Research Library

International and domestic oil and gas markets and prices are under heavy pressure from COVID-19 impacts and the Russian-Saudi Arabia oil market battle. With, all eyes are on U.S. domestic producers, especially those occupying the shale patch, Michelle Michot Foss, fellow in energy and minerals, provides some important considerations for the U.S. oil and gas industry. Forbes Blog: http://bit.ly/2WqVEqt

Despite internal changes in how scientists are nominated for the Nobel Prize, there is still a substantial gender bias in prize recipients. Concrete policy changes are needed to ensure more diversity is reflected in the world’s most visible and prestigious scientific honor, write experts Kenneth M. Evans, Kirstin R.W. Matthews and Daniel Moralí. Baker Institute blog: http://bit.ly/2MDRDbW

How should cloud computing be taxed? Fellow Joyce Beebe discusses how services like Dropbox and Gmail have both transformed daily life and complicated the taxation landscape. Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/2HqRgQ8

David Buckley offers brief reflections on distinct approaches to religion in U.S. diplomacy, particularly at the State Department, and the implications they may have for religious tolerance abroad. His post is the first of 12 prepared for an April 2019 workshop on “Religion, Reverence and Tolerance” organized by the Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance at Rice University.  Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2z6CGZo

Policymakers have only begun to take steps to manage the tax-related issues arising from the sharing economy, not to mention the social, commercial and legal challenges it has generated. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2O0VOlN

While the U.S. still maintains the overall lead in Nobel prizes (with the exception of literature), the rate at which American scientists have been awarded the prize has declined since the late 1970s. Fellow Kirstin R.W. Matthews and postdoctoral fellow Kenneth M. Evans explore the state of scientific collaboration in the U.S. in this Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/2yiNhzF

Tunisia is widely regarded as having one of the most liberal approaches to family law and women’s rights in the region. Yet for nearly 60 years of authoritarian rule — as women’s rights were championed in public discourse, in national legislation and on the international scene — the government did not hesitate to brutalize women through torture and other gross human rights violations, according to more than 15,000 testimonies recently collected by a Tunisian state commission.

It is inconceivable to imagine our nation today without the gains of the Civil Rights Act. It is impossible to understand why the issue was so divisive then, since it is such an obvious right and moral proposition. Similarly, let us hope we will look back at the Affordable Care Act 20 years from now and wonder why it was such a contentious topic in 2014.

Cancer drug shortages are almost uniquely associated with generic drugs (small profit margins) and rarely with patented drugs (large profit margins). They are common in the U.S., but uncommon in Europe and elsewhere, where generic drug prices are on average higher than in the U.S. This suggests the main cause of drug shortages is economic.

Despite mounting efforts toward achieving gender equality, the Middle East and North Africa region continues to rank the lowest worldwide when it comes to women's economic participation and opportunity.