The Takeaway offers its readers concrete ideas to take away and integrate into their thinking about a policy problem or current event. It features concise, well-reasoned analysis, thoughtful policy discussion, and practical recommendations on the key issues facing decision-makers.
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Volume 14 (2023)
October 20: ESG and Green Bonds in Public Finance
By Noel Nelson and Robert A. Greer
The rise of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk factors and green bonds in public finance has produced growing pains regarding labeling and misconceptions about ESG investor motivations. Understanding the current situation’s nuance is crucial for avoiding the pitfalls of blanket regulation and accommodating market demand.
October 6: The Rise of Organized Retail Crime in America: Risks Resemble those Seen in Conflict Areas
By Andres F. Jola-Sanchez
A steep rise in Organized Retail Crime (ORC) activity is concerning both because it burdens the economy and threatens the safety of customers and employees. A new issue of The Takeaway explores parallels between the challenges posed by ORC and armed conflict. The article also reviews current legislation aimed at addressing ORC and offers additional Operations and Supply Chain Management solutions learned in war-torn areas.
October 2: Improving Future Wildlife Conservation Programs by Understanding Emerging Stakeholder Values
By Hailey Feik, Sydney Fox, Garion Frankel, Erin Kavanagh, Sangeen Khan, Alman Manzoor, Troy Medeiros, Yvette Mensah, Jaylin Morales, Hunter Parker, Javier Miguel Segura, and William Willingham with Dr. Cole Blease Graham
Conservation programs depend on participation by private landowners for effective implementation. Future programs aimed at delisting species or preventing additional listings on the Endangered Species Act must relate successfully to the variety of values held by new generations of private landowners in conservation programs. Our study surveyed young, future stakeholders to gauge their wildlife values.
September 7: Harnessing Regional Trade Agreements as Development Policy Instruments
By Kaleb Abreha and Raymond Robertson
Countries enter regional trade agreements (RTAs) for many reasons including, but not limited to, promoting international trade and investment, protecting intellectual property rights, and strengthening political ties. There are currently 356 RTAs in force that vary by geography, signatories, product coverage, and provisions. Therefore, it’s not surprising that some trade agreements induce more trade than others. In a recently published paper, the authors confirm that the effect on trade varies significantly across RTAs and even more for specific products, like apparel. Their research also illustrates how RTAs can be used as effective development policy instruments to create jobs and address the root causes of migration.
Read The Takeaway, Harnessing Regional Trade Agreements as Development Policy Instruments
May 24: Empowering Women and Combating Harassment: The Women Powerline Initiative in Uttar Pradesh, India
By Anupam Agrawal
In this policy brief, the author discusses how, amidst the persistent societal and cultural hurdles faced by women in India, a pioneering social program known as Women Powerline 1090 (WPL) has emerged in the state of Uttar Pradesh to create a safer environment and combat atrocities against women, using technology as a tool.
April 26: Leadership of Local Economic Engines: Women in Texas Chambers of Commerce
By Rebecca Nelson
Texas has the second largest number of chamber of commerce entities in the country with over 600 throughout the state. Yet little to no research has been done on women’s leadership within these local economic engines. The author created an original data set to examine the gender composition of Texas chambers’ boards of directors and leadership to identify systematic patterns of inclusion or exclusion within these entities.
Read The Takeaway, Leadership of Local Economic Engines: Women in Texas Chambers of Commerce
March 6: Manufacturing Productivity Growth and Job Creation in Sub-Saharan Africa
By Kaleb Abreha
A fundamental development challenge for sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is the creation of gainful employment opportunities at a large scale, a challenge highlighted by the current high underemployment and informal employment. Over the last couple of decades, SSA countries have registered strong economic growth. In these countries, agriculture has experienced a decline in its contribution to value addition and employment while services have grown considerably. Manufacturing, however, has played a minor role despite its expanding workforce. This article discusses key features of manufacturing and policies to promote job creation and productivity growth.
