Research Resources
A rundown of new surveys, studies, and successes

Dawning of a New Era: The LNG Story A recent report from the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs examines the economic and security issues surrounding the expected expansion of the liquefied natural gas trade. Authored by Henry Lee, director of the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program, the report concludes that the future global LNG market will become more secure as the number of players, volume of LNG traded, and size of the spot market increase. bcsia.ksg.harvard.
edu/BCSIA_content/documents/LNG%20Henry%20Lee.pdf

On the Ground: Protecting America’s Roads and Transit Against Terrorism Arnold Howitt, executive director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, warns against the danger of terrorist attacks on the nation’s surface transportation system in his study. The system is vulnerable, according to Howitt, because of its size and its openness and accessibility. brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20050426_howitt.htm

Securing the Bomb 2005: The New Global Imperatives A new study calls for a fast-paced global partnership to secure nuclear stockpiles worldwide. Produced by Matthew Bunn and Anthony Wier of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the report urges political leaders to accelerate and strengthen the effort to secure nuclear stockpiles in Russia, remove the material entirely from the world’s most vulnerable sites, and build a global coalition to improve security for the remaining nuclear stockpiles. nti.org/e_research/cnwm/overview/cnwm_home.asp

Principals as Agents: Subjective Performance Measures in Education In this working paper, Brian Jacob, assistant professor of public policy, and Lars Lefgren, an assistant professor at Brigham Young University, compare subjective principal assessments of teachers to traditional determinants of teacher compensation. They conclude that subjective principal assessments of teachers predict future student achievement significantly better than teacher experience, education, or actual compensation. ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP05-040?OpenDocument

Would Equal Opportunity Mean More Mobility? Professor Christopher Jencks and Laura Tach, a graduate student at Harvard University, argue that equal opportunity does not require society to eliminate the effects of all inherited differences in ability. Further, they contend that the size of the correlation between the economic status of parents and their children is not a good indicator of how close a society has come to equalizing opportunity. More data are needed on why successful parents tend to have successful children. ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP05-037?OpenDocument