied.

Media stories have raised concerns about Florida’s expansion of advanced trauma centers, with newly designated centers charging high trauma activation fees for relatively minor injuries, and Texas has experienced similar expansion in the last decade. In a new working paper, Chair in Health Economics Vivian Ho and her co-authors study the association between trauma center upgrades and patient outcomes — examining Texas commercial claims to track changes in spending, mortality, and readmissions of trauma patients

This paper examines the evolution of academic research on the effects of the property tax over the past 75 years, with a special emphasis on articles that have appeared in the National Tax Journal over that time period.

To build brain resilience and compete effectively, America needs to re-double its efforts to boost its domestic brain capital i.e., social, emotional, and cognitive resources.

This paper lays out one potential step-by-step path toward decarbonizing Saudi Arabia, imagining a sweeping restructuring of a fossil fuel-driven society and economy.

In this working paper, the author examines the economic effects of enacting a proposal by the Biden administration to tax long term capital gains at ordinary income tax rates for those with taxable income above $1 million and tax unrealized gains at the time of death for single (joint) filers with more than $1 million ($2 million) in unrealized gains. A similar version of the report was prepared with the financial support of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation.

A working group led by the Baker Institute has developed an innovative measurement-based standard — “BCarbon” — for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil as organic carbon. BCarbon is a scalable soil carbon storage standard designed to work for landowners and soil carbon storage buyers. The proposed standard allows landowners to monetize soil carbon storage as a property right.

This working paper examines the lack of reliable data on the number and quality of drug treatment services in Harris County.

The unfettered development of Houston's flood-prone areas undoubtedly magnified the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, but zoning or other land use controls are unpopular on the Texas coast and are unlikely to be adopted as a result. With this in mind, the SSPEED Center at Rice University looked to innovation and the market system to find a creative solution to protect important natural, flood-prone areas from further development.