Research Library

Baker Institute Rice faculty scholar Luz M. Garcini and co-authors analyze existing research on the compounded stressors and health risks faced by undocumented Latino older adults in the United States. Using a Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) lens, they examine the environments, conditions, and social structures that influence health risks, and provide policy and advocacy recommendations to address the issues.

The authors take a realistic look at what's needed for the global energy transition to succeed and warn that moving away from fossil fuels too quickly could backfire — stranding climate progress in the so-called “valley of death.”

This report explores Houston's substantial comparative advantage in finding and developing low-carbon solutions and creating opportunities to efficiently and effectively deploy the region’s vast resources to produce and deliver cleaner, greener fuels to the nation and the world.

Many economists are concerned that automation will result in a loss of jobs. This work shows that is not the issue, and that the two main effects of automation are increased inequality and economic growth.

Public finance fellow Jorge Barro examines the Federal Reserve’s aggressive financial market response to the Covid-19 pandemic and asserts that without its use of unconventional policy tools, adverse outcomes could have spread to other areas of the economy, disproportionately impacting low-income households.

This policy report explains how specific tools of economic statecraft can be applied to reduce risks caused by dependence on People’s Republic of China-dominated supply chains for critical goods. It offers foundational building blocks for the formulation and implementation of a larger strategy to reduce American vulnerabilities to China.

Soda taxes have been proposed to help curb consumption and improve health outcomes. Fellow Joyce Beebe reviews recent attempts at taxing these beverages and provides practical policy solutions.

This report analyzes political and religious authority in Saudi Arabia under the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The author analyzes the challenges Mexico’s 2013 energy reforms pose to the current administration, as well as the limitations the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement imposes on changes in Mexico’s energy policies.

By Paul Lagunes, Baker Institute for Public Policy; Xiaoxuan Yang, Columbia University; and Andrés Castro, Columbia University. Corruption is a persistent problem throughout Latin America. Higher rates of perceived corruption are associated with lower levels of economic welfare and direct foreign investment, write the authors.