Read The Takeaway, Manufacturing Productivity Growth and Job Creation in Sub-Saharan Africa
February 17: Police Officers as Service Providers and Agents of Change: The Impact of an Ethics Training Program in Ghana
By Danila Serra
Police officers play a crucial role in enforcing laws and promoting citizen trust in government institutions. In many countries around the globe, however, the police are perceived as the most corrupt branch of government. This brief reports on the implementation and evaluation of a two-day in-person ethics training program that targeted traffic police officers in Ghana.
February 9: Marketplace Health Insurance & the Public Health Emergency: Implications for Texas
By Benjamin Ukert & Laura Dague
Texas has the highest uninsurance rate in the country. The COVID-19-related public health emergency led to the American Rescue Plan Act, federal legislation that increased premium subsidies for private Marketplace health insurance plans, and expanded eligibility criteria. Since early 2021, total Texas Marketplace enrollment has increased by 70% or 750,000 people. In recent work, the authors used public data to estimate the gains in Marketplace coverage attributable to the policy, the remaining share of uninsured individuals who may remain eligible for subsidized Marketplace coverage, and projected losses in coverage when these temporary policies expire at the end of 2025. This article is a companion to the December 2023, issue of The Takeaway on Medicaid and the Public Health Emergency.
January 10: Leveraging Private Sector Capabilities for Sustainable Economic Development
By Kurt Sernett
While public institutions represent the backbone of international development, their high visibility obscures the beneficial role occupied by private and non-profit entities. Private actors are leveraging their advanced logistics and supply chain management capabilities to deliver tangible results for international development, and several firms are making an impact by encouraging and fostering sustainable, safe, and humane supply chains.
Read The Takeaway, Leveraging Private Sector Capabilities for Sustainable Economic Development
No. 6 Medicaid & the Public Health Emergency: Implications for Texas
Laura Dague and Benjamin Ukert
- Tomlinson: GOP leaders demand spending cuts, but plans would slash Medicare and Medicaid, Houston Chronicle
- Some enrollees for Texas Medicaid health insurance will be ineligible for coverage under new rules, Houston Public Media
- New report: 700,000 Texans – mostly children – could lose Medicaid health insurance as federal pandemic public health emergency rule ends, Episcopal Health Foundation
- What Happens to Texans’ Insurance Coverage When Medicaid and Marketplace Pandemic-Era Policies End?, The full Episcopal Health Foundation report
No. 5 Democracy on the Battlefield? Why Armed Groups Hold Elections
Reyko Huang
No. 4 Data-Driven Next-Gen Resilient and Sustainable U.S. Supply Chains: At the Front Lines of the Geopolitical New Normal
Lefteris Iakovou
No. 3 Productivity and “War Vulnerability”
Andres Jola-Sanchez
No. 2 When Is Government Spending More Effective in Stimulating the Economy?
Yoon J. Jo
No. 1 Does Price Volatility Information Affect Consumer Choice?
Anastasia Shcherbakova
No. 8 Broken Link: Egypt’s Trade Policy and Local Labor Market Outcomes
Raymond Robertson
No. 7 Local Government Control: The Case of Municipal Incorporation in The Woodlands Township, Texas
Robert Greer, Ann Bowman, Brian Nakamura, and Crayton Brubaker
No. 6 The Elitism of Armed Rebellion
Reyko Huang
No. 5 Warfare is a “Train Wreck” for Global Supply Chains
Andres Jola-Sanchez
No. 4 Lobbying in Good Times and in Bad
Anastasia Shcherbakova and Helen Wakefield
No. 3 The Senior Healthcare Divide in Texas
Sallie Sherman
