Research Library

With center-right President Emmanuel Macron facing off against extreme-right Marine Le Pen, what’s in store for the French presidential election next April? In a new brief, Baker Institute faculty scholar Julie Fette and William Tsai, Rice '24, examine the polls, platforms and possibilities.

Millions of undocumented immigrants have lived in the U.S. for decades and become part of America's fabric. This brief makes the case for prioritizing their legalization — and shows how it can be done.

The authors explore a causal relationship between the 2017 tax reform and a decline in wealth inequality.

This issue brief explores whether there are discernible left/right differences regarding definitions, approaches, views, policies and their outcomes on corruption and anti-corruption in the Americas.

Public finance fellow Jorge Barro analyzes Federal Reserve survey data released in September 2020 that shows that U.S. wealth inequality has declined for the first time in 30 years.

Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe reviews the changing definition of employment, specifically looking at the current policy measures for providing benefits and protections to workers in the sharing economy. She also discusses concerns regarding workplace automation.

This paper tracks a change in the direction of Mexico’s energy policy under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — a change that inhibits private investment while attempting to restore Pemex’s oil monopoly.

The authors examine the investments, trade-offs and broad policy changes necessary to reimagine the U.S. health care delivery system.

In the near term, a ban on shale development in Mexico will have little impact since factors like limited infrastructure and access to water would likely stall progress in any case, the authors conclude. In the long-run, a ban may adversely affect efforts to diversify Mexico’s gas supply.

For the first time in modern history, a confluence of events has given Mexico a real chance to combat systemic government corruption, the author writes.