Research Analysis
-
Up in Smoke: How Cigarette Taxes Affect Public Assistance Enrollment
•
Policymakers use tax penalties and incentives as a mechanism to modify the public’s behavior. Cigarette taxes are one of the most obvious examples of such a policy. As a matter of public health, society would be better off if fewer people smoked cigarettes—raising the cost of cigarettes with a tax…
-
How Public Bus Routes Can Deconcentrate Poverty and Promote Equity
•
Initiatives that aim to address geographically concentrated poverty often focus on providing affordable housing. While such housing projects may increase quality of life for residents, they are unlikely to reduce the concentration of poverty in particular areas. New research suggests that a more effective approach to changing the geography of…
-
Reducing Racial Disparities in the US by Increasing Contraception Coverage
•
On October 6, the Trump Administration rolled back the federal requirement that all employers must include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans. As a result, some employees will be asked to pay for contraceptives on their own. By making contraceptives less affordable and accessible, this policy decision may…
-
When Helping Hurts: The Unexpected Costs of Post-War Reconciliation
•
War! What is it good for? Civil war dissolves social structures and threatens personal livelihoods, domestically displacing both combatants and civilians. Even after hostilities cease, individuals and communities face a long and daunting recovery process. Reconciliation between victims and perpetrators of violence can be particularly difficult in addressing lingering emotional…
-
Tasas de interés volátiles en economías emergentes: receta para un pobre desempeño económico
•
En los últimos años, se ha discutido mucho la relación entre la volatilidad de la estructura de las tasas de interés y la actividad económica, especialmente en economías de mercado emergentes como Brasil, Chile, México, entre otras. Dicho debate se ha desarrollado a partir de los eventos económicos que han…
-
De la tragedia al desarrollo: el efecto de los desastres naturales en la inclusión financiera
•
Los desastres naturales se consideran comúnmente una tragedia económica para los países que los sufren. Sin embargo, a pesar de sus consecuencias negativas sobre el desarrollo económico a corto plazo, pueden traer beneficios para el desarrollo financiero de los países a largo plazo. Después de un desastre, aumenta el otorgamiento…
-
Creating Safe Cyberspace: Strategies for Deterring Cyberattacks
•
Thousands, perhaps even millions, of successful cyberattacks occur each year across governmental and commercial sectors in the U.S., and attempts at cyber infiltration and hacking recorded by state and local governments often exceed a million cases each day. A growing reliance on the Internet creates a greater level of cyber…
-
Paying for Prejudice: How Public Funds Are Being Used to Fund Discrimination in Schools
•
With the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as the United States Secretary of Education, the subject of vouchers has gained a powerful mouthpiece. Currently, 15 states and the District of Columbia offer some form of publicly funded tuition voucher or voucher-like education savings accounts to subsidize private school enrollment. Another 16…
-
Do Charter Schools Raise Student Earnings? Evidence from Texas
•
Texas education policy in the 1990s provided the blueprint for Bush-era school reforms. In 1993, the Texas legislature introduced high-stakes testing, followed by the authorization of Texas’ first charter schools—schools that are publicly funded but privately managed—in 1995. When George W. Bush left the Governor’s Mansion for the White House,…
-
How Does Compulsory Math Education Close the Racial Income Gap?
•
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education has been a national imperative for decades. More recent administrations have prioritized STEM in schools due to the rising importance of mathematical skills in the labor market. The American Competitive Initiative, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006, committed a…
-
Unconditional Cash Transfers: Lessons from Ecuador
•
Poor people, especially in developing countries, have inadequate financial resources and face liquidity issues which constrain expenditures on their children’s health and education. Cash transfers ease these constraints by providing households with financial support. To ensure that cash transfers are spent on essential needs, transfers can be attached to specific…