Research Library

In this issue brief, public finance fellow Jorge Barro finds that lower state income taxation is associated with higher net taxpayer migration. Further, Barro explains that since the passage of the 2017 tax reform, taxpayers and earnings potential have both migrated to lower-taxing states at a faster rate.

As the pandemic persisted across the state, did Texans living in cities have better access to Covid-19 vaccines than those in rural areas? How did race or age factor in? The authors assess the successes and shortfalls of Texas' vaccine distribution strategy, and how to do better next time.

As the judicial battle over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates continues, the authors argue that the most effective way to protect children from COVID-19 is to require masks in schools. Click below for their full list of policy recommendations, including what exceptions should be made, and when and how to end school mask requirements.

With center-right President Emmanuel Macron facing off against extreme-right Marine Le Pen, what’s in store for the French presidential election next April? In a new brief, Baker Institute faculty scholar Julie Fette and William Tsai, Rice '24, examine the polls, platforms and possibilities.

In this report, the authors outline the U.S. federal budget process for scientific R&D, discuss trends in federal R&D funding and provide an outlook for federal scientific R&D funding during the Biden administration.

What are Mexico's prospects for immigration, trade and more, after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's virtual meeting with President Biden? "Mexico will have to do some heavy lifting," predicts Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico.

Vaccines and other biomedical advances will not be sufficient to halt COVID-19, unless we simultaneously counter anti-science aggression, writes Peter Hotez, fellow in disease and poverty, in a new article for PLOS Biology.

Ten months after the pandemic began, partisan division is severely inhibiting the United States’ COVID-19 response. The health consequences of the continued political divide could not be clearer, as the pandemic has grown beyond many experts’ worst predictions.

Over the past decade, anti-vaccine rhetoric and activity have increased in the United States, resulting in decreased vaccination rates and more frequent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. In this study, researchers use Texas as a case study to determine if vaccine-related legislation became a partisan issue between 2009 and 2019.

In the last of a series of reports on the USMCA, fellow David Gantz considers the trade-related matters that could affect the success of the USMCA as a mechanism for encouraging investment, creating new jobs and enhancing consumer welfare in North America.