Research Library

This issue brief describes the current state of brackish groundwater use and development in the United States.

Just a decade ago, Texas’ venture capital investment was the third largest in the United States. Today, it has fallen to fourth and is set to slide to sixth, likely before 2016 is out.

Is the U.S. better off linking its money supply to a global commodity market or allowing an independent central bank to respond to economic conditions?

An investment strategy that generates financial returns while directing funds to entities providing goods and services to the poor is making headway in Latin America.

Trade and financial shocks have worsened Latin America’s economic prospects in the past year. Latin America — and South America in particular — are expected to perform poorly into 2016.

Despite enviable increases in educational attainment, women in the MENA countries may fare less well in attaining a form of social capital integral to their ability to exercise full political, economic and social agency: wasta — loosely, clout, or using one’s connections and/or influence to get things done.

Tele-health in schools may be the answer to limited resources and a need to increase health care access for children.

As the implementation of Mexico’s historic energy reform gets underway, the debate has tended to overlook a key question at the intersection of technology and the new legislation: How can Mexico create an institutional framework supported by policies, laws and organizations to facilitate technology transfers and foster local innovation? Simply put, how will international oil companies transfer technology to Mexican companies and research facilities?

A growing number of Brazilian companies are expanding internationally. These companies are part of the transformation reshaping the global investment environment. They have shifted their international strategy from being based exclusively on exports to becoming foreign investors in countries such as Peru, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Although there are enormous potential benefits for Mexico's energy sector in the future, there are also important challenges the country must overcome to fully realize its energy potential. One of them has to do with the land ownership and land use regime in Mexico. As the legislative debate on the new Ley de Petróleos and the Ley de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Petroleum Act and Federal Electric Utility Act) proceeded in the summer of 2014, the Mexican Congress anticipated potential land-related conflicts associated with exploration and production activities related to hydrocarbons and new energy-related infrastructure projects. These potential conflicts stem from the fact that all of these projects will necessarily require the right of way to access and work on the resources in the subsoil of privately owned as well as on so-called “socially owned” lands in regions targeted for energy development. Thus, the Mexican Congress sought to avoid land-related conflicts by including language related to land ownership and use in the new energy legislation. The legislation, however, may not be able to prevent such conflicts.