- Health care for seniors in rural Texas is in jeopardy, The Dallas Morning News
No. 2 Public-Private Partnerships in the Water Sector
Robert A. Greer and Lindsey Pressler
- Full research article: Public–Private Partnerships in the Water Sector: The Case of Desalination
No. 1 Female Role Model Impact on the Gender Attitudes of Children: Evidence from Elementary Schools in Somalia
Danila Serra
No. 14 Improving Working Conditions in Global Value Chains
Raymond Robertson and Benjamin Zimmer
No. 13 How U.S. Patchwork Land Ownership and Regulation Affects Oil and Gas Drilling
Eric Lewis
No. 12 Medicaid Expansion’s Impact in Texas
Laura Dague and Constance Hughes
- As COVID-19 leaves Texans jobless and lacking health insurance, lawmakers mull expanding Medicaid, The Dallas Morning News
- County-level projections of Medicaid expansion’s impact in Texas, The full Episcopal Health Foundation report
- About A Million Texans Could Gain Health Insurance This Year If Texas Expands Medicaid, Study Finds, KUT Austin
- Medicaid expansion could bring Texas $5.4 billion in federal dollars, study says, The Houston Chronicle
- Medicaid expansion could bring Texas $5.4 billion in federal dollars, study says, Midland Reporter-Telegram
- Medicaid Expansion Could Mean $5.4B in Federal Funds for TX, Health Payer Intelligence
- Bush School study estimates impact of Medicaid expansion in Texas, State of Reform
No. 11 Call of the Pandemic: Rethinking Global Value Chains
Anupam Agrawal
No. 10 Identity, Resilience, and Risk in the Informal Sector: Differential Effects of COVID-19 in Lagos, Nigeria
Jessica Gottlieb
- How the coronavirus pandemic is fueling ethnic hatred, The Washington Post
No. 9 Artificial Intelligence: A Double-edged Sword
Justin Bullock
No. 8 Achieving the DREAM: The Effect of IRCA on Immigrant Youth Post-Secondary Educational Access
Tyler Tidwell
No. 7 Sustainable Funding Options for Texas Wildlife Conservation
Student Capstone Project
No. 6 COVID-19 No Match for the Forces of Global Trade
Richard Metters
No. 5 Shell Games: Chinese Reverse Merger Fraud
Benjamin Zimmer, Joseph Balmain Rodgers, and Brian Tripsa
No. 4 Humanitarian Response to COVID-19
Andres F. Jola-Sanchez
No. 3 Lobbying Battles in the Libyan War
Reyko Huang
No. 2 Property Buyouts After Natural Disasters: The Economic Implications for Texas Residents
Michael Migaud
No. 1 California’s Solar Rooftop Experience: An Update
James M. Griffin
No. 8 How US Imports from China Affect Mexican Labor Markets
Raymond Robertson
No. 7 Financial Implications of Coal-to-Gas Fuel Switching
Anastasia Shcherbakova
No. 6 Voter Turnout in Texas: Can It Be Higher?
James McKenzie
No. 5 Humanitarian Crisis on the Southwest Border
Madison L. Moore
No. 4 The Permian Basin: A Tribute to American Innovation and Entrepreneurship
James M. Griffin and Robert Joseph Ladmirault Jr
No. 3 Governing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: What it Is and Why it Matters
Kent E. Portney
No. 2 Two More Reasons Why the Federal Debt Matters
Raymond Robertson
No. 1 California’s Solar Rooftop Experience: A Report Card
James M. Griffin and Robert Joseph Ladmirault Jr.
No. 5 Why We Need the USMCA (the agreement formerly known as NAFTA)
Raymond Robertson
No. 4 Nonprofit Donor Motivation Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Kenneth Anderson Taylor
- How Houston nonprofits are affected by the new tax cuts and jobs act, Houston Business Journal
No. 3 Not Enough Progress: Texas Still Leading in Health Uninsurance Rates
Ashley Thomas
No. 2 Texas Groundwater: Dispelling Some Common Misconceptions
James M. Griffin
- Interjecting economics into the groundwater policy dialogue, Texas Water Journal (2017)
No. 1 Understanding China’s Currency Manipulation
Rebecca Skaff, Lincoln Webb, and Kyle Clahane
No. 3 Are There Benefits to a Higher Standard?: The Effects of Raising the Standard Tax Deduction
