Research Library

Divisions across ethnic and religious lines in several Middle East countries since the 2011 Arab uprisings have brought renewed attention to the consociational model of governance. This student brief examines Lebanon’s consociational system in order to gauge whether it would be useful for other countries in the region experience similar ethnic or religious divisions.

Private cord blood banking is more widespread than public banking in Jordan, contributing to misinformation and unequal access to resources. The authors conducted surveys with women in Jordan to examine perspectives toward cord banking in the country in order to inform policymaking, ethics and education about the practice.

By Alanoud Al Sharekh, Ph.D., University of London Kuwait’s economy has been stagnant over the past decade due to political instability, fluctuating oil prices, and endemic corruption. To combat this situation, Kuwait has attempted to develop a robust business sector through fundamental policy shifts away from monopolies and toward the creation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Alanoud Al Sharekh explores Kuwaiti SME development in an issue brief and a longer research paper, which are part of a series on pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. The project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

By Kevin Erickson, Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer, Vivian Ho, Jay Bhattacharya, and Glenn M. Chertow The authors investigate if dialysis facility consolidation was associated with patient mortality. They find that decreased market competition for these facilities may have led to increased mortality for patients in areas with very few dialysis centers. Read this article in Value in Health at: https://bit.ly/2LXmTUR.

Rising health care costs and generational attitudes toward convenience and the ability to personalize life choices are driving a trend toward greater individual responsibility over the use of health care services.

This study examines whether market competition affects quality of care and health outcomes among patients receiving dialysis treatment.

A study comparing the community benefit expenditures of two sets of Houston hospitals leads the authors to propose strategies that can better justify the tax exemptions the institutions enjoy.

Cultural myths — and by extension, the suppositions they inspire — have played a major role in shaping Venezuela's relationship with and management of oil resources throughout much of the last 100 years, writes nonresident fellow Luis Pacheco. To achieve sustainable economic and social development, Venezuela must move beyond such beliefs and establish a new approach that is more attuned to current times.

The author determines that in 2016, freestanding emergency departments in Texas were more likely to be in areas that could yield high profits — i.e., areas with significantly higher household incomes — than in areas of high demand.

The Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act proposes a national database that would serve as a centralized source of information on children with medically complex conditions. The aim is to improve treatment and care coordination. The authors of this brief argue, however, that the database could put children and their families at risk of discrimination by making their health information public, and therefore accessible to employers and health insurers.