Research Library

This report takes a deep dive into how expanding the scope of the nonimmigrant TN Visa — available only to Mexican and Canadian citizens — could help solve the U.S. labor shortage. In a political climate where full-scale immigration reform seems impossible, more temporary work visas can help bridge the labor gap.

Abu Dhabi has shown increasing discomfort with OPEC’s actions in recent years. Do diverging interests spell departure? Fellows Jim Krane, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen and Mark Finley weigh the risks and opportunities of an OPEC exit by the UAE.

How durable is the Saudi-Russian relationship, and what are its implications for the longstanding energy-for-security arrangement between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.?

Among the U.S. citizens migrating to Mexico in recent years are an unknown number of Americans who married Mexican citizens and were co-deported or departed voluntarily with their undocumented spouses, the authors report. Without improved consular services and a diaspora policy that anticipates the likely return of these Americans in the future, the authors worry that the United States risks re-inheriting a sizable U.S. population that may well require critical government services to reintegrate after a prolonged period abroad.

The authors evaluate the global oil market's ability to deal with a disruption of Russian production and exports after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The authors explore the costs and benefits of a legalization program, contending that to realize the full benefits of comprehensive immigration reform and deter future unauthorized immigration, a broad and inclusive legalization program is needed.

Restrictions in Texas' medical cannabis law keep most of the state's patients from participating. Our survey of 2,866 Texas residents who use medical cannabis sought to gain insight into the needs and experiences of this population.

Lebena Varghese, a research manager at the McNair Center, highlights the data trends gathered from a survey administered to small businesses owners in the Houston, Texas area. The goal of the survey was to determine the impact of COVID-19 on business operations and functioning and to gather small businesses’ perspectives on all aspects of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

More than a decade after G20 representatives pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, significant barriers to a full retraction remain. This paper examines the political and social rationale behind fossil fuel subsidies, the factors that make them so difficult to retract, and offers policy recommendations aimed at easing the path to subsidy reform.