Lori L. Taylor
No. 2 IT Can Be Done: Reducing Payment Errors in Unemployment Insurance
Justin Bullock and Robert Greer
No. 1 A Smart, Price-Based Energy Policy
James M. Griffin
No. 3 The NAFTA Intellect Disconnect: Actual Costs and Benefits versus Popular Perceptions
Raymond Robertson
No. 2 Phantom Capital: How Regulation Weakens Texas Groundwater Resources
Wayne R. Beckermann and Mason Riley Parish
No. 1 Giving an “F” to the Franchise Tax: The Texas Franchise Tax Fails to Fund
Lori L. Taylor, Erica Cottingham, and Allison Shea
- January 11, 2017: Leffingwell: It’s time to repeal the state Franchise Tax, Austin American-Statesman
No. 7 Striking a Workable Balance: Labor Provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Raymond Robertson
No. 6 Environmental Regulation
Manuel P. Teodoro and David M. Konisky
No. 5 The Hidden Tax of Jury Service
Lori L. Taylor
No. 4 When Equal is Not Equitable: Adjusting for Geographic Differences in Education Costs
Lori L. Taylor
No. 3 Fairer Trade: Removing Gender Bias in US Import Taxes
Lori L. Taylor and Jawad Dar
- March 8, 2016: A look behind the gap, The Battalion
- March 8, 2016: Texas A&M prof on pink tax: Tariffs can be six times higher for women’s clothes, The Dallas Morning News
- March 9, 2016: Study: Women’s apparel tariffs as much as 6x higher than men’s, The Eagle
- March 14: 2016: Why are women paying the ‘Pink Tax’ on clothing?, Texas Standard
- March 23, 2016: Why Fashion’s ‘Pink Tax’ Means Women Pay More, Business of Fashion in London
No. 2 Bumpy Road Ahead: Bracing for Insolvency in the Highway Trust Fund
Jawad Dar and Lori L. Taylor
No. 1 Reaching More for Less: Modernizing US International Food Aid Programs
Andrew Natsios
No. 7 Water Use for Hydraulic Fracturing: A Texas Sized Problem?
David LeClere
No. 6 The War on Poverty Needs a New Map
Lori L. Taylor and Jawad Dar
No. 5 Free Trade in Oil and Natural Gas
James M. Griffin and F. Gregory Gause, III
No. 4 Texas Cities in the Era of Government Transparency
Domonic A. Bearfield and Ann O’M. Bowman
No. 3 Avoiding the Mistakes of the Past: Rejecting Protectionism and Embracing the Global Economy
Kishore Gawande and David LeClere
No. 2 Preschool for All?: Simple Keys to Maximizing Return on Investment and Avoiding Unintended Consequences
Lori L. Taylor
- Op-Ed in Longview, Texas’ News-Journal – September 20, 2014
Lori L. Taylor - Op-Ed in TribTalk, a publication of The Texas Tribune – October 5, 2014
Lori L. Taylor
No. 1 A Time for Political Courage: The Federal Debt Crisis in 2014
Lori L. Taylor and James M. Griffin
No. 1 The Latest Unanticipated Consequence in the Ethanol Fiasco
James M. Griffin
- Scholarly article in The Energy Journal, “U.S. Ethanol Policy: Time to Reconsider?” https://dx.doi.org/10.5547/01956574.34.4
- American Energy Alliance’s “Bright Bulb” Award – January 24, 2014
No. 2 Ethanol Waivers: Needed or Irrelevant
James M. Griffin and Rachael Dahl
- Op-ed in the Houston Chronicle – November 16, 2012
James M. Griffin and Rachael Dahl - Op-ed in the Dallas Morning News – December 2, 2012
James M. Griffin and Rachael Dahl
No. 1 U.S. Ethanol Policy: The Unintended Consequences
James M. Griffin and Mauricio Cifuentes-Soto
No. 2 Deficit Reduction: $38 Billion Won’t Cut It
James M. Griffin and Lori L. Taylor
No. 1 Stop Playing Favorites with the Tax Code
Lori L. Taylor
- Op-Ed in the Houston Chronicle – Jan. 30, 2011
Lori Taylor - Op-Ed in the Dallas Morning News – Feb. 4, 2011
Lori Taylor
No. 2 The Time for A Carbon Tax Is Now
James M. Griffin and Kishore Gawande
- Op-ed in the Houston Chronicle – Sept. 18, 2010
James M. Griffin and Kishore Gawande - Op-ed in the Houston Chronicle – June 12, 2010
James M. Griffin
No. 1 The Oil Debacle in the Gulf of Mexico:
An Alternative to the Coming Flood of Offshore Regulations
James M. Griffin
