Mercatus Policy Series

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Speeches/Presentations

Research Papers

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Homeland Security and Regulatory Analysis: Are We Safe Yet?

This working paper by Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Jerry Ellig and Mercatus Center Legal Fellow Jamie Belcore analyzes the regulatory nature of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and offers recommendations to improve upon its regulatory practices.

Urbanisation and Informality in Africa's Housing Markets

A maze of regulations and administrative barriers has imposed high transaction costs on formal-sector housing entrepreneurs. By raising the costs of providing low-income housing, African governments bear much responsibility for driving formal-sector entrepreneurs out of the housing market and for driving their citizens into slums.

Mercatus on Policy - How Well Do Federal Performance Reports Inform the Public?

Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Jerry Ellig examines federal agency performance reports and how effectively they inform the public. 

A Policy Maker's Guide to Effective Disaster Preparedness and Response

In the almost three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States, scholars, policy makers, and concerned citizens have been working to understand what exactly went wrong in the response to the event and how better to prepare for future natural disasters. Post-Katrina New Orleans presents an unique opportunity to study how and how not to undertake the rebuilding of a major population center after such a catastrophe. Proper study of this subject, if conducted objectively and rigorously, will not only save other communities countless dollars but will also save lives.

From BIDs to RIDs

This Policy Comment describes the general problem faced by both business and residential neighborhoods in urban areas - the collective action problem. It then provides examples of failed development attempts of the past and how Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have overcome similar problems and succeeded. It then proposes a specific legal mechanism to establish Residential Improvement Districts (RIDs) and discusses the precedents for RIDs, as well as similar proposals. It concludes by highlighting how the flexibility of RIDs would fit many locations and could remedy varying problems.

Toward a More Perfect Union: Regulatory Analysis and Performance Management

This working paper by Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellows Jerry Brito and Jerry Ellig explores the actual and potential linkages between regulatory analysis and performance management in theory and in practice.

Mercatus on Policy - What's the Emergency?

Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy examines emergency supplemental spending trends and abuse. 

Road Home

Louisiana's Road Home Program attempted to micromanage the decisions of potential returnees after Hurricane Katrina. In doing so program designers hoped to better decide where and how returnees would resettle, but these policies have actually resulted in much less control. The study finds that in post-disaster situations it is often better to reduce overt controls since there are strong benefits from speed and clear eligibility criteria as residents try to determine how to rebuild their lives amid uncertainty.

The Resilient Homeland: How DHS Intelligence Should Empower America to Prepare for, Prevent, and Withstand Terrorist Attacks

In this testimony delivered before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment, Amos Guiora, a Professor of Law at the S.J.Quinney College of Law, University of Utah addresses the requirements needed to shape a resilient homeland in a post-9/11 society and builds on the ideas discussed in the Mercatus primer “A Framework for Evaluating Counterterrorism Regulations” that he co-authored. 

Hack, Mash & Peer: Crowdsourcing Government Transparency

The federal government makes an overwhelming amount of data publicly available each year. Laws ranging from the Administrative Procedure Act to the Paperwork Reduction Act require these disclosures in the name of transparency and accountability. However, the data are often only nominally publicly available. First, this is the case because it is not available online or even in electronic format. Second, the data that can be found online is often not available in an easily accessible or searchable format. If government information was made public online and in standard open formats, the online masses could be leveraged to help ensure the transparency and accountability that is the reason for making information public in the first place.