Research Library

Drug Policy Program director Bill Martin summarizes the scientific and fiscal evidence supporting the efficacy of syringe exchange programs and outlines a framework for public policies to deal with this aspect of drug use and abuse.

In order to increase the capacity of American children to become productive citizens and compete in a global economy, it is vital that future federal policies include a focus on improving children’s brain development, writes health policy scholar Quianta Moore.

The author analyzes the major claims and implications of the Surgeon General's report "Facing Addiction in America," and proposes additional drug policy considerations for addressing substance use disorders.

The results of a study conducted by the authors show that unconventional oil and gas development is a job creator at the state level. This document summarizes a report on these results published by Energy Economics.

Repealing Obamacare and replacing it with market-based coverage that is both compassionate and prudent will make health care affordable again, which will guarantee access to insurance coverage for all Americans.

The article analyzes the spread of neglected tropical diseases in Somolia due to severe poverty, and civil strife, and discusses the need for reforms to the country’s health systems and infrastructure.

Previous studies of tobacco policies aimed at reducing hospitalizations may have overestimated the benefits of bans on public smoking and underestimated the benefits of cigarette taxes, according to new research by the Baker Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Yale University, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Public-place smoking bans play a critical role in improving public health, and we are not arguing that smoking bans be lifted in restaurants, bars and workplaces,” said research co-author Vivian Ho, the chair in health economics at the Baker Institute and director of the institute’s Center for Health and Biosciences. “However, policy makers and public health workers must be realistic in understanding the benefits of alternative policy interventions like taxes and bans. We found that raising cigarette taxes can have an immediate beneficial effect in terms of reducing costly hospitalizations. As for smoking bans, while these may eventually lower hospitalizations, our research found no immediate benefit in terms of reduced hospitalizations.”

Japan's once-booming economy has been somnolent, mainly as a result of deflation and decreased productivity. This issue brief discusses Abenomics — the country's strategy for achieving economic growth — and the headwinds created by the demographic forces of aging in Japan.

This paper critiques the Mexican government's efforts to train the country's workers for jobs created by energy reforms.

Approximately 25 percent of Texans say they lack confidence in understanding some of the most basic terminology about health insurance plans, according to a new report released March 8 by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.