Public capital in countries with abundant natural resources: Is there a curse?
2013 study by the University of Oxford and the University of Sussex on the relationship between per-capita rents from natural resources and levels of public capital.
Politics & Government
Research roundups, tip sheets, articles and explainers related to the topic of politics, elections, and local and national governments
Expert Commentary
Are U.S. state and local governments on a fiscally sustainable path?
2013 study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on the growing gap between the revenues that state and local governments receive and their mandatory long-term obligations.
Expert Commentary
What’s new in digital scholarship, January 2014: Crowdfunding, disruption, Arabic Twitter, youth engagement, more
January 2014 review of latest studies in journalism, communications, computer science and global technology.
Expert Commentary
Local government services and contracts: Best practices and key issues to watch
2013 study in State and Local Government Review on the nature of public-private service delivery and the potential benefits and risks of the various forms it can take.
Expert Commentary
The influence of union membership on political participation and social capital
2013 study by the UMass Amherst and the U.C. Irvine in Social Forces on the effect of unions’ political activities on members’ levels of broader social engagement.
Expert Commentary
Waging war on poverty: Historical trends using the Supplemental Poverty Measure
2014 study for the National Bureau of Economic Research that focuses on the effectiveness of government anti-poverty policies since 1967, using the new measure from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Expert Commentary
Extreme voices: Interest groups and the misrepresentation of issue publics
2013 study in Public Opinion Quarterly that suggests specific advocacy groups and lobbies often distort the will of supporters in the general public and lead to more extreme polarization.
Expert Commentary
The Syrian refugee crisis: New research on a problem of historic proportions
Two 2014 field reports from Harvard University, one based in Lebanon and the other in Jordan, provide new insights into the expanding Syrian refugee crisis.
Expert Commentary
Orphans, abuse and the world’s most vulnerable children: Recent research
2014 review of available studies and data relating to orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
Expert Commentary
Biofuels, energy security, the environment and human health: Research roundup
2013 roundup of research on biofuels, including public attitudes, health effects, land use, environmental consequences and the long-term outlook.
Expert Commentary