Research Library

Criminal extortion is on the rise in Mexico, particularly along the northern border states. Author Gary Hale shows how this trend has fueled government corruption, with officials implicitly or explicitly aiding organized crime groups as they extort businesses and citizens.

This research paper examines the potential market for a system that would pay landowners to restore natural ecosystems, such as native prairies and oyster reefs, that protect the Gulf Coast from hurricane and severe storm damage.

Venezuela's fragile democracy is crumbling under President Nicolás Maduro. Latin America Initiative program director Erika de la Garza analyzes the country's political and economic crises in the Baker Institute Blog: http://bit.ly/2ekRNFH

This policy brief analyzes the impact of the increasing number of parents who opt their children out of school-entry vaccinations for nonmedical reasons in Texas and argues that the state should make obtaining nonmedical exemptions more rigorous in order to reduce the public health risks and costs associated with vaccine-preventable diseases.

This blog post examines a Mexican senator's push to amend Mexico's Constitution to emulate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and allow Mexico's citizens to carry handguns for personal protection.

This brief argues that, in contrast to the pessimism and ongoing recession in Latin America generated by the collapse of commodity prices, there are reasons for optimism in the area of external financing.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s two main methodologies for measuring border wait times have been found to be “unreliable and of limited usefulness” to users crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. However, cross-border residents are utilizing social media to share pictures, videos and real-time information on wait times to address this gap.

Michel Temer’s ability to implement the difficult reforms Brazil needs will determine whether his legacy will be as the person who reconciled the country or as the usurper of Dilma Rousseff’s presidency, writes Latin America Initiative program director Erika de la Garza.

Japan's once-booming economy has been somnolent, mainly as a result of deflation and decreased productivity. This issue brief discusses Abenomics — the country's strategy for achieving economic growth — and the headwinds created by the demographic forces of aging in Japan.

The percentage of young adults ages 18 to 34 in Texas without health insurance has dropped by 35 percent since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect.