Research Library

Using findings from Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, the author analyzes public perceptions of anticorruption efforts during the López Obrador administration.

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.

Given the growing problems associated with plastics, what policy approaches are best equipped to manage global plastic pollution? Policies invoking a modified version of the precautionary principle might be a useful approach, writes energy fellow Rachel A. Meidl.

Fellow Jorge Barro studies U.S. capital markets to provide a long-term outlook on the macroeconomic consequences of unbalanced debt growth.

The author reviews the evolution of labor and environmental rights in U.S. free trade agreements and evaluates such provisions in the USMCA.

The author gives an overview of the USMCA's implications for Mexico, finding that while challenges remain for the U.S.-Mexico relationship, the possibility of the trade agreement going into effect by 2020 should greatly reduce uncertainties about the future of North American trade.

Energy fellow Rachel A. Meidl examines federal and international efforts to assess the safe transport of crude oil by rail and to specifically consider the roles of vapor pressure and volatility in accident scenarios.

Global deworming programs for children were once believed to improve a child’s chances for health, growth and success in school. New research that claims to debunk the merit of such programs has set off so-called “worm wars” between investigators. The authors aim to resolve the issue through an extended comparison of findings from key economics and epidemiological studies.

By tracking the math scores and earnings of adults who were in-utero during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, the authors were able to identify some of the consequences of prenatal malnutrition and stress.

U.S. studies suggest that the Uber ride-sharing service may reduce alcohol-related driving fatalities. This study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, examines the effect of Uber on traffic deaths in South Africa, where driving fatalities are twice the global average and over 60 percent are alcohol-related.