Research Library

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.

This brief lays out why COVID-related travel restrictions should be lifted at U.S.-Mexico land ports of entry, and recommends how to do it.

This brief examines the four economic pillars that are often credited with bolstering Mexico’s economy in 2019 and 2020 to determine how quickly the nation's economy will bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The author draws links between pandemics, the economy, nature and energy, showing that policies reducing the probability of future pandemics are a solid investment.

The drastic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on organized crime in Mexico requires policymakers and law enforcement in the U.S. and Mexico to adapt their strategies, the authors write.

Parental stress, which is heightened during natural disasters, can produce negative physiological responses in the developing brains of their infants and young children. This irreversibly alters the child’s brain structure, impacting their long-term prospects for good health and academic and economic success. Now is the time to institute policies and practices that mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the next generation, write the authors,

By Michael W. Deem, Melia E. Bonomo and Kirstin R.W. Matthews Due to the rapidly mutating influenza virus, a new vaccine is usually developed for each flu season. In this policy brief, the authors discuss the current method used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop the flu vaccine and propose the use of mathematical modeling to improve the vaccine's effectiveness.

By Kirstin R.W. Matthews and Melody T. Tan Vaccines and vaccine exemptions are increasingly contentious issues in Texas. In this issue brief, the authors dispel five common misconceptions about vaccines that were presented during public hearings at the Texas House of Representatives in 2017.

In this brief, the authors analyze transcripts from public hearrings at the Texas legislature to identify key arguments against school-mandated vaccinations. To ensure public health, policymakers and other stakeholders should be well informed about vaccines, the impact of vaccine-preventable disease, and the risks associated with putting absolute individual rights above public health concerns, they conclude.